Modern pollen deposition in glacial settings in the Himalaya (India): abundance of Pinus pollen and its significance

ABSTRACT

Thirty-five surface sediment samples from three glacial sites – [Chorabari Glacier (Kedarnath), Hamtah and Chhatru glaciers (Lahaul-Spiti)] – situated in the western Himalaya, India, were palynologically analysed to explore the relationship between the modern pollen assemblages and the extant vegetation. The Chorabari Glacier is located in the Greater Himalaya and influenced by the Southwest Summer Monsoon; whereas the Hamtah and Chhatru glaciers are located in the Trans-Himalaya and affected more by the Western Disturbances (winter precipitation). The area around Chorabari Glacier receives abundant rainfall, while the Hamtah and Chhatru glaciers are in a high-altitude cold desert. Palynological studies have revealed an overwhelming dominance of Pinus pollen in all the samples. Though the sampling sites are 2 to 8 km away from the treeline and characterised by herbaceous ground vegetation, the marked predominance of arboreal pollen (especially Pinus) in the sediments stresses the importance of a proper interpretation of modern pollen data, so as to have an appropriate standard for deciphering the pollen–vegetation relationship in the respective study areas.

KEYWORDS:

• pollen rain
• glacial sediments
• Pinus pollen
• western Himalaya

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Sunil Bajpai, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, for providing the necessary facilities and permission to publish. RB is thankful to the Department of Science & Technology (DST), New Delhi, for sponsoring a project under Women Scientist Scheme (SR/WOS-A/EA-1018/2015) and RK is grateful to the DST, for sponsoring a project under the Climate Change Programme (DST/CCP/PR/07/2011/G), under which study was initiated. We thank Dr W.D. Gosling and another, anonymous referee for the critical reviews and useful suggestions which greatly improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India [grant number SR/WOS-A/EA-1018/2015], [grant number DST/CCP/PR/07/2011/G]; and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow.

Notes on contributors

Ruchika Bajpai

RUCHIKA BAJPAI is presently working as a project investigator at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow. Her research interests include Quaternary vegetation and climate from high-altitude regions through biological and physical proxies. She received a BSc in geology from Kanpur University in 2010, and an MSc in geology from Lucknow University in 2012. She worked as a research fellow and submitted her PhD in 2017. Currently she is running a Department of Science & Technology (DST)–Women Scientist Project dealing with high-altitude climate variability from western Himalaya, India.

Ratan Kar

RATAN KAR is currently working as a Scientist ‘E’ at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow. He has worked on a wide range of problems of varying ages and areas which involve the use of palynofossils for their resolution, such as Gondwana sediments (Permian–Triassic), Deccan Intertrappean beds (Late Cretaceous–Early Palaeocene) and Quaternary fluvio-glacial and lacustrine deposits of the Higher Himalayas and the Polar Regions. His current interests in Quaternary palaeoclimate studies are looking into the aspects of vegetation succession and climate change from glacial sites in western Himalaya and deciphering the anthropogenic impact on the degradation of the treeline in the Higher Himalaya.