Sedimentary facies and micro-fossil analyses, and AMS 14 C dating were performed in order to reveal the water-level fall events and draining process of the lake (Paleo-Kathmandu Lake) that existed in the past in the Central Nepal Himalaya. The sedimentary facies change from the lacustrine Kalimati Formation to the deltaic Sunakothi Formation in the southern and central Kathmandu basin, and the abrupt and prominent increase of phytoliths Bambusoideae and Pediastrum, and contemporaneous decrease of sponge spicule and charcoal grains around 48 and 38 ka support the lowering of water level at these times. According to the pollen analysis, both events occurred under rather warm and wet climate, thus supporting that they were triggered by tectonic cause and not by climate change. The first event might be linked to a possible occurrence of a large earthquake with an epicenter in the vicinity of the PaleoKathmandu Lake. The occurrence of a mega landslide in Langtang area close to the north of the Kathmandu Valley producing pseudotachylite dated at 51 ± 13 ka could be linked to this earthquake. Finally, the water was completely drained out from the remnant lake at the central part of the Kathmandu basin by ca.12 ka.

Quatenary fluvio-lacustrine basin-fill sediments in the southern part of the Kathmandu Basin was studied in order to clearify the stratigraphy and reconstruct the sedimentary environment during the initial stage of the Paleo-Kathmandu Lake. Six stratigraphic units; Tarebhir, Lukundol, Itaiti, Kalimati, Sunakothi Formations and Terrace gravel deposits, have been described based on field observation of lithology and sediment distribution. The Tarebhir Formation is the basal unit which is overlained by alluvial fan of the Itaiti Formation in the southern part and by the marginal lacustrine deposit of the Lukundol Formation towards the northern part. Further 3 km toward the north from the basin margin at Jorkhu the the Lukundol Formation is overlain by the open lacustrine facies of the Kalimati Formation. At the same locality the latter is overlain by fluvio-lacustrine facies of the Sunakothi Formation. Moreover, the Terrace gravel deposits erosionally cover the Sunakothi Formation. The Kalimati Formation thickens northward, while the Sunakothi Formation thickens between the central and southern part of the basin. The study shows that the Sunakothi Formation is of fluvio-lacustrine (fluvial, deltaic and shallow lacustrine) origin and extends continuously from the southern margin (~1400m amsl) to the central part (~1300m amsl) of the basin. It also indicates that sediments of this formation were deposited at the time of lake level rise and fall. Thick gravel sequence in the southern margin represents the alluvial fan before the origin (before 1 Ma) of the Paleo-Kathmandu Lake, while thick gravel sequence situated above the Sunakothi Formation is the Terrace gravel deposits of the late Pleistocene age (14C method), deposited during and after the shrinkage of the Paleo-Kathmandu Lake from south to north.   doi: 10.3126/bdg.v11i0.1544 Bulletin of the Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, Vol. 11, 2008, pp. 61-70

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a b s t r a c tThis paper reports the results of clay mineral analysis (the amount of clay fraction, clay mineral assemblages, illite crystallinity) of samples collected from a drilled core (Rabibhawan (RB) core) located in the westcentral part of the Kathmandu Basin on the southern slope of the Central Himalaya. The amount of clay fraction in the core sediments between 12 m and 45 m depth (corresponding to ca. 17-76 ka), which belong to the Kalimati Formation, is variable and shows three clay-poor zones (19-31 ka, 44-51 ka, and 66-75 ka). The variations correspond with those of illite crystallinity index (Lanson index (LI) and modified Lanson index (MLI)) and kaolinite/illite ratio as well as the fossil pollen and diatom records reported by previous workers. These data reveal the following transformations occurring during the weathering process in this area: micas ðmainly muscoviteÞ→illiteð→illite−smectite mixed layer mineral ðR = 1ÞÞ→kaoliniteThe sedimentation rate (~50 cm/kyr) of clay-poor zones that correspond to dry climate intervals is only half that of clay-rich zones (~120 cm/kyr) that correspond to wet climate intervals, indicating weakened chemical weathering and erosion and low suspended discharge during dry climate intervals. The clay-poor zones commonly show unique laminite beds with very fine, authigenic calcite, which was probably precipitated under calm and high calcite concentration conditions caused by low precipitation and run-off. The variations between dry and wet conditions in this area as deduced from clay minerals appear to follow the Indian Summer Monsoon Index (ISMI) (30°N-30°S, 1 July) and northern hemisphere summer insolation (NHSI) signals (30°N) at 1 July, especially during the dry climate zones, whereas the wet maxima of the wet climate zones somewhat deviate from the strongest NHSI. On the other hand, the dry-wet records lead markedly the SPECMAP stack (by about 5000 years). These results suggest that the Indian summer monsoon precipitation was strongly controlled by the NHSI or summer insolation difference between the HimalayanTibetan Plateau and the subtropical Indian Ocean, showing a major fluctuation on the 23,000 years precessional cycle, and that it was not driven by changes in high-latitude ice volume, although the records of clay mineral indices during the wet intervals leave a question that other factors, in addition to insolation forcing, may play important roles in weathering, erosion, and sedimentation processes.