ABSTRACT
Modern study of the Quaternary glacial history of the Himalayan mountains is still in its infancy. Apart from the obvious difficulties of access, the interpretation of many of the sedimentary sequences frequently initiates contentious debate and much remains to be learned of the extent and timing of the Pleistocene glaciations. Much speculative correlation has been done to make limited sense out of discontinuous and poorly exposed sections. Furthermore, some speculation has been in violation of the principle of parsimony in which Occam’s Razor dictates that we keep our explanations simple if we lack reasonable data. Questions of precedence and nationalistic competition also have impinged adversely upon this work, wherein valid prior observations going back nearly a century and even those of more recent vintage have not been taken sufficiently into account because of both the generally admitted need to reinterpret prior efforts and too hurried publication. In addition, little is known about glacial dynamics in the Himalaya, thus making it difficult to interpret ancient sediments and to interrelate them or to reconstruct past glacial systems. This is particularly so in the Karakoram mountains and the Nanga Parbat Himalaya.
