Multiple events of glacial advances have been witnessed from the Yankti Kuti valley situated in the extreme eastern part of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, since 52 thousand years (MIS 3) that synchronises with climate variability, according to a new study.
NOTE – Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) is a period between 60 and 27 thousand years ago during the last glacial cycle – experienced several abrupt climatic warming phases known as Dansgaard- Oeschger (DO) events.
Details –
- Scientists of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology has reported first time the oldest glacial advance during 52 thousand years from the Central Himalaya.
- They found that moisture-deficient valleys of semi-arid Himalayan regions respond sensitively to enhance precipitation.
- The study suggests a regional synchronicity of glacier response to climate variability since MIS 3. The study carried out was in accordance with the synoptic-scale, climatic perturbation triggered by the North Atlantic millennial-scale climate oscillations.
- The study can help enhance the existing knowledge of the relationship between Himalayan climate and glacier dynamics and can help assessing the role of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) versus westerlies in driving the valley glaciers in the Central Himalayan region.
About the valley –
- Kuti Valley is a Himalayan valley situated in the Pithoragarh District, Kumaon division of Uttarakhand.
- Located in the eastern part of Uttarakhand, it is the last valley before the border with Tibet. It runs along a NW to SE axis, formed by the river Kuti Yankti, which is one of the headwaters of the Kali River that forms the boundary between India and Nepal in this region.
- This valley is mainly dominated by Byansis, one of the four Bhotiya communities of Kumaon, with the others being Johar, Darmiya and Chaudansi.
- In May 2020, Nepal laid claim to the northeastern half of the valley, claiming that Kuthi Yanki represented the Kali River and it was meant to be Nepal’s border by the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. India said that the claim was not based on historical facts and evidence.
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