Hi,
I read this interesting article on net and thought to share with community.
The Holy Cave of Shri Amarnath Ji is an important pilgrimage destination situated in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir and every year thousands of devotees throng this area where the holy cave is situated at an altitude of about 3850m. Holy Cave area is located approximate ly 110 Km from the Srinagar and approximately 15 Km from Baltal base camp. The area can be approached upto Baltal from Srinagar by the motorable road and from Baltal to Holy Cave by the foot track (approx 15 km). The area is represented by extremely rugged, highly dissected, sub vertical to vertical hill slopes (mostly rocky and barren) modified by glacial, fluvial and ground water karst systems and is rep resented by high peaks, U and V shaped valleys with heights above 3850m alt itude. The U-shaped valley of Amarnath exposes limestone rocks with thin shale/slate units of Wuyan Formation of Vihi Group of Triassic age. The upper Amarnath valley consists of thickly bedded limestone with very occasional thin slate units whereas, the lower Amarnath valley comprises of thickly bedded alternate sequence of limestone and slate units. The primary bedding of rocks trend in NW-SE direction with moderate to steeply dipping (20-70°) towards west. The higher and upper reaches in the catchment acted as the barrier to the moisture laden clouds and the steep and narrow profile along the channel of Northern side of Amravati Nala might have provided the orographic climb. The precipitation data, as available through Climate SERV, indicates about 18-19 mm of rainfall around the reported time. The variation in the temperature would have facilitated the sudden downpour over a very limited valley profile, adjacent to the Holy Cave area, thus causing the deluge. The constricted tributary channels/streams of Amravati nala could not cater to the excessive discharge and the wavered flow might have been directed towards the left bank, where the infrastructure facilities and the camps, had been established. It has been observed that several boulders are strewn along the steeper bed of the stream in the upstream area above the waterfall which is assessed as a potential hazard for area lying at lower levels.
Thanks
Samriddhi
