An Introduction to Karewa Deposits and their Economic Significance

The word Karewa is found in the Kashmiri dialect, which means “elevated table-land.” The term ‘Kawera’ was first employed by Godwin-Austin in the year 1859 and lantern on by Lydekker in 1878 for an unconsolidated to the semi-connected sand-clay-combination sequence. These sediments are formed as terraces, plateaus, and mounds and the remaining over the Paleozoic-Mesozoic sediments of the Kashmir ‘basin’. In1939, De Terra and Patterson titled the first detailed explanation of these Quaternary sediments.

Karewas are the deposits in a lake (also called the lacustrine deposits) that are composed of sand, silt, clay, shale, mud, lignite, gravel, and loessic sediments. 

The deposits are of great economic significance in terms of agricultural and horticultural practices in the Indian valley. You may find the world-famous saffron, also known as Zafron, on these deposits. This page gives an introduction to karewa deposits and their economic significance and discusses their formation in detail. 

What is Karewa Formation?

The Kashmir valley is an egg-shaped basin that is 140 km long and 40 km wide. This basin is aligned in the NNW–SSE direction. It is an intermountain valley fill involving unconnected rock and mud. A progression of plateaus is present over the Plains of Jhelum and its feeders. 

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The plateaus-like terraces in the above figure are called 'Karewas' or 'Vudr' in the neighbourhood language. Regardless of nonstop erosion for a long period of time, the greater part of the valley is as yet deposits of Karewa. Additionally, Karewas are lacustrine, i.e., deposits in the lake) in the Valley of Kashmir also in the Bhadarwah Valley of the Jammu region. These are the level topped (plateau-like) mounds that border the Kashmir Valley on all sides. They are portrayed with fossils of well-evolved mammals and at places by peat. 

Karewas were formed in the Pleistocene Period (1 million years prior) when the whole Valley of Kashmir was submerged. Because of the ascent of Pirpanjal, the waste was impounded, and a lake of around 5000 sq. km area was created and hence a basin was framed. In this manner, the lake was drained through the Baramulla gorge. The deposits left in the procedure are known as karewas. The thickness of karewas is around 1400 m. 

The karewas have been raised, taken apart, and eliminated by subaerial denudation to be in the current position. The Karewa deposits in the Kashmir valley have been routinely segregated into the following two phases:

Both the lower and the upper Karewas address argillaceous and arenaceous facies individually. The upper Karewas are less fossiliferous as compared to the lower Karewas. The whole belt touching the foothills of the Pirpanjal addresses the lower Karewas, which has been presented to the rivers originating from the south, for example, Veshav, Rembiara, Romushu, Dodhganga, Shaliganga, Boknag nar, and Ningli. Lower Karewa segments in the following regions: 

• Aharbal, 

• Anantnag, 

• Arigam, and

• Baramulla has been uncovered by these rivers.    

The remainder of the Karewa deposits possesses the centre of the whole flank of the valley, including Pampore, Srinagar, Burzuhom, Dilpur, Pattan, Parihaspora, and portions of Baramulla District. 

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These address the upper Karewas of the valley. The late Cenozoic deposits uncovered in the Kashmir valley expect exceptional importance as they are widely fluvioglacial, fluvial, lacustrine, and eolian in origin. The age assurance of a Karewa depends on the relationship between Karewa and Shiwalik fauna from India and Pakistan. As long as the age is considered, the absence of chronological order has obstructed the development of a detailed reconstruction of the Karewas depositional history in the intermountain basin of the valley.

The Karewas Formation: A Treasure of Kashmir Soon to be Lost Forever

In the past, correlations among Karewa and Shiwalik fauna have been based principally on lithological similarities and restricted palaeontological information. The dating strategies like Magnetostratigraphy and fission track allowed a credible order for the sediments deposited in the basin. Through these techniques, archaeologists found that the dated Karewa silt length stretch from 3.0 to 0.4 m.y. Geographical field endeavours by various national and international workers have helped gather an abundance of fossil information over the most recent two centuries. Vertebrate palaeontological investigations of the Karewa Bunch go back to the hour of Godwin-Austen (1864), which reports of fish scales from Gogjapatri, Liddarmarg, and Yusmarg. Hora depicted the remaining parts of Schizothorax and Oreinus from the Ningli Nala segment at Butapatri.

DeTerra and Paterson reported that  Elephas hysudricus, Cervus, Rhinoceros, Felis, and Shivatheriumgiganteum are from the Somber and Nagam areas. 

Besides the micro and immense vertebrate fossils, Karewas are rich in Ostrocods that give palaeoecological importance. 

The various studies carried on Ostrocods show that the upper Karewas were stored in an enormous, permanent, cool, alkaline lake that was fed by various sluggish weedy feeders. Likewise, the palaeoenvironment of lower Karewas has piled a fraction of the way shallow to profound lacustrine, halfway fluvial, and swampy conditions. The Ostrocods are profoundly reasonable for palaeoecological studies as a result of their amazing safeguarding, incredible bounty, and quick dispersal. 

Nonetheless, individuals in the area appear to obliterate these tablelands at the expense of development and petty trade, overlooking the geographical and aesthetic significance of these arrangements despite the fact that alternative construction and building material is accessible in huge sums. 

This only shows our obliviousness about understanding earth sciences as a subject. The rich fertile soil is being utilized for landfill purposes at building destinations which isn't just wastage of assets, yet a danger considering the high seismic zone our Valley falls into. The rush of trucks and work vehicles into these areas for soil brings about air pollution. The residue hinders the stomata of the leaves of apple trees which then, at that point makes the trees dry. The residue likewise causes serious health problems to the nearby individuals. 

The karewas are home to one-of-a-kind biodiversity. The renowned almond orchids are very well grown in the soils of karewas. Their annihilation brings about the loss of such unique biodiversity of Kashmir. The laxity of the concerned authorities will prompt the destruction of these karewas, particularly in the Pattan region. The public authority representatives take cash from individuals and allow them to obliterate these karewas without knowing the effects which are looked at by us all. Many examples are found around the Pattan region where agricultural lands are filled, particularly close by National Highways. 

Indeed, the agriculture of the valley predominantly endures and supports Karewa soils. The world-well-known saffron from Pampore and apples from Shopian are the best examples on one side. The widespread anthropogenic disintegration for several years has diminished the plateau lands into ugly ravines. Accordingly, we need to save this land’s fortune and heritage for the ages to come. The government needs to give special consideration to forestall the destruction of these unique fortunes of Kashmir; else the outcomes will be malicious in the future.

Recent Highlights on Karewa Deposits: Karewa Deposits and their Economic Significance

• Recent upliftment in North-Western Himalaya has led to the making of above 1000 m of Kashmir deposit basins called the "Karewa". 

• Delicate sediment deformation structures of different sorts were found in Karewa of Kashmir. 

• The Intermontane Kashmir basin lies in a seismically dynamic zone, seismic zone V and has confronted a huge number of harmful tremors in the past. 

• The Karewa sediments were examined for delicate sedimentation structure constructions. 

• The examination of the deformed structure prompts decide the neotectonic action nearby.