Climate and other factors in the development of river and interfluve profiles in Bhutan, Eastern Himalayas

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The longitudinal profiles of the main N–S aligned rivers and the crests of the interfluve mountain ranges of Bhutan have been plotted against latitude. The river profiles are highly variable, even between branches of the same system. The main rivers in Eastern Bhutan are antecedent and rise in Tibet. They have irregular concave bed profiles in deep steeply sided valleys. The rivers further west rise on the southern slopes of the High Himalaya. They have stepped profiles with steep concave sections in gorges through the southern mountains and one or more concave sections upstream, separated by knickpoints. All of the N–S interfluve ranges rise steeply from the piedmont. Some then dip to major passes before again rising irregularly northwards to the High Himalaya, whilst others continue to climb northwards as irregular monoclines. The combination of various types of river and interfluve profiles creates a range of valley forms. The heterogeneity means that it is not possible to generalise about a typical Bhutanese river, interfluve or valley relief profile. There is no indication that the rivers of Bhutan have more knickpoints than those of the Central and Western Himalayas. Rainfall and runoff data, soils and natural vegetation have been examined for indications of significantly drier conditions in eastern Bhutan. The rainfall data show an eastwards decrease in the southern foothills, probably due to the rainshadow cast by the Meghalaya Plateau to the south, but mean annual totals are about or above three metres throughout, and the whole of this zone has a wet climate. There is no marked E–W climatic trend in the drier interior of Bhutan. We attribute the general topographic structure of Bhutan, and the variability of river and interfluve profiles and valley forms more to tectonic factors than to climatic variation.