LOST RIVER OF THAR DESERT

Oct. 23, 2020

Researchers have found the evidence of a "lost" river that ran through the central Thar Desert, near Bikaner, as early as 172 thousand years ago, and may have been a life-line to human populations enabling them to inhabit the region.

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  • The findings represent the oldest directly dated phase of river activity at Nal Quarry in the central Thar Desert. The study indicates that Stone Age populations lived in a distinctly different Thar Desert landscape than we encounter today.

  • This evidence indicates a river flowed with phases of activity dating to approximately up to 172 thousand years ago, nearby to Bikaner, Rajasthan, which is over 200 kilometres away from the nearest modern river.

  • These findings predate evidence for activity in modern river courses across the Thar Desert as well as dried up course of the Ghaggar-Hakra River.

  • The results indicated that the strongest river activity at Village of Nal occurred at approximately 172 and 140 thousand years ago, at a time when the monsoon was much weaker than today in the region. River activity continued at the site between 95 to 78 thousand years ago.

Source : Livemint

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