In which part of Himalayas is 'Karewa' landform found ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Kashmir Himalaya. 'Karewas' are thick beds of lacustrine (lake-deposited) clay, silt, sand and gravel laid down during the Pleistocene when a large lake filled the intermontane Kashmir Valley between the Pir Panjal and the Greater Himalaya. As the lake drained through the Jhelum they were left as flat-topped, terraced uplands (locally called 'wudar'). This fertile Karewa soil is the basis of Kashmir's famous saffron at Pampore and of its almond and apple orchards, and the formation is confined to the Kashmir Himalaya (with a small extension into the Bhaderwah valley of Jammu).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The heavily-folded, high-rainfall eastern (Arunachal) section has no lacustrine Karewa terraces — it is known for dense forest and deep river gorges, not lake-bed uplands.  (b) The Darjeeling-Sikkim-Bhutan belt has steep, forested slopes and tea gardens, but no Karewa deposits.  (c) This central section is famous for 'Duns' (longitudinal valleys such as Dehra Dun) between the Siwaliks and the Lesser Himalaya — a different landform from the lake-deposited Karewas of Kashmir.

Concept: Karewas are glacio-lacustrine (lake-bed) deposits unique to the Kashmir Valley, an intermontane basin lying between the Pir Panjal Range and the Zanskar/Greater Himalaya. Composed of unconsolidated clay, silt, sand and boulders, they now stand as flat-topped terraces above the flood plain of the Jhelum and give the valley its most productive agricultural soil.

State PCS 2019 Q46 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q46 — Geography PYQ with Answer