Himalayan River System
Evolution :-
Geologists believe that a mighty river called Shiwalik or Indo-Brahma traversed the entire longitudinal extent of the Himalayas from Assam to Punjab and onwards to Sind, and finally discharged into the Gulf of Sind near lower Punjab during the Miocene period. The remarkable continuity of the Shiwalik and its lacustrine origin and alluvial deposits consisting of sands, silt, clay, boulders and conglomerates support this viewpoint. It is opined that in due course of time Indo–Brahma river was dismembered into three main drainage systems:
(i) the Indus and its five tributaries in the western part;
(ii) the Ganga and its Himalayan tributaries in the central part; and
(iii) the stretch of the Brahmaputra in Assam and its Himalayan tributaries in the eastern part.
The dismemberment was probably due to the Pleistocene upheaval in the western Himalayas, including the uplift of the Potwar Plateau (Delhi Ridge), which acted as the water divide between the Indus and Ganga drainage systems. Likewise, the downthrusting of the Malda gap area between the Rajmahal hills and the Meghalaya plateau during the mid-Pleistocene period, diverted the Ganga and the Brahmaputra systems to flow towards the Bay of Bengal.
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