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Himalayan Research Laboratory (HRL) at Auburn Geology was established in 2000, with the overall objective to analyze orogenic sediments and groundwater in the Himalayan foreland basins, in order to help both reconstruct the history of Himalayan mountain building and evaluate present-day environmental concerns in this highly populous region.

Mineral phases of Cenozoic sediments from Himalayan foreland basins are analyzed to develop history of petrofacies evolution of clastic wedges from the Himalayas and the Indo-Burman ranges, and construct regional stratigraphy in the greater Himalayan area. Groundwater and sediments from alluvial aquifers are analyzed to suggest their mutual relationships with the levels and mobilization of arsenic carried via stream systems from the Himalayas and the Indo-Burman ranges.

Research from this lab is critical in establishing a robust, basin-wide stratigraphic framework for interpreting basin history, exploiting petroleum potential, identify arsenic-free groundwater horizons, and deciphering detrital record of mountain building in the eastern Himalayas and the Indo-Burman ranges. The goals of  HRL are (i) to improve our understanding of the development of the Himalayas, providing ground truth necessary for evaluating models of collisional processes, (ii) and to comprehend water-sediment interactions and biogeochemical processes operating within alluvial aquifers that hold arsenic of cataclysmic proportion in groundwater that is being used by 100's of millions of people in the southern Himalayan basins.

Last Updated: 10/20/2021