• Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &Technology, Govt. of India, studied rivers in Ladakh Himalaya, bringing out 35 thousand-year history of river erosion and identified hotspots of erosion and wide valleys that act a buffer zones.

About:

• The Ladakh Himalaya forms a high altitude desert between Greater Himalayan ranges and Karakoram Ranges. The Indus and its tributaries are major rivers flowing through the terrain.

• In the study published, Zanskar catchment was explored by WIHG team to understand the landform evolution in transitional climatic zone.

Zanskar River?

• The Zanskar River is a north-flowing tributary of the Indus.

• It is one of the largest tributaries of the upper Indus catchment, draining orthogonally through highly deformed Zanskar ranges.

• Two prominent tributaries of Zanskar River are the Doda and TsrapLingti Chu, which confluence at Padam village in the upper valley to form the Zanskar River.