Thermoluminescence dating and its implications for the chronostratigraphy of loess-paleosol sequences in the Kashmir Valley (India)

Abstract

The Karewa deposits of the tectonic basin of Kashmir in India are overlain by eolian loess. This loess (up to 25 m thick) is divided by several paleosols, which have been recently studied and classified in detail. Thermoluminescence dating of these deposits in conjunction with micromorphological analysis enables the following conclusions: 1.(1) The Bt soil horizon at around 9.5-m depth at Karapur and its stratigraphic equivalents at other localities is the last interglacial soil that can be compared to stage 5e of the deep-sea oxygen-isotope chronology. 2.(2) There were at least three warm, soil-forming episodes during the period 80-50 ka ago. 3.(3) The entire loess sequence at Kashmir spans at least 300 4.(4) The remanents of the Karewa lake touched the fringes of Himalayan flank at Burzahom until the end of the previous last glacial. 5.(5) Most of the radiocarbon dates reported so far are grossly underestimated.