Himalayan Ridge in the Light of the Theory of Continental Drift

Abstract

A UNIQUE feature of the geology of the Himalayas is the presence to the north of the Great Himalayan Range of a complete sequence of marine fossiliferous rocks ranging in age from the Cambrian to Eocene and an enigmatic absence of fossils in the pre-Tertiary sediments lying to the south of the range¹. A notable exception is found in Kashmir where fossiliferous Cambrian to Jurassic marine rocks lie to the south of the Great Himalayan Range as a result of the Kashmir Nappe². Geologists working in the Himalayas have tried to explain this anomaly by erecting a hypothetical barrier between the northern and southern basins to prevent the migration of animals and plants from north to south. This barrier was called by Wadia³ a “geanticline within the main geosyncline”, Pande and Saxena⁴ thought that the geanticline or central barrier was formed during the Ordovician times. Fuchs⁵ named this imaginary barrier “Himalayan Ridge” and thought that it was formed after the Caledonian orogeny. It has also been suggested that this geanticline or ridge has been subjected to denudational processes since its origin in the early Palaeozoic times, but it has become the highest mountain range in the world and it is still rising.