Landform evolution in the Nagar region,
Hispar Mustagh Karakoram
jan kalvoda, andrew s. goudie
Abstract
Results of geomorphological analysis of climate-morphogenetic landform patterns in the Nagar
region of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram, related to morphotectonic features of relief-building processes in the Late Cainozoic, are presented. High-mountain landforms are the result
of morphotectonic processes as well as of denudation and erosional efficiency under different
paleoclimatic conditions during the Quaternary. Observations also suggest significant feedbacks
between the rate of exhumation of deep crystalline rocks and the intensity of climate-morphogenetic processes. e high intensity of recent glacial and periglacial denudation and transport
of weathered and eroded material correlates with an absence of older than Late Quaternary
sediments.
e extreme exhumation of deep crystalline rocks in the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram is
the result of morphotectonic processes as well as effective tuning of paleogeographical changes
in the extent of the main climate-morphogenetic zones during the Late Cainozoic. Climate
fluctuations in glacial and periglacial morphogenetic zones of the Nagar region determine the
short-term and rapid geomorphic response of the landscape. e effectiveness of weathering and
transport of its products increases with the frequency of alternations of glacial, periglacial and
fluvial processes during the evolution of the high-mountain landscape in the Karakoram.
key words: glacial and periglacial processes; landscape evolution; Nagar region; Hispar
Mustagh Karakoram.
1. Introduction
1.1 Geographical position of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram
!e western Karakoram is a significant high-mountain range between the Tibetan
Highland and the Himalaya on the one hand and between the Pamirs, the !yan
Shan and the Hindukush on the other. !e Nagar region in the Hispar Mustagh
Karakoram consists of mountain ranges characterized by alpine-type morphology,
stretching between the Great Karakoram Range with the Trivor Massif in the N, and
the Malubiting and the Diran Massifs in the S. !e relative height of their relief is al-
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Fig. 1 Geological units and climate-morphogenetic zones of the Hunza and the Hispar Mustagh
Karakoram in the Nagar region (modified after Kalvoda 1992). Key: 1–6 geological units:
1–2 northern Karakoram (Tethyan) Formation: 1 – Gircha group, 2 – Pasu group; 3 – Great Karakoram crystalline zone, 4 – Dumordo Formation (Darkot group), 5 – Chalt Formation, 6 – Yasin
group; 7–12 climate-morphogenetic zones: 7 – moderately warm (1,600–2,400 m, with maximal
temperatures of over 25 °C), 8 – moderate (2,400–2,900 m, 20–25 °C), 9 – moderately cold
(2,900–3,500 m, 15–20 °C), 10 – cold (3,500–5,400 m, 5–15 °C), 11 – very cold (5,400–6,000 m,
0–5 °C), 12 – extremely cold (above 6,000 m, below 0 °C); note: the average of annual precipitation increase from the moderately warm to the extremely cold zones from about 150 mm to
2,400 mm; 13 – main summits, 14 – rivers.
most 5,300 m. !e axis of these mountain ranges is formed by the Hispar valley from
the Hispar glacier to its junction with the Hunza valley W of the village of Nagar.
!is region occupies a central position in the western Karakoram, geographically
forming a part of Baltistan.
!e Nagar region is situated between the Hunza river and the Hispar glacier in
the morpho-tectonically conspicuous Karakoram suture zone (Fig. 1). !e Hispar
Mustagh mountain group, where the Nagar region extends, is separated from the
Rakaposhi group by the wide Hispar glacier, from the Batura Mustagh by the deeply
incised Hunza valley (Photo 1), from the Ghurlerab group by the Shimshal valley,
and from the Panmah Mustagh group by the high Khurdopin La, the Khurdopin
glacier and the Biafo glacier. !e average altitude of the Hispar Mustagh mountain
group crests exceeds 6,000 m. A number of summits reach more than 7,000 m.
Relief dissection of the Hispar Mustagh as a projection of the altitude areas in
1,000 m intervals is shown in Fig. 2. Among the Hispar Mustagh peaks from W to
E, the following ones dominate: Lupar Shar (7,200 m), Momhil Shar (7,342 m),
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Trivor (7,720 m), Distaghil Shar (7,886 m), Khunyang Kish (7,852 m), Pumarikish (7,491 m) and Kanjut Shar (7,760 m). West of the Hispar Mustagh behind the
deeply incised Hunza valley, the Batura Massif (7,985 m) spreads (Photo 1) as well
as further peaks: Kampire Dior (7,143 m) and Bojohaghar Duonasi (7,328 m); in
the S, in addition to the Rakaposhi Massif (7,788 m), the Minapin (7,271 m) and
the Malubiting (7,458 m) are the nearest (Photo 2). !e extreme amplitudes, varying between 7,720 and 2,000 m at mutual distances of about 40 km (comp. Fig. 2)
and the dissection of the relief, render the geological and morphostructural patterns
of the western Karakoram more pronounced.
!e permanent snow line on the northern slopes of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram oscillates between 5,400–5,600 m, and on the southern slopes between 4,700
and 4,900 m. !e timber line oscillates between 3,600–3,700 m (Visser, Visser-Hoo6
1935–1938, Paffen et al. 1956, Wiche 1959, 1962). !e following vegetation zones
may be distinguished on slopes of the Nagar region (Paffen et al. 1956, Kalvoda
1984, Esper 2000): 1) alpine steppe zone from 3,800 to 4,600 m (4,200–4,600 m
low growing mats of Cobreria and Polygonu spp., 3,800–4,200 m willow scrub
and recumbent juniper), 2) subalpine zone from 3,200 to 3,800 m (3,400–3,800 m
birch, willow and mountain ash-tree, 3,200–3,400 m temperature coniferous forest
Fig. 2 Sketch of slope altitudes in the area of the Hunza and the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram. Key: 1 – summits above 7,500 m, 2–8 categories of slope altitudes: 2 – above 7,000 m,
3 – 6,000–7,000 m, 4 – 5,000–6,000 m, 5 – 4,000–5,000 m, 6 – 3,000–4,000 m, 7 – 2,000–3,000 m,
8 – 1,500–2,000 m; D – Distaghil Shar (7,885 m), K – Khunyang Chhish (7,852 m), R – Rakaposhi
(7,788 m), B – Batura (7,785 m), KS – Kanjut Shar (7,760 m), Trivor (7,728 m).
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with spruce, mesic pine and juniper), 3) mountain semi-arid to steppe zone below
3,200 m (2,700–3,200 m Artemisia steppe, below 2,700 m desert steppe with grasses
(e.g. Ephedra, Salvela), coniferous trees, Artemisia and Capparis spinoza).
Distinctive vertical climatic zoning influences the variable features of the morphostructural and lithological control of characteristic weathering phenomena
(Cílek, Kalvoda 1983, Goudie 1984, Whalley 1984, Waragai 1999). Observations
of landform patterns of peculiar relief types between the Distaghil Shar (7,886 m)
and Hunza valley (2,000 m) suggest extremely high rates of denudation, sediment
transfer and deposition (Ferguson 1984, Whalley et al. 1984, Kalvoda 1990, Collins
1999). Striking is a vertical hierarchy of variable high-mountain reliefs (Schneider
1957, Hewitt 1989, Owen, Derbyshire 1989, Derbyshire 1996) from the extremely
cold arête ridges of the Great Karakoram Range through the heavily glaciated and
periglacial areas to the seasonally cold/warm semiarid Bualtar, Nagar and Hunza
valleys.
1.2 Definition of the topic
Landforms in the Himalaya and the Karakoram provide evidence for the nature of
very dynamic landscape evolution. !e Himalaya and the Karakoram are in the colli-
Photo 1 Conspicuous vertical climate-driven morphogenetic zoning of the high-mountain relief
in the Hispar Mustagh and Hunza Karakoram originated on different lithological and morphostructural units. Rocky slopes above the lower part of the Gharesa glacier (3,800–4,000 m a.s.l.)
display a system of slope and periglacial sediments. In the background, the canyon-like Hunza
valley (2,000–2,200 m) appears under eastern face of the Batura Massif (7,980 m). (Photo Jan
Kalvoda)
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Photo 2 High-mountain relief with conspicuous morphostructural features in the contiguous
zone of the Great Karakoram Range with Malubiting Massif (7,458 m) of the northwestern Himalaya. In the background (left), the Yengutz Har Peak (7,027 m) is built of Paleogene sandstones,
limestones and quartzites. Alpine-type crests above the Hispar valley are formed on the Upper
Paleozoic gneisses, micaschists and marbles. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
sion zone of the Indian and Asian plates (Searle 1991, Zanchi, Gritti 1996, Searle et
al. 1999 and others) where orogenic movements are still very active. !e challenge
of searching for landform development as the geomorphological record of active
orogeny (Kalvoda 1988, 1992, Owen 1989a, b, Fielding 1996) is in the western
Karakoram traditionally integrated with the investigation of recent climate-morphogenetic changes of relief and landscape patterns (Paffen et al. 1956, Schneider 1959,
Wiche 1959, Goudie et al. 1984a, b, Li-Jijun et al. 1984, Finsterwalder 1996). !e nature of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram has been studied to more than a century (e.g.
Rabor 1904, 1905, Oestrich 1906, comp. Miller 1984, Finsterwalder 1989). !e first
observations of glaciers (Workman, Workman 1910, Dainelli 1922, 1934a, b, Norin
1925, Visser 1928, Mason 1929, 1930, 1935) indicated the extraordinary features
of natural hazards in the Karakoram (Desio 1954, Hewitt 1961, 1964, 1968, 1969,
1984, 1988, Belousov et al. 1980, Brunsden, Jones 1984, Kurshid et al. 1984, Gardner, Hewitt 1990, Shen-Yongping 1991, Kuhle et al. 1998, Derbyshire et al. 2001).
!e other topics of research in the western Karakoram have been the dynamics of
glaciers (e.g. Pillewitzer 1957, Zhang Xiansong 1980, Zhang Xiansong, Shi Yafeng
1980, Derbyshire 1984, Dong Bin et al. 1984, Goudie et al. 1984b, Oswald 1984,
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Kalvoda 1987, Drozdowski 1989a, b, Ding-Yougjian 1992), and, especially, glacial
history in the Quaternary (Derbyshire et al. 1984, Kuhle 1988a, b, 2001, Xu 1991,
Meiners 1997, 2001, Owen et al. 2002). !ese studies are also connected with the
Late Glacial and Post Glacial sedimentary record of geomorphological processes
(Owen, Derbyshire 1988, Derbyshire, Owen 1990, Iturrizaga 1999, 2001) and very
high erosion rates (Jones et al. 1983, Carpena, Rutkiewitz 1989, Foster et al. 1994,
Bhutiyani 2000, Shroder, Bishop 2000) in the Karakoram and western Himalaya.
!e Karakoram is a region of frequent natural disasters with high risks involved
in all types of human activities. It was Kenneth Mason (Professor of Geography at
Oxford University and Fellow of Hertford College) who described in the Hispar
Mustagh Karakoram region more than 75 years ago the extremely dangerous process of glacier surging and rapid advance of the tongues of the side-glaciers. Also a
large area of Nagar oasis originated on fossil landslide and glacier accumulations
with present-day large slope movements.
!e studied relief section of the Nagar region encompasses a conspicuous set of
vertical climate-morphogenetic zones corresponding to recent relief-forming processes. !erefore, sculptures of the morphostructural landforms are controlled by vertical zoning of the climate-morphogenetic processes (Goudie, Kalvoda 2004a, b).
Recent climate-driven morphogenetic processes are described in the framework of
glacial and periglacial zones, and the seasonally cold/warm semiarid zone. Research
on the present-day landforms and the main features of climate-morphogenetic processes and phenomena in the Hunza Karakoram gives evidence for 1) recent evolution of extremely dissected high-mountain relief, and 2) present-day natural hazards
and risks. !ese aspects of geomorphology of the Nagar region can also contribute
to the knowledge of a long-term integration of climate-driven morphogenetic and
active tectonic processes in dynamically evolving mountainous regions of collision
orogeny.
2. Morphostructural patterns
2.1 Brief paleogeographical history of collision orogeny in the western Karakoram
!e Hispar Mustagh Karakoram is situated in the western part of the collision zone of
orogeny where the Indian lithospheric plate deeply wedges into the southern margin
of the Asian continent (Desio 1974, Searle et al. 1999). !e controlling element of
this collision consists in the movement of the Indian plate going roughly from S to N
and in its moderate counter-clockwise rotation. !e relics of the Tethyan fosilliferous
sediments, deposited along the Main Karakoram !rust, indicate that the closure of
the sea took place in the course of the Cretaceous. !e origin of the Kohistan island
are occurred in the Mesozoic in which, in the Late Jurassic, the intraoceanic subduction advanced corresponding to the collision of the continents (Kravchenko 1979,
Tahirkheli et al. 1979). It went on along the Main Karakoram !rust from the Late
Cretaceous to the Paleocene. !e Indus suture, continuing its course, bifurcates into
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
two sutures in Ladakh (Searle 1991). !e northern one is represented by the Main
Karakoram !rust, and the southern one corresponds to the Main Mantle !rust
where the Indian plate was subducted below the Kohistan arc. !e sea closure along
the Main Mantle !rust went on from the end of the Paleocene to the outset of the
Eocene. !e island arc collision with the continent occurred in the Middle Eocene.
!e Indus river probably was initiated by early Tibetan upli6 and has remained in
the collision suture zone since Eocene time. !e river has migrated only ca 100 km
east since the Eocene (Cli6 2002) and has been located to its present position within
the foreland basin since the Middle Miocene.
Upli6s, the amplitudes of which exceed several thousand metres on areas of the
order of 10⁵ km², represent a dominant feature of the morphogenesis of the western
Himalaya and the Karakoram, which occurred mostly in the Late Cainozoic (Gansser 1964, 1983) a6er the time span of orogenic movements of the nappe character
and a6er intervals of regional high-pressure and/or high-temperature rocks metamorphism. Zones of deep-seated igneous rocks in the eastern Karakoram, the age
of which oscillates around 40 million years and which represent the continuation of
granite bodies of the Transhimalayan region, was influenced by rapid upli6s of these
mountain ranges. In their vicinity in the molasses sediments of Ladakh (Shigatse Formation, Desio 1964, 1979), there have been found conglomerates containing large
granite boulders with Eocene clasts as the youngest components. Deeper-seated
beds, exposed to intense tectonic deformations, still contain coarse conglomerates
(comp. Farah Abul, De Jong 1979, Tahirkheli et al. 1979) with pelagic shales carrying Upper Cretaceous ammonites. !us, the Tertiary morphotectonic upli6 of the
Karakoram and the Tibetan Himalayas is indicated both by the origin of the Shigatse
Formation molasses and by their subsequent folding.
In the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram, a mountain crests zone on mostly Paleozoic,
Tethyan folded sediments may be distinguished in a wider view directed N–S, situated northwards of the Great Karakoram crystalline rocks (Fig. 1). !e crystalline
complexes occur in the zone between the Batura, Trivor and Pumarikish Massifs
and consist mostly of Miocene granodiorites (Desio, Zanettin 1970, Desio, Martina
1972, Desio 1964, 1974, 1979). !ey appear near the surface of the Chitral area
and constitute the crest part of the mountain range up to the Shyok valley in the E.
!ey intrude into the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks of the Darkot group which is
built of an up to 6,000 m thick formation of phyllites, biotitic slates, amphibolites,
paragneisses and medium-metamorphosed limestones up to marbles. !e Darkot
group is limited by the Main Karakoram !rust in the S (Farah Abul, De Jong 1979,
Kravchenko 1979), cut by the Hunza river valley W of the Rakaposhi Massif. Furthermore, the greenstone complex of the Chalt Formation, representing an ophiolitic mélange, occurs on the mountain slopes.
!e Mesozoic formation of igneous rocks and sediments, metamorphosed to
various degrees, comprise shales, phyllites, limestones, sandstones and conglomerates with intrusions of basalts, andesites, rhyodacites and tuffs (Yasin group, Desio
1979). !e Yasin group is a flyschoid formation about 1,000 m thick representing a
relic of the shrinking Tethys in front of the collision contact of the continental plates.
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At the present time this flyschoid formation is placed between the Main Karakoram
!rust and the Chalt Formation ophiolites (Gattinger 1961, Matsushita, Huzita
1965, Desio 1979). In the area of confluence of the Gilgit and Hunza rivers, the
mountain massifs are built again of granodiorite intrusions of the Ladakh type of
Upper Cretaceous and Eocene age.
!e geological contact of the three main tectonic entities – the Karakoram area,
the Kohistan island arc and the Himalayan Nanga Parbat Massif – took place from
the Cretaceous to the Miocene. !e further succession of orogenic events under the
compression regime of lithospheric plates collision (Menke, Jacob 1976, Farah Abul,
De Jong 1979), controlled in this region especially by continuing movement of the
Indian plate northward (Desio 1974, Shu Pei Yi, Liu Ban Zuo 1984, Searle 1991,
Searle et al. 1999), influenced the tectonically joined paleoreliefs of these morphostructural entities as early as in the Neogene. Certain features of the former southern
sedimentary foredeep have probably been preserved in this relief until the present
time. !ey correspond to those of relatively lower parts of mountain reliefs in the
northern Karakoram suture zone. In the southern sectors of the latter zone it is worth
noting the extremely high position of the dissected reliefs, displaying alpine-type
morphology, on the ophiolite rocks of the Chalt Formation. In the Neogene, Chalt
Formation rock complexes were not only intensely folded and metamorphosed, but
in the Late Cainozoic they were successively upli6ed to altitudes of 7,000 to 8,000 m
in the region between the Rakaposhi and Malubiting Massifs.
2.2 Lithostructural features of high-mountain relief in the Hispar Mustagh
Karakoram
Destructional landforms of the Nagar region in the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram are
represented by partly glaciated alpine-type reliefs and extensive areas of steep structural-denudational slopes of several geological units. Whereas in the upper part of
the Hispar valley there is a relatively narrow zone consisting of dark grey to black
phyllite paragneisses and light-coloured gneisses (Desio 1974, 1979), in the middle
and lower parts of the valley there are Paleozoic rock complexes of grey-white layered marbles, grey-black garnetiferous calcschists, gneisses and micaschists. Mountain crests situated northward of the Hispar valley are built of migmatite gneisses
and granodiorites of the Great Karakoram Range. !e crests in the S are composed
of green sandstones, quartzites, crystalline limestones and conglomerates of Cretaceous up to Eocene age.
!e Hispar valley course is morphostructurally bound to the selectively eroded
area of Paleozoic formations lying at the immediate contact to the Main Karakoram
!rust. A roughly 10 km broad zone stretches between the rock complexes of the
flyschoid Yasin Group and the Chalt Formation in the Rakaposhi, Minapin and Yengutz Har Massifs (Photo 2), and the huge crystalline rock complexes of the Lupar
Shar and Trivor Massifs of the Great Karakoram Range (Fig. 1). Structurally conditioned slopes in the Main Karakoram !rust zone permit a thorough morphological investigation in the Hunza valley between the village of Hindi and the Silkiang
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Photo 3 Extremely dissected rock relief of the Chogo Lungma ridge (7,000 m) in the Hispar
Mustagh Karakoram was developed by the integration of orogenetic uplifts with rapid climate-morphogenetic processes in the Late Cenozoic. Glaciated ridges consist mainly of crystalline
limestones and dolomites, gneisses and amphibolites of Mesozoic age, large lower slopes are
formed on limestones, marbles and gneisses. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
glacier tongue and southwards of the village of Nagar. Morphostructural conditions
between the Malubiting and the Chogo Lungma Massif (Photo 3) are very complicated toward the E. !eir summit part and practically the whole Haramosh Massif
lying farther to the S are already constituted of migmatite, granite and gneiss bodies
so that Chalt Formation rocks are preserved only in a narrow (ca 10 km wide) zone
between the Minapin Peak and the Chogo Lungma glaciers’ collecting area.
!e direct distance between the main Malubiting summit (7,458 m, Photo 2) and
the Haramosh Peak (7,397 m) is 16 km, that from the latter peak southward to the
Indus canyon bottom (1,500 m) only 15 km. North of the crests connecting the
Rakaposhi and Malubiting Massifs, there runs a zone of flat parts of glacier collecting basins at altitudes of 6,000–6,200 m. It is bounded in its lower part by very steep
rock steps and structural-denudational slopes. Only above this even level, there are
raised gigantic rocky slopes of peaks, displaying varied dissections of the alpinetype relief, mostly on amphibole-biotite gneisses, migmatites and granite gneisses.
Further northward, there is the crest zone between the Mirshikar and Yendutz
Har Peaks, and at altitudes of 5,200–5,400 m the zone of flat ridges extends on the
greenstone complex of ophiolitic mélange rocks. !is zone is crossed by the Silki-
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landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
ang, Bualtar and Miaz glacier valleys. !e lowest level has been recorded at altitudes
of 4,000–4,200 m above the western part of the Hispar valley (Fig. 2) where relics of
relatively low ridges and wide saddles occur as the termination of a long westward
inclined crest in the surroundings of the Nagar locality.
Peaks in the extensive Lupar Shar (7,200 m), Momhil Shar (7,342 m) and Trivor
Massifs (7,720 m) represent huge, sharply bounded units of the Gharesa glacier
region (Kalvoda 1984, 1990) where differentiation of the rock relief and its tectonic
dissection were rendered more marked by cryogenic and glacigenous action (Photos 4 and 5). Morphostructural landforms furnish evidence of details of geological
setting in extensive gorges and walls of the rock relief. !e main morphologically
pronounced structural boundary runs across the lower part of the Gharesa valley
along the geographic latitude (Fig. 3). Southward from this boundary there is a zone
of micaschists and further medium- or weakly metamorphosed crystalline rocks,
whereas in the N there is an area of granodiorites, migmatites and paragneisses.
Fault lines or zones and division into blocks or partial relief units displaying alpinetype landforms are well dispayed. In the summit parts of the mountain massifs strucW Fig. 3 Geomorphological map of the Gharesa glacier area in the Nagar region of the Hispar
Mustagh Karakoram (modified after Kalvoda 1992). Key: 1–13 Endogenous landforms and features: 1–5 structural landforms: 1 – boundary of main structural units, 2 – group of peaks tectonically dissected into blocks, 3 – structural and fault-caused rock steps, 4 – zones of tectonic rock
crushing, 5 – geomorphologically conspicuous fault lines; 6–13 lithological properties of rocks:
6–7 displaying destructional landforms: 6 – granites or granodiorites, 7 – paragneisses and other
metamorphic rocks; 8–13 displaying accumulation landforms: 8 – rock detritus, 9 – coarsed gravel, 10 – pea gravel, 11 – coarse sand, 12 – fine-grained sand, 13 – clayey sand; 14–56 Exogenous
landforms: 14–27 destructional landforms and features: 14 – rock relief of granites or granodiorites, 15 – rock relief of paragneisses and migmatites, 16 – rock relief of micaceous schists and other
lower grade metamorphic rocks, 17 – peaks of altitudes over 7,000 m, 18 – peaks of altitudes over
6,000 m, 19 – crests, 20 – cols and saddles; 21–22 denudational or erosion-denudational slopes:
21 – dipping 0 – 12°, 22 – dipping 13 – 48°; 23 – detachment planes of rockfalls, 24 – nunataks,
25 – roches mountonnées, 26 – front cliffs, 27 – desquamation planes; 28–46 Accumulation landforms: 28 – talus cones, 29 – continuous slope detritus, 30 – accumulation piles of rockfalls or
landslides material, 31 – sliding of detritus; 32–36 glacigenous landforms: 32 – moraines of Ghulkin
II glaciation stage, 33 – moraines of Ghulkin I glaciation stage, 34 – moraines of Batura glaciation
stage, 35 – moraines of Pasu II and I glaciation stages, 36 – recent surface and oscillation moraines of glacier; 37–40 periglacial landforms: 37 – polygonal soils, 38 – paved soils, 39 – thufurs,
40 – solifluction flows; 41–42 eolian landforms: 41 – plateaus on surfaces of up to 3 m thick blown
sediments, 42 – minor irregular up to 50 cm high, active dunes; 43–44 fluvial landforms: 43 – flood
terraces, 44 – alluvial terraces; 45–46 fluvioglacial landforms (terraces) of outwashed morainic
sediments: 45 – earlier generation, 46 – later generation; 47 – areas of glaciers and permanent firn
fields, 48 – contours of valley glaciers, 49 – contours of slope and hanging glaciers, 50 – contours
of permanent firn fields, 51 – main trajects of ice and snow avalanches, 52 – main systems of ice
crevasses, 53 – dead ice blocks, 54 – intermittent lakelets on glacier tobgue surfaces, 55 – intermittent subsurface watercourses of glaciers, 56 – recent snow line; 57–59 Hydrological phenomena:
57 – lakes of glacial origin dammed by moraines, 58 – permanent watercourses, 59 – intermittent
watercourses; 60 – paths, low stone walls and earth pyramides of anthropogenous origin up to
1 m high, 61 – non-persistent cover of alpine vegetation with development of primitive skeletal
soils, 62 – upper boundary of alpine vegetation.
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Photo 4 Detachment area of snow- and ice avalanches from granodiorite rock-slopes of the
summit crest of the Trivor Massif (7,728 m) covered by hanging glaciers is deeply weathered by
rapid frost and eolian processes. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
tural-denudational platforms and moderately dipping slopes have developed only
between the main summit of the Trivor and the unnamed peak of elevation point
7,000 m at altitudes of 6,700–6,900 m (Photo 6), and S of the main Lupar Shar
crest between 5,400–5,600 m. !ese structural-denudational surfaces on the crystalline complexes of the Great Karakoram Range are a suitable accumulation area of
ice masses. Similar cases are the relatively broad parts of glacier valleys below the
eastern walls to the Lupar Shar Massif, and those situated S of the connecting crest
between the Momhil Shar and Trivor Massifs (Photos 7 and 8).
Among the crystalline rocks of the Gharesa glacier region and the adjacent parts of
the Hispar valley NW, N and NE of Nagar village the following main groups of rocks
have been distinguished (Loužková et al. 1988): 1) igneous rocks: biotite granodiorites, biotite quartz diorites, biotite granites, aplites and quartzite; 2) metamorphic
rocks: phyllites, micaschists, plagioclase paragneisses, paragneisses with feldspars
prevailing over plagioclases, greenschists and amphibolites.
Light grey and exceptionally dark grey fine- to coarse- grained biotite granodiorites are the most widespread type of igneous rocks. !ey display subhedral texture,
the minerals being plagioclase An12-46, K feldspar, quartz, biotite, muscovite and
amphibole; titanite, apatite, zircon, carbonate, epidote and ore minerals are accessory. !e plagioclases o6en undergo alteration, mostly saussuritization; sericitization
and carbonatization are less frequent. Biotite in the granodiorites appears as brown
scales 0.2–0.4 mm in size. Muscovite is only sporadically present in considerable
amounts (Loužková et al. 1988).
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Biotite quartz diorites are light grey and mostly medium-grained. !eir texture
is hipidiomorphic; dominating mineral constituents being plagioclase An10-52,
quartz, biotite, amphibole, epidote, muscovite and K feldspar, accessory minerals then titanite, apatite, epidote, zircon, rutile and carbonate. Suitable conditions of their saussuritization are evidenced by relatively large crystals of epidote
0.05–0.1 mm in size. !e biotite forms 0.2 to 1 mm long scales, their breadth being
four times shorter.
Grey coarse-grained granites contain plagioclase An1-30 K feldspar, quartz, biotite, muscovite and accessory apatite, rutile, clinozoisite, carbonate, epidote and
ore minerals. Granites display subhedral texture; secondary alterations of feldspars
and biotite are perceptible. Scales of yellow up to brown biotite are 0.5–2 mm in
size.
Of the metamorphic rocks in the Gharesa glacier region, phyllites and paragneisses are represented in greatest amounts (Loužková et al. 1988). !e phyllites are
most frequently grey to black. !ey are very fine-grained with parallel planes, or
compact. !eir texture is mostly lepidogranoblastic and granoblastic. !e following main minerals are present in the phyllites: albitic plagioclases, quartz, biotite,
muscovite, graphite, tourmaline and carbonates; apatite, Fe oxides and hydroxides
Photo 5 The Lupar Shar Massif (7,220 m), east of the Hunza valley with series of hanging glaciers feeding the Lupar Shar valley glacier, is built of lightest granodiorites and black gneisses of
the Great Karakoram Range. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
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Photo 6 Cirque floors filled with ice- and snow masses (5,800–6,200 m a.s.l.) of the western
catchment area of the Trivor Massif under heavily glaciated mountain crests. Fresh snow and ice
masses in the catchment area of the Gharesa glacier are accumulated in a set of small cirques
above 6,000 m a.s.l. These cirques are divided by sharp ridges and pillars built by deeply fractured
crystalline rocks of the Great Karakoram Range. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
and ore minerals being accessories. Micaschists are grey and fine-grained. !ey
display porphyroblastic, occasionally lepidogranoblastic textures. Quartz, sericite,
muscovite, biotite, staurolite, garnet and plagioclase are their dominating minerals,
whereas zircon, apatite and ore minerals are accessory.
Paragneisses are mostly light to dark grey, fine-grained, with foliation parallel up
to banded, exceptionally linearly parallel. !e paragneisses texture is mostly lepidogranoblastic, occasionally granoblastic. !ey are composed of quartz, plagioclase
An32-58, K feldspar, muscovite, biotite, garnet, sillimanite, amphibole; apatite,
clinozoisite, lepidote, zircon, titanite and ore minerals being accessory. In the Trivor
Massif – the Hunza valley section, the degree of metamorphism increases from
SW to NE. !e metamorphism degree of paragneisses corresponds to the middle
high-temperature and low-pressure facies as may be seen from the following facts
(Loužková et al. 1988): 1) the paragneisses are in all cases muscovite-biotite ones,
exceptionally with sillimanite and cordierite; 2) if K feldspar is present, orthoclase
always prevails over microcline; 3) plagioclases basicity corresponds to andesine,
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Photo 7 Extremely cold and heavily glaciated zone of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram between
the Distaghil Shar Massif (7,886 m) and the Nagar region. The violent destruction of the alpine-type relief by climate-morphogenetic processes has been stimulated by rapid orogenetic activity
during the Late Cainozoic. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
Photo 8 Hanging and short slope glaciers (5,000–5,800 m a.s.l.) flowing directly onto the surface of the main glacier in the Gharesa valley completely covered with ice and perennial snow
masses. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
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Photo 9 Middle part of the icefall southeast of the the Momhil Shar (7,342 m, in the background,
to right) closing at 6,000 m the main catchment basin of a large complex of glaciers. (Photo Jan
Kalvoda)
exceptionally to acid labradorite; 4) the brown-green colour of amphibole is characteristic of the above-mentioned degree of metamorphism. !e general chemical
composition of metamorphic rocks from the Gharesa glacier region (Photos 8 and
9) indicates they belong to basic up to intermediate (47–68 % SiO₂) rocks, and
compared with intrusive rocks, they are enriched by Mn and Ti.
!e upper part of the drainage area of the Hunza river consists of the high mountains of the northern sedimentary zone of the Karakoram Range. !is Tethyan zone
is represented in the N–S direction by the Paleozoic Misgar, Kilik and Gircha Formations building in the near-surface part mountain ridges, o6en markedly rounded,
reaching altitudes between 4,500–6,000 m. !e average thickness of the Misgar
arenaceous slates (with quartz) and porphyrite sills is about 5,000 m (Desio, Martina 1972, Tahirkheli et al. 1979), while that of the Kilik limestones and slates (subordinately also with sandstones) of Permian age is about 4,500 m. !e course of the
upper Hunza and its tributaries (e.g. the Lupar, the Ghujeral and the Adgarch) have
formed relatively wide valleys, tracing the main structural and lithological pattern of
the above-mentioned formations.
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
South of the Mor Khun settlement, the canyon-shaped Hunza valley is incised
in hard Gujhal dolomites, limestones and conglomerates of Triassic to Jurassic ages
(Desio 1964, Goudie et al. 1984a). !e system of the almost parallel Batura, Pasu,
Ghulkin and Shimshal valleys striking W–E joins at a right angle the deeply incised
valley of the Hunza river. In the sector S of the village of Pasu up to westwards of
the Sarat settlement, the antecedently developing Hunza valley is incised into black
to dark grey arenaceous or phyllitic slates (Pasu Formation) and central Karakoram
granodiorite and biotite granite of Miocene age. !us, the Hunza river transversely
cuts the Great Karakoram Range between the almost 8,000 m high Batura and Trivor
Massifs. !e present-day Hunza valley bottom on the lie-line between these main
summits, about 50 km distant, lies at 2,500 m.
When reaching the Neogene migmatitized plagioclase gneisses, the Hunza valley
turns westward in the village of Sarat area, passing into the Upper Paleozoic marbles,
garnet-bearing calcareous schists and gneisses of the Dumordo Formation, then at a
lower level into the Cretaceous to Eocene rocks of the Chalt Formation (Fig. 1). !e
latter formation consists mostly of green sandstones, quartzites, and to a lesser extent of limestones and conglomerates. At the northern foot of the Rakaposhi Massif
(7,788 m) the Hunza valley at about 1,800 m altitude, W of the Pisan and Minapin
glaciers fronts, is only 11 km distant from the main summit. !e morphologically
clearly indicated structural boundary between the Dumordo and the Chalt Formations, consisting of probably Eocene strongly deformed biotite-feldspar-quartzgraphite schists of the Hindi Formation with granodiorite intrusions (Tahirkheli et
al. 1979), lies in the tectonic zone of the Northern Karakoram Suture. !e lower
part of the Hunza river valley is incised in the rocks of the Chalt Formation, which,
N of the small town of Gilgit, is thrust on Eocene amphibole gneisses and Middle
Tertiary basic agmatites with granite gneisses.
3. Climate-morphogenetic zones
3.1 Glacial zone
!e high-mountain zone with a rock-cut landscape of alpine-type ridges displays a
dynamic integration of deep weathering with major glacial and nival morphogenetic
processes (e.g. Photos 3, 4 and 5). Gentle lithological and joint control of relief on
crystalline rocks is suppressed in these areas, though its influence is evident in the
lower lying large glacial and periglacial zones. Snow- and ice- free debris in the glacial zone above 5,000 m a.s.l. has o6en a typical red-brown colour as is very well
known from cold deserts and/or semi-deserts. Weathering rinds were described
by Cílek and Kalvoda (1983) with a depth of several cm. Deep frost weathering
increases pore volume and therefore also susceptibility to moisture due to sunshine
in the day. Intensity and duration of temperatures below freezing point led to deep
rock disintegration and macrogelivation. By contrast, shallow freeze-thaw cycles are
effective for microgelivation.
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landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Platforms in the shape of small altiplanos (Photo 2) and large glacial valleys serve
as an accumulation space for snow and glacier masses of the western Karakoram.
Glaciers of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram developed in a Pleistocene landscape
where tectonically stimulated glacial and fluvial erosion produced very deep, o6en
canyon-shaped, valleys (Schneider 1959, Derbyshire et al. 1984, Goudie et al. 1984a,
b, Li Jijun et al. 1984, Kalvoda 1987, Kalvoda et al. 1987). !e deep entrenchment
due to glacier action was responsible for the steep rocky slopes susceptible to sliding and rockfall in response to glacial unloading, frost-riving and earthquakes. !e
course of very long glaciers in the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram is controlled especially
by strike valleys related to mostly W – E structural patterns (comp. Fig. 3), whereas
the glaciers perpendicular to them are short and steep, and in their collecting areas
o6en of the avalanche type.
!e catchment area of the main composite Hispar valley glacier lies in the surroundings of the Hispar Pass (5,151 m) where it contacts the Biafo glacier through
transfluence. !e Hispar glacier, more than 60 km long, receives a number of lateral
glaciers. Among them the Chogo Lungma glacier group covers the largest area. Further glaciers here are the Khinyang, Jutman and Khami Basa. In the lower part of
the Hispar valley, the fronts of the Gharesa, Barpu and Bualtar glaciers are near the
Nagar settlement (Fig. 4). In the area N of the Trivor and Distaghil Shar Massifs,
the glaciers of Lupar, Distaghil, Malagutti and Yazghil turn northward. Similarly,
in the vicinity of the Hunza canyon-like valley, there are glacier tongue fronts of
the following glaciers: Batura, Pasu, Ghulkin, Hasanabad, Ghulmet, Minapin and
Silkiang.
Goudie et al. (1984a, b) give lengths of some glaciers of the western Karakoram
and altitudes of their tongues (in parentheses) as follows: Hispar 61 km (3,000 m),
Batura 59 km (2,448 m), Barpu 25 km (2,561 m), Pasu 24 km (2,550 m), Ghulkin
W Fig. 4 Geomorphological sketch of the Baltit (a) and Nagar (b) regions in the Hunza and
the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram. Key: 1–4 Underlying rocks on which destructional landforms are
developed: 1 – Upper Paleozoic garnet-bearing calcschists and marbles (Dumordo Formation),
2 – Cretaceaus or Eocene green sandstones, crystalline limestones, conglomerates and quartzites
(Chalt Formation); 3–4 – rock complexes of the Central Karakoram crystalline zone: 3 – black and
grey black gneisses, 4 – Miocene granites and granodiorites; 5–18 – Destructional landforms: 5–6
rock relief: 5 – compact, 6 – strongly disintegrated; 7 – 8 structural-denudational slopes dipping:
7 – 0 to 30°, 8 – over 30°; 9–10 denudational slopes dipping: 9 – 0 to 30°, 10 – over 30°; 11–12
erosional slopes dipping: 11 – 0 to 30°, 12 – over 30°; 13 – crest lines, 14 – ridge lines, 15 – main
summits, 16 – detachment planes of rockfalls and landslides; 17 – U-shaped valleys, 18 – valleys
with distinct manifestations of glacigenous activity; 19–27 Accumulation landforms: 19–20 moraines of ages: 19 – Upper Pleistocene to Subrecent, 20 – recent; 21 – Holocene lacustrine terraces,
22 – Subrecent to recent eolian landforms: drifts of blown sand; 23–24 glacifluvial and fluvial
terraces and fans of ages: 23 – Holocene, 24 – Subrecent to recent; 25–27 slopes with more than
5 m thick cover of Holocene to recent: 25 – stony to sandy-loamy eluvia and deluvia, 26 – stony
to sandy talus cones and scree, 27 – heaps of rockfalls and landslides; 28–30 Anthropogenous
landforms: 28 – stone or partly stone settlements, 29 – stone walls around fields and pastures,
30 – main paths; 31 – glaciers and permanent firn fields, 32 – dead-ice in moraines, 33 – glacier
gate, 34 – brooks and rivers.
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Fig. 5 Quaternery sediments of the Hunza river valley in the foreland of the Pisan glacier below
the northern walls of the Rakaposhi Massif (7,788 m). Key: 1 – glaciated alpine-type relief of the
Chalt Formation rocks, 2 – ice-free rock relief and denudational slopes, 3 – relics of the planation
surfaces at 400–600 m above the present-day bottom of the Hunza valley, 4 – Upper Pleistocene
to Holocene glacigenous fluvial and glaciofluvial sediments in the Hunza valley, 5 – Holocene
glacigenous sediments, 6 – Subrecent glacigenous sediments, 7 – Holocene talus of glacifluvial
sediments, 8 – relics of Early Holocene lateral moraine, 9 – Subrecent and present-day glacifluvial
sediments, 10 – scree.
18 km (2,534 m), Hasanabad 17 km (2,223 m), Ghutulgi Yaz 15 km (3,323 m),
Minapin 13 km (2,150–2,350 m), Pisan 11 km (2,070–2,420 m, Fig. 5) and Ghulmet 7 km (3,050 m). !e maximal movement rate of the glaciers equals hundreds
of metres per year, but differs according to the local geographical situation. For example, Schneider (1969) estimates the movement rate of the Minapin glacier to be
350–645 m.a†¹. !e Batura Glacier Investigation Group (1979) gives 37–115 m.a†¹
for the Batura glacier, in some places reaching up to 517 m.a†¹.
!e variety and dissection of landforms on glaciers and permanent firn fields
above the permanent snow line (Photos 6, 7 and 8) reflect the ice dynamics in very
dissected relief and local microclimatic conditions (Hewitt 1984, Kuhle 1990). To
the most pronounced landforms of this type belong séracs, ogives, niève penitentés,
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
the main system of glacier crevasses and separate glacier fissures (comp. Photos 9
and 10). Big vertical or oblique firn and ice ribs, carved out by wind, as well as obliquely wind smoothed firn ice layers are developed on hanging glaciers and steep
snow fields. Variants of transitional small forms of ice and snow masses surfaces are
very multiform and bizarre. !eir appearance and positions are controlled by their
layering, plasticity, quantity of sand and dust, and by exposive to insolation and
dominating wind currents (Kick 1964, Batura Glacier Investigation Group 1979).
!e maximum height range of glacier surface deformations is 30–35 m, on average
about 10–15 m; the depth of horizontal fissures in icefalls, o6en gaping as low as to
the deep bedrock, reaches 50 m. By combination of effects produced by layers of
isothermal ice, responsible for high sliding velocities (Finsterwalder 1938), abundant subglacier meltwater and considerable inclinations of the bedrock, effective
glacier erosion develops, giving rise to deeply incised troughs and extensive rocky
surfaces with “roches moutonnées”.
Photo 10 Detachment area of avalanches and rockfalls in the zone of hanging and slope glaciers
of the granodiorite and gneiss walls of the nameless peak of elevation point 7,000 m a.s.l. Strongly
glaciated ridges of crystalline rocks south Distaghil Shar Massif (7,886 m) are surrounded by
long crests with steep cliffs cryogenically weathered up to depths of several metres. (Photo Jan
Kalvoda)
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Fig. 6 Position of the relics of accumulation landforms of Quaternary glaciation stages related to
belevelled surfaces in the western Karakoram. In parenthness are relative heights above present-day floors of the main valley.
In the western Karakoram region, strongly weathered erratics from the Shanoz
glaciation stage are the oldest glaciation relics so far preserved. !ey lie on the bevelled Patundas surface at altitudes of 4,000–4,200 m (Derbyshire et al. 1984, Goudie et
al. 1984a), i.e. at a relative height of ca 2,000 m above the present-day Hunza valley
bottom. !e higher-lying Mirshikar bevelled surface (5,200–5,400 m) and another
one at more than 6,000 m already occur in ice mass accumulation areas (Kalvoda
1987, Kalvoda et al. 1987) derived from long past and present-time glaciers (Fig. 6).
!is means that glaciers of later glaciation repeatedly covered and destroyed the
landforms from the Pleistocene timespans earlier than the Shanoz stage. !e downcutting rate of the tectonically stimulated erosion is evidenced since the origin of
the Patundas bevelled surface by deepening of the main valleys by at least 2,000 m
(Fig. 6). !e relief above the Patundas bevelled surface did not yet lie above the
snow line – its development took place at altitudes of 1,800–2,000 m – the glaciation could originate only in higher altitudes of the rising mountain ranges.
Glacial sediments of the Yunz stage are emplaced on gently dipping slopes and
platforms of the sides of the western Karakoram deeply incised valleys at altitudes
of ca 900 m, whereas those of the Hunza stage occur at 500 to 550 m above their
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
present-day bottom (Kalvoda 1992). !e areal extent of the Ghulkin I stage was
substantially smaller than that of the maximum glaciation of the Hunza stage in the
Upper Pleistocene and its sediments are already embedded in the bottom parts of
valleys. Compared with the volume of the mountain massifs, the thicknesses of the
Quaternary sediments of all genetic types are relatively low. Owen et al. (2002)
determined by cosmogenic radionuclides dating (using ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al surface-exposure method on scoured bedrock and moraine boulders) the timing of Borit Jheel
advance of the Hunza glacial stage ca 54.7–43.2 ka. !erefore, their data for older
Shanoz and Yunz glacial stages set a limit of > 60 ka.
!e several tens of metres thick cemented morainic conglomerates of the Hunzastage valley glaciation (Schneider 1959, Goudie et al. 1984a, b, Derbyshire et al.
1984) have been found especially in the lower part of the Hispar valley and above
its junction with the Hunza valley. !eir position shows that during this interval of
the middle part of the Upper Pleistocene, these morainic conglomerates joined with
Photo 11 Very narrow lower part of the canyon-like valley with a surging glacier hanging above
the Hispar valley north of the Chogo Lungma Massif. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
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Photo 12 Deeply weathered rocky slopes on granodiorites with large features of exfoliation in
the periglacial semiarid zone above the terminus of the Gharesa glacier rimmed by a right lateral
moraine of Upper Pleistocene age. Relics of the moraine with earth-pillar landforms are partly
covered by massive talus scree and gently modelled by occasional erosion by water from thawing
snow. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
the Hispar Mustagh glacier tongues (Fig. 4), reached the Hunza valley and crossed it
transversely. A6er their accumulation, a stage of intense vertical erosion followed, so
that the glacigenous Ghulkin I stage sediments lie today in the Hispar valley NWW
of the village of Nagar (2,270 m) at a lower level than the Hunza stage moraines.
!e best preserved glacigenic accumulations occur at the junction of the Hispar
and the Barpu valleys and in its rather wide surroundings (Fig. 4). Material of these
landforms as well as interlayers of fluvioglacial and slope accumulations are visible,
especially in the exposures of the inner side of the lateral moraines of the Ghulkin
I and II and Batura glacial stages. Owen et al. (2002) dated these glacial advances
as follows: Ghulkin I stage ca 25.7–21.8 ka, Ghulkin II stage ca 18.4–15.3 ka and
Batura stage ca 10.8–9.0 ka.
Lateral and frontal moraines of Pasu I and II glaciation stages of Holocene age and
the present-day oscillation are inserted into the several tens of metres high walls of
the Ghulkin and the Batura stages moraines. Lithological composition of the glacig-
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
enous accumulations is comparatively varied; granitoid rocks prevail together with
biotitic slates, limestones, marbles and dolomites; in the Bualtar glacier moraines,
black and green schists are also present.
!e valleys and ridges of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram are overfilled by glacier
masses in high altitudes above ca 6,000 m a.s.l. But large ice source areas o6en contrast with the very narrow canyon-like lower parts of valleys (comp. Photos 8 and
11). !e recent rapid retreat of the glaciers is accompanied by a distinctive increasing
of the active periglacial zone which is a dominant geomorphic process. !is increases
the volume of transported products of denudation and the level of geomorphological hazards, including frequent and extremely risky high-magnitude rapid events of
mass movements triggered by earthquakes, glacier surging, avalanches, flash floods
and landslides.
3.2 Periglacial zone
!e extremely rapid physical weathering creates stony to blocky detritus at the foot
of rock walls or steep slopes in the crest parts of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram. Detritus grain sizes depend on the rock substrate. In crystalline rocks, especially coarsegrained ones, disintegration produces destroyed mountain crests with rock towers
and stone fields (Cílek, Kalvoda 1983, Whalley et al. 1984). !eir fine-grained to
silt disintegration products originate in less metamorphosed or sedimentary rocks.
!ese unconsolidated and mobile weathering products on slopes in the periglacial
zone (Photos 11 and 12) substantially hinder the origin of frost-sorted soils which in
shapes of polygonal and garland soils tend to occur on not very steep slopes between
3,500–4,200 m and on platforms of glacigenous or fluvioglacial accumulations.
At altitudes of 3,000 to 4,500 m small rocky massifs are typical (Photos 1 and 12).
!eir sharp crests and single towers consist especially of granodiorites, limestones
and quartzites. A detailed dissection of these massifs varies relatively rapidly. !e
walls, except the fresh detachment planes of rockfalls, are intensely weathered to
depths of several metres (Cílek, Kalvoda 1983, Brunsden et al. 1984, Goudie 1984,
Whalley et al. 1984). Flat ridges with numerous occurrences of frost cliffs are covered
by stonefields. Rock outcrops are o6en smoothed by glacier action (Photo 12). !e
present decreases in the distribution of permafrost has implications for landscape
stability, which is mirrored in solifluction, rock glacier movements and sediment
release to streams and rivers.
Valley glacier tongues in the periglacial zone are covered with an almost continuous moraine (Photo 13). Marginal detritus walls of the recent glaciers oscillation
contain many interlayers and lenses of dead-ice. Strong insolation, due to an intense
solar radiation and a low relative humidity, gave rise to bizarre variants of nieve penitents on the surface of glacier tongues, leaflike and honeycomb structures, bolus-like
ice forms (Schneider 1969, Mercier 1975) and small temporary lakes. Pebbles and
coarse-grained sandy material of recent moraines support the origin of nieve penitents and honeycombs on the surface of glaciers. !e efficiency of subaerial weathering, combined with maintenance of basal ice at the pressure-melting point in the
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Photo 13 Detail of a continuous surface moraine at the end of the retreating Barpu glacier
tongue and of its huge fossil lateral moraines of the Ghulkin I glaciation stage. In the background,
steep denudational slopes on the Upper Paleozoic claystones and limestones are modelled by
rockfalls and landslides. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
lower reaches (Best et al. 1981, Li Jijun et al. 1984, Shi Yafeng, Zhang Xiansong
1984), produce a load of predominantly superglacial and englacial debris.
Moraines stretching closely to the present-day glacier tongues are modelled by
melting out- and slide processes (Fig. 3). It results in the characteristic appearance of
big walls on flanks and on cones in the central part of the valley, o6en with radially
incised meltwater channels floored by torrential coarse gravels (Photos 13 and 14).
!e most complicated sedimentary sequences of glacigenous origin occur in places
where the frontal parts of glacier tongues oscillated during advances and retreats
from the Upper Pleistocene to the Recent only for a distance of a few kilometres.
As to the distribution and volumes of glacigenous sediments of various ages in
the Nagar region, the areal extent of the Ghulkin I stage was substantially smaller
than that of the maximum glaciation of the Hunza stage in the Upper Pleistocene.
Glacigenous sediments of the Ghulkin I stage had already been embedded in the
bottom parts of the valley. In the Gharesa glacier area most moraines preserved
originated in the Ghulkin II stage of the Lower Holocene, as the earlier glacigenous
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
accumulations had been destroyed (Fig. 3). It happened partly due to the increased
glacier volume in the latter stages of a more intense glaciation, partly by extensive
reworking of the lower valley part, but mainly due to rapid periglacial processes.
Glacifluvial sediments occur at all stratigraphic levels, usually interlayered by tills
(Photos 14 and 15). In the foreland of glaciers, where their advances and retreats
alternated, gradation from fluted tills and push moraines to the present dead-ice
area of the moraine is clearly visible. Dead-ice occurs in the shape of loafs between
supraglacial meltwater gravels. Redeposition of supraglacial debris by sliding is also
evident. Lodgement tills occur at lower levels in Upper Pleistocene to Subrecent
moraines, but their shapes and particle sizes vary. !e described arrangement and
the facies conditions in the surroundings and the foreland of the Hispar Mustagh
Karakoram glaciers render the historical-genetic interpretation of their dynamics difficult. In the Nagar area where the early and the recent sedimentary formations of
the Barpu, the Bualtar and the Hispar glaciers meet (Fig. 4), the relative chronology
of the main advances and retreats of these glaciers from the Late Pleistocene to the
Recent has been identified (Kalvoda 1990) and correlated with further observations
in the Hispar Musatgh Karakoram. Admirable large-scale volumes of the moraine ac-
Photo 14 Glacigenous sediments of the lower part of the Bualtar glacier tongue north of the
Malubiting Massif and very close to Nagar village. Huge walls of lateral moraines, in some sites up
to 160 m high, originated in the last advance of the valley glacier in the Upper Pleistocene. These
moraines are in front of the present-day terminus of the main glacier deeply eroded by the Hispar
and Bualtar rivers. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
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cumulations and rapid changes of the areal extents as well as volumes of the glacier
are emphasized.
!ere is some evidence that the older tills and those derived from a finer-grained
bedrock (e.g. limestones and shales) in the Hunza valley are of rather high densities, finer medium grain-sizes and more markedly anisotropic fabrics. Derbyshire
et al. (1984) suggest that the latter characteristics reflect that glaciers of the earlier
Pleistocene phases, such as Yunz or Hunza stages, were larger than their presentday equivalents. With the exception of the oldest glacial remnants in the shape of
isolated erratics at high altitudes, deflation and desert varnish produced a significant
effect only in the upper several tens of decimetres of the surfacial cover.
Tills of the glacial accummulation in the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram are coarsegrained and very poorly sorted. !ey make up a graded series from subglacial lodgement tills to supraglacial melting out tills. High summer air temperatures in the valleys situated below 3,400 m produce abundant meltwaters at glacier tongues, which
modify the glacier deposits by accumulation of clays and silts and by fluvial incision
into proglacial fans. !is complex interbedding and facies variation over short distances is characteristic of the depositional conditions since the Upper Pleistocene.
Photo 15 Lower part of the Hispar valley in the seasonally cold/warm semiarid zone is filled by
a complex of glacigenous, fluvial and slope deposits of Upper Pleistocene to recent ages, reaching
thickness of over 200 m. The slope movements originated on the very steep denudational slope
(30–40º), which consists of Cretaceous limestones, marbles and phyllites, in the system of terraced agricultural fields. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Photo 16 Upper Pleistocene to recent slope, glacigenous and glacifluvial sediments at the joining
of the Hispar and Barpu valleys incised near the Nagar village in Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic
limestones and marbles of the Dumordo Formation. In the background, structural-denudational
slopes of the western side of the Yengutz Har Peak Massif (7,027 m) displays distinctive features
of various slope movements. (Photo Jan Kalvoda)
!e fronts of the Barpu and the Bualtar glacier tongues descend from the northern slopes of the Chogo Lungma and the Bagrot Massifs as low as to the village of
Nagar (at 2,270 m) and to the seasonally semiarid cold/warm zone (Photos 13 and
16). !e distribution of moraines shows clearly that these tongue fronts underwent
considerable changes as to their length even in historical times. Studying the glaciers
in the Hunza area, e.g. the Minapin, the Pasu and the Hasanabad glaciers, Goudie
et al. (1984b) suggested that in this part of the Karakoram, the dominant glacier
regime was represented by glacier retreat since the latter half of the 19tʰ century. But
during shorter intervals, e.g. between the years 1920 and 1940, the fronts of these
glacier tongues also advanced. Recently, a moderate retreat has been recorded in all
the glaciers of the western Hispar Mustagh Karakoram. !e ablation of the surface
of the long glacier tongues is very intense and results in ice thickness decrease by
10–15 cm.yr†¹. In contrast, the ablation decrease is largely influenced by the continuous cover of the up to 3 m thick moraine.
3.3 Seasonally cold/warm semiarid zone
!e lower parts of the Hispar valley and the Hunza valley are characterized by very
active geomorphological processes, especially by intense weathering of rock masses,
slope movements, and fluvial and wind erosion. !e total material disintegrated on
the very unstable slopes of the Hunza valley may be estimated at 5,000 tons km†².yr†¹
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jan kalvoda — andrew s. goudie
(Goudie et al. 1984a). Less than 2 % of this quantity may also be attributed to chemical weathering. !e climate is semiarid; in the Gilgit area at altitudes of about 1,500 m
annual precipitation is less than inferior to 200 mm, the average annual temperature
in the lower part of the Hunza valley bottom is a little higher than 20 °C (Ferguson
1984, Goudie 1984, Haserodt 1984, Whalley et al. 1984). With rising altitude, air
temperatures in the surrounding massifs decrease while the amount of precipitation
increases. In relation to the intensity of weathering, steepness of the slope and its exposure to insolation as well as its leeward position as to precipitation are important.
In general, the northern and western slopes are more humid then those exposed to
the S and E.
On the extremely high and long steep slopes of the mountain range (Fig. 2),
vegetation is very scanty and the possibility of weathered rocks movement is practically unlimited. Structural-denudational slopes are frequent; their cross sections are
up to more than 2,000 m. Such relief dissection resulted from permanently continuing very active slope movements during which large amounts of rock masses
are displaced by rockfalls, landslides and mudflows (comp. Photos 14 and 15).
!eir accumulation on the Hispar and Hunza valley bottoms and at junctions of
their lateral valley systems, where dejection cones, and walls of glacigenous and
glaciofluvial sediments originated, were recently responsible for a temporary river
damming in some places as well as of pushing the current to the opposite side of
the valley. !ese accumulations represent the immediate source of erosion of the
suspended sediment load (Derbyshire 1984, Owen 1988). For example, in front
of the Hunza river mouth, emptying into the Gilgit, measurements have shown
(Goudie 1984) that the amount of suspended sediment load depends especially
on the runoff, oscillating between 30 and 100 × 10³ tons per year. 50–75 % of the
amount was transported in July and August when the amount of water-transported
sediments exceeded 15 kg.m†³.
Deep-side erosion o6en going across structures of the Great Karakoram Range,
furnishes evidence of an intense continuing tectonic upli6 (Schneider 1959, Goudie
et al. 1984a, Kalvoda 1987 and others). Typical of the canyon-shaped Hunza river
valley is that the sectors with rocky gorges alternate with those where the stream
current produces erosion of tens of metres of Upper Quaternary deposits. A similar
morphostructural and sedimentary relief pattern has been also observed at the bottom of the Indus valley (Figs. 7 and 8) and other distinctive Himalayan and Karakoram rivers.
Steep scree slopes, dipping up to 40° and with their relative heights reaching up
to 1,200 m, occur above the moderately (1–8°) inclined planes of the sedimentary
fill of the Hunza, Hispar and Bualtar valleys (Photos 14, 15 and 16). !ese scree
slopes rim these valleys areas for distance of several kilometres. !ey are conical with
heterogeneous material of various grain sizes derived from rockfalls, landslides and
slow creep of debris. Dissection of scree slope surfaces depends especially on the
lithology of the rocks, which higher up constitute massive and o6en extremely steep
rocky slopes. In places where the river breaks through, the rocky slopes descend as
low as to the valley bottom.
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
Fig. 7 Lithologically varied mostly fluvial accumulation landforms of the Indus valley bottom,
at about 1,500 m a.s.l. in the area of the village Bunji, western Himalaya. Key: 1 – rock relief and
denudational slopes constituted of diorites and gabbrodiorites of the Mesozoic Twar Formation,
2 – 3 series of Indus fluvial sediments from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene: 2 – higher
level at up to 60 m above the present-day valley bottom, 3 – lower level; 4 – rhythmically bedded
fluvial sediments (in the upper part of the slope with slope loams), 5 – accumulation of Holocene
slope sediments, 6 – Late Holocene fluvial sediments of various grain sizes, 7 – fluvial sediments of
the bottom of an intermittent brook, 8 – recent fluvial coarse sands to rounded blocks up to 50 cm
in diameter on the valley bottom, 9 – level of the Indus river.
!e large volume of the Nagar region screes indicates that talus accumulation
takes place rapidly. All taluses are relatively young, originating from the last great
glaciation retreat stage in the Upper Pleistocene (Photo 15). Earlier slope accumulations, as part of moraines and fluvioglacial sediments, were transported into the
lower parts of valleys. !e taluses are characterized by the non-sorted weathered
material, grain sizes of which increase at the foot of the slopes. !e maximum slopes
inclination on screes is 35–37°.
In the origin of the landscape of the western Hispar valley, which is controlled
especially by the huge high-mountain relief, vegetation is of secondary importance
and does not influence it in a more significant way. Only the rather wide surroundings of the village of Nagar display pronounced manifestations of human activities:
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jan kalvoda — andrew s. goudie
Fig. 8 Accumulation landforms of the Upper Pleistocene to Recent series of sediments on the
bottom of the Indus valley, west of the settlement of Chilas in the western Himalaya. Key: 1 – steep
erosional–denudational slopes on Precambrian migmatitic gneisses, granite gneisses and micaschists of the Salkhala Formation, 2 – Late Quaternary accumulation river terrace cut by the
Indus down-ward erosion, whose surface lies about 50 m above the present-day valley bottom,
3 – eolian sands, probably of Late Holocene age, 2–8 m thick, 4 – Late Holocene dejection cone
of the left tributary of the Indus river, of a 12–20 m relative height, 5 – frontal part of a Subrecent
dejection cone, 6 – mostly coarse-grained sandy gravels to pebbles of up to 12 cm diameters of
a recent flood terrace.
paths and roads, mountain village dwellings, and agricultural terrace fields bringing
about dissection of slopes (Photos 14, 15 and 16). !ese are also o6en connected
with the origin of large-scale slope movements. !e disturbance of the soil and
weathered mantle accelerate gravitational processes (e.g. solifluction or landslides)
similarly as does erosion on mountain slopes.
!e intensity of exogenous processes and the high energy and dissection of the
relief furnish evidence that landforms observed today in the seasonally cold/warm
semiarid zone of the Nagar region are very young or represent remodelled relics
of Late Pleistocene landscape. !e detailed traits of the landscape in this climatemorphogenetic zone of the western Karakoram have substantially changed locally
even during the last hundred years. !e main morphogenetic processes and events
of these changes were oscillations of the glacier fronts and volumes in the surrounding mountain massifs (Photo 16), catastrophic landslides and rockfalls of large mass
volumes, intense vertical erosion etc. Rock weathering and a rapid transport of its
products on steep slopes are very effective.
!e lower part of the Hispar valley and the Hunza valley in the Nagar region
are areas of frequent natural disasters with high risks involved in all types of human
activities. !ese valleys are constantly reshaped by huge and frequent slope movements and simultaneous rapid erosion of fluvioglacial and slope sediments.
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
4. Conclusions
!e present-day relief patterns of the western Karakoram are explored in the wide
context of the Cenozoic history of the orogeny in the large region bounded by the
Pamirs to !yan Shan mountain chains in the N and by the Himalayan foredeep
of the Indo-Gangetic lowland in the S. !e dynamic relief changes of the marginal
parts of continental plates at the collision contact – the nappe structure and extensive surface reduction due to folding and metamorphism of geological formations
included – constituted in the Neogene relatively not very high but intensely eroded
mountain belts (Searle 1991, Kalvoda 1992, Cli6 2002).
Rapid erosional unroofing of the Nanga Parbat Massif in the western Himalaya
was initiated at 12–10 Ma (Shroder, Bishop 2000). Averaged rates of maximum incision from areal denudation for mass movements, glacial and river erosion for the
past ca. 55 × 10³ years are recorded between 1.1–3.3 cm.yr†¹. !is field data interpretation corresponds to the Quaternary upli6 rate of the Nanga Parbat – Haramosh
Massifs (Kroll et al. 1996), estimated on the basis of the radiometric evidence of
zircon and apatite fission-track tests. !ese data, which are as low as 1.3 Ma for zircon and 0.4 Ma for apatite, imply that during the Pleistocene the above mentioned
region was upli6ed and eroded at a rate of 1 cm.yr†¹. Foster et al. (1994) studied in
the K2 region of the Baltoro glacier apatite separated from samples collected from
elevations of 5,300 to 8,611 m. !e apatite yielded fission-track ages of 2.1 ± 0.6
to 4.3 ± 1.4 Ma, and suggest an initial, apparent denudation rate of 3–6 mm.yr†¹
commencing a6er 5 Ma. One zircon from 6,600 m gave a mean fission-track age of
32 ± 6 Ma. !e mid-Tertiary zircon age delimits the maximum amount of Pliocene
denudation to 7,000 m. Quaternary surface processes in the western Himalaya and
the Karakoram were sufficient to produce the present-day extremely dissected highmountain relief.
Our geomorphological observations in the western Karakoram essentially confirm
the magnitude of upli6 of the mountain range in the Late Cainozoic. !e Miocene
granites and granodiorites of the Batura and Trivor Massifs (Photo 1) were exposed
as early as in the Pliocene. In the section of river and glacier valley slopes of the
Nagar region, there are morphologically pronounced zones of the main faults and
thrusts which are very steeply inclined (40° to 80°). Differential upli6s of amplitudes
of several thousand metres occurred in the Quaternary. Similarly as in neighbouring
regions of the Himalaya and the Karakoram, a striking phenomenon in the Nagar
region of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram is that the oldest relics of Quaternary sediments in accumulation landforms are younger than 2 × 10⁵ years. Moreover, most
of these sediments are from Upper Pleistocene time and probably younger than
50 × 10³ years.
Geomorphological analysis of landform patterns in the Nagar region of the
Hispar Mustagh Karakoram related to morphotectonic features of relief-building
processes in the Late Cainozoic can be used for an evaluation of the dynamics of
erosion and exhumation of rocks during ongoing mature stages of collision orogeny
(comp. Kroll et al. 1996, Shroder, Bishop 2000, Burbank 2002). Landform groups
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jan kalvoda — andrew s. goudie
of the Nagar region prove that the comparatively great dissection of its relief (Fig. 2)
originated during the Quaternary. !e downward erosion proceeds in valleys more
rapidly than does the erosion at lowering of mountain ranges. Differences of this
kind appear in geomorphological resistances of crystalline, not high grade metamorphosed or sedimentary rocks. Crystalline rocks more resistant to the influences of
the exogenous processes (comp. Photos 2 and 4) gradually occupied during rapid
exhumation a larger area in the evolved mountainous relief at the expense of sedimentary formations. !e relative chronology of the mountain relief evolution in the
Quaternary testifies to dramatic morphotectonic changes of the Nagar region. !ese
changes furnish evidence not only of a qualitatively new stage in the relief development since the origin of paleosurfaces of the Neogene age (comp. Fig. 6), but also
witness of the continuing collision orogeny in the western Karakoram.
!e dynamics of recent geomorphological processes in the vertical climate-morphogenetic zones of the Nagar region shows that glacial, nival and cryogenic processes are very effective at destroying the rock massif upli6ed during mature stages
of collision orogeny (Photos 3, 4 and 5). However, rapid unroofing and exhumation of deeper parts of the rock massifs also needs vigorous transport agencies, e.g.
transgression of glaciers and intensive activity of winds in arête ridges and glacial
zones and/or rapid action of water in periglacial and seasonally cold/warm zones.
Morphostructural and lithological control of characteristic weathering phenomena
is evident in a distinctive vertical climatic zoning of rugged mountain relief from
the extremely cold alpine-type ridges of the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram (Photos 5,
7 and 10) through to the heavily glaciated and periglacial areas in the seasonally
cold/warm semiarid Hunza valley. !e long-term interaction between the intensity
of morphostructural processes, including the extent of the tectonic exhumation of
deep-crustal rocks, and the changeable rates of denudation and outward flux of
eroded material, is the key factor of chronodynamics of the rapid upli6 in the Nagar
region of the Hispar Mustagh Krakoram.
!e geomorphological observations suggest that the frequency and magnitude
of recent landform changes in the Hispar Mustagh Karakoram are increasing from
a very cold and dry arête ridges and glacial zones across a large periglacial area up
to seasonally cold/warm landscape with semi-arid climatic conditions. Dynamic
changes of landscape pattern are controlled and/or accompanied by rapid endogenic and exogenic geomorphological processes and events, which are an important
evidence of the present-day severe natural hazards.
Continuous denudation of the near-surface part of Great Karakoram rocks from
the Neogene to the present time is caused by their orogenic upli6 as well as global
or regional changes of climate (comp. e.g. Kalvoda 1992, Brozovic et al. 1997, Burbank 2002). !e recent landform changes are a consequence of the high intensity of
climate-driven morphogenetic processes with very effective erosion and transport
of weathered material in periglacial and seasonally cold/warm mountain zones. !is
phenomenon is in striking contrast to the relatively small range of long-term denudation and transport of weathered material in the northern cold and semi-arid climatic region of Tibet (Fielding 1996). !e paleogeographical consequence of these
landform evolution in the nagar region, hispar mustagh karakoram
long-term differences is conspicuously deep penetration of erosion and denudation
to rock massifs in regions of steep windward Tibetan-foreland transitions with the
influence of humid air masses leading to development of a deeply-entranched relief
of mountain massifs (Beaumont et al. 2001). !e total amount of denudation at
present-day rugged high-mountain relief can be estimated at approximately 6,000 m
per 1 Ma (Hubbard et al. 1996, Searle et al. 2003).
!e high intensity of recent denudation and transport of weathered and eroded
material correlates with an absence of older than Late Quaternary sediments. !e
dynamics of these climate-morphogenetic processes asserts the long-term denudation rates, which are driven by the active tectonic processes. It suggests a long-term
influence of these geomorphological processes on the exhumation of deeper parts
of the Earth’s crust and the dynamics of orogenic upli6s of the western Karakoram.
It also is suggested that extreme exhumation of deep crystalline rocks in the Hispar
Mustagh Karakoram is the result of morphotectonic processes as well as effective
tuning of paleogeographical changes in extension of the main climate-morphogenetic zones during the Late Cainozoic.
Acknowledgements
e presented paper was completed in the framework of physical geography themes of the research project of the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, MSM 0021610831
“Geographical systems and risk processes in the context of global changes”.
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