We develop a new glacial chronostratigraphy for the detailed study area described in this Amyloid Beta-peptide (25-35) paper that includes the southern slopes of the Greater Himalaya in central Garhwal south of the peaks of Ratangrian (5858 m asl), Phating Pithwara (6904 m asl), and Kedarnath (6940 m asl) (Figs. 1 and 3). The valley floors within the study area rise from ∼3000 m asl and contain glaciers that advance down to elevations <3800 m asl. Contemporary glacial systems in Garwhal have been studied to the east and north of our detailed study area (Haritashya et?al., 2006, Haritashya et?al., 2010, Singh et?al., 2006, Singh et?al., 2007 and Singh et?al., 2008). Reconstructions of former ice extents have concentrated on the Bhagirathi valley where Sharma and Owen (1996) and Barnard et al. (2004a) used OSL and TCN methods to date moraines. The region is influenced by the southwest Indian monsoon and receives much of its precipitation as monsoonal rain (probably 50–60%) from June to September, and snowfall from November to May. There are no meteorological stations in the new study area so local climate statistics are not available, but annual precipitation is estimated to be >1500 mm by comparison to data for the Gangotri region to the north (Sharma and Owen, 1996) and TRMM Precipitation (PR)/TRMM Microwave Imager TM1 data (Bookhagen and Burbank, 2010). There is considerable microclimatic variation with altitude and aspect within and between valleys. The main flora in the region include Quercus incana, Rhododenron arboreum, Pieris ovalifolia, Cednes deodara, which are tolerant to long-lying snow cover, and Artemisia marilima, Pinus excelsa, Pinus geradiana, and Betula utelis which occur as pioneers on scree, rock, and steep slopes ( Schweinfurth, 1968). The treeline in Garhwal is represented by B. utelis at an altitude of ∼4150 m asl ( Sharma and Owen, 1996).
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