TY - JOUR AU - Adhikari, Basanta Raj AU - Paudayal, Khum Narayan PY - 2020/09/16 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Palynological evidence for the Neogene environment analysis of the Thakkhola Graben, Nepal JF - Journal of Nepal Geological Society JA - Journal of Nepal Geological Society VL - 60 IS - 0 SE - Articles DO - 10.3126/jngs.v60i0.31260 UR - https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JNGS/article/view/31260 SP - 117-129 AB - <p>The Thakkhola Graben, a north-south graben, lies in central Nepal Himalayas consisting of Neogene sediments. The presence of pollens in these sediments provides a unique natural laboratory to understand the paleoenvironment during the formation of the graben. This study provides a detailed description of the pollen collected from the Tetang and Thakkhola formations with the help of the Light Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope. A variety of pollen assemblages from the Thakkhola Graben explains that the sediments contain dominant alpine trees with some steppe vegetation. Presence of evergreen subtropical and temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest, needle-leaved element, and high altitude taxa show a mixed pollen assemblage in fluvial-lacustrine sediments of the graben. The presence of evergreen subtropical and temperate deciduous broadleaf forest (<em>Quercus, Betula</em>, <em>Juglans</em>, <em>Alnus</em>), needle-leaved element (<em>Pinus, Tsuga</em>) and high altitude taxa (<em>Picea, Abies</em>) with <em>Artemisia</em>, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae show mixed pollen assemblages indicating warm and humid paleoclimate. The coniferous pollen indicates the altitude was higher during the deposition time and the presence of <em>Betula, Quercus, </em>and <em>Juglans </em>suggests temperate forest. Domination of <em>Artemisia </em>and Chenopodiaceae shows a strong influence of the Himalayan topographic barrier during the sediment deposition.</p> ER -