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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
uppermost Karnali valley (Ph. 26). They expose several well-outlined levels with increasing tilts towards the dome, well visible on its western plunge. They reflect the young uplift of this area. Mesozoic Tethys sediments strike eastwards under these terraces. On the north side, the belt of the exotic blocks of Amlang-La trends towards the north-plunging end of the Gurla Mandhata dome, but the direct relations are not known, since here again up tilted terraces mask the contact. The Gurla dome seems a southern, and higher, equivalent of the Rakshas uplift. Whether the two are directly connected across a saddle in the north is not known. Both seem to be autochthonous and could, as we have already mentioned be compared to the Tso Morari uplift in the Rupshu area, described by Berthelsen (1953). Kailash Range (Southern Trans-Himalayas) While travelling from the Tethys Himalayas of Kumaon northwards further into Tibet, we have so far not met the northern border of the Himalayas, but have become involved in the more intriguing problems of the huge exotic thrust masses. Only on reaching the Kailash Range in the Trans-Himalayas is it possible to find some conclusive evidence for this northern limit. Kailash Flysch After the last gently north-dipping outcrops of the deeper Rakshas phyllites one crosses a sandy alluvial plain of over 20 Km before reaching the foothills of the Kailash Range. This plain hides one of the geologically most important stretches of the whole Himalayas. South of the Kailash the foothills consist of a highly complex and steeply south-dipping Flysch zone (the Kailash Flysch) with intercalated ophiolites and some exotic blocks. To the west, this Flysch zone is cut out, and the northwards-outcropping, Kailash conglomerates reach the alluvial plain. Eastwards the Flysch continues, but its extension is unknown. The Kailash Flysch represents the last remnant of the Himalayas, thrust steeply northwards over the autochthonous Kailash conglomerates which transgress over the Kailash granite (Sect. 3, PI. III). Himalaya Leo Pargyal
Transhimalaya
MUTTA
Sutlej
Fig.96: General view of the Upper Sutlej Basin, view towards NW. S Tibet; after A. GANSSER (1939) 1. Lower Chilamkurkur series 4. Jungbwa peridotites
7. Sediments of Tethys Himalayas 2. Upper Chilamkurkur series 5. Zone SW of Gartok, probably crystalline 3. Flysch zone
6. Sediments of Tethys Himalayas It is evident that we have here one of the key sections of the Himalayas-its well-exposed northern limit. But it also happens to be a very holy place-the Kailash Mountain is sacred to Asiatic religions. Geological investigations, at least during 1936, could only be carried out "on the sly". What I describe here are the results of a rapid reconnaissance work, which gives the general outline but leaves much remaining to be done for a more detailed picture.
Central Himalayan Geological Observations
(194
