Geology of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Himachal Pradesh forming an important segment of the Himalaya has been the focus of study for over hundred years. An attempt has been made in this book to synthesize the knowledge so far gathered. The book presents a wealth of geological data on some of the famous Himalayan sections of Shali-Shimla, Lahaul-Spiti, Larji-Rampur and Krol-Tal. With a coloured geological map, numerous photographs and line drawings illustrating the geological feature of this region, the book offers an interesting account of the geology of this terrain. This book also includes chapters on the Mineral Resources and Geothermal Energy Resources of the State.

Since the publication of the first edition, significant data particularly pertaining to stratigraphy, tectonics, and metamorphism have appeared. Most important are: (i) Isotopic ages of Jeori-Wangtu gneissic complex, Rampur Group and garnets in the Jutogh Group, detrital zircon age of the Blaini Group, (ii) Lower Palaeozoic metamorphism and orogeny (Kurgiakh Orogeny) and (iii) Discovery of Ordovician ichnofossils in the Lesser Himalaya. In the Tethyan Himalaya, main contribution included detailed lithostratigraphy of various sequences with better understanding of environment of deposition and more precise age constrains owing to discovery of additional fossils. Added information is also available on glaciers and dates of older moraines. These warrant a revised second edition. In preparing the second edition, as far as possible, we have retained the format followed in the first edition and the basic structural framework has remained.