Sivalik Hills

Coordinates: 27°46′N 82°24′E / 27.767°N 82.400°E / 27.767; 82.400
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Map of the Sivalik Hills

The Sivalik Hills, also known as Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas. The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'.[1] The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and is also home to the Soanian Middle Paleolithic archaeological culture.[2]

Geography

Sivalik Hills and Ganges River

The Sivalik Hills are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is 10–50 km (6.2–31.1 mi) wide with an average elevation of 1,500–2,000 m (4,900–6,600 ft). Between the Teesta and Raidāk Rivers in Assam is a gap of about 90 km (56 mi).[3] They are well known for their Neogene and Pleistocene aged vertebrate fossils.[4]

Geology

Ganga river cutting through the Sivalik hills
View of the Sivalik hills from Sukhna lake at dawn

Geologically, the Sivalik Hills belong to the Tertiary deposits of the outer Himalayas.[5] They are chiefly composed of sandstone and conglomerate rock formations, which are the solidified detritus of the Himalayas[5] to their north; they are poorly consolidated. The sedimentary rocks comprising the hills are believed to be 16–5.2 million years old.[6]

They are bounded on the south by a fault system called the Main Frontal Thrust, with steeper slopes on that side. Below this, the coarse alluvial Bhabar zone makes the transition to the nearly level plains. Rainfall, especially during the summer monsoon, percolates into the Bhabar, then is forced to the surface by finer alluvial layers below it in a zone of springs and marshes along the northern edge of the Terai or plains.[7]

Prehistory

Further information: South Asian Stone Age § Siwalik Hills
Megalochelys atlas
, the largest known to have ever existed, and one of the best known Sivalik fossils

The Sivalik Hills are well known for fossils of vertebrates, spanning from the Early Miocene, until the Middle Pleistocene, around 18 million to 600,000 years ago.[8][9]

Some of the best known fossils from the hills include

Sivatherium giganteum, the largest known giraffid, [12] and the ape Sivapithecus.[13]

Remains of the Lower-Middle Paleolithic Soanian culture dating to around 500,000 to 125,000 years Before Present were found in the Sivalik region.[14] Contemporary to the Acheulean, the Soanian culture is named after the Soan Valley in the Sivalik Hills of Pakistan. The Soanian archaeological culture is found across Sivalik region in present-day India, Nepal and Pakistan.[2]

Ecosystem

The

carbon stock and carbon sequestration rates of the Churia forests differ among different forest management regimes and are highest in protected areas.[15][16]

See also

Subranges of Sivalik (from north to south)
Geological subdivisions of Himalayas (from north to south)
Geographical subdivisions of Himalayas (from east to west)

References

  1. ISBN 9788184659757
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-119-05547-1
    .
  3. ISBN 978-81-7387-135-1
    .
  4. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107694
    .
  5. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Siwalik Hills" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 163–164.
  6. hdl:2115/38248
    .
  7. ^ Mani, M.S. (2012). Ecology and Biogeography in India. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 690.
  8. doi:10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00013-5
    .
  9. doi:10.7312/wang15012-017
    .
  10. hdl:11336/62240
    .
  11. PMID 38720790
    .
  12. PMID 26763212
    .
  13. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(88)90073-5
    .
  14. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.11.001
    .
  15. LCCN 2015515752. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 8 May 2017.
  16. doi:10.3126/banko.v32i1.45442
    .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shivalik Hills.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Siwalik Hills".

27°46′N 82°24′E / 27.767°N 82.400°E / 27.767; 82.400

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sivalik_Hills&oldid=1266450189"