SCIENTISTS may have to redate geological deposits in vast areas
of the Himalayas following allegations of scientific misconduct
against a prominent geologist in India. Fossils supposedly found
over an area stretching from Kashmir to Bhutan never came from
the Himalayas, according to an Australian palaeontologist.
Geologists date fossils to discover the age of the sediments
that encase them. Over the past 25 years, fossil finds reported
by Viswa Jit Gupta, from Panjab University in Chandigarh, have
been used widely to help to date the Himalayan region. The
fossil record of the Himalayas has also been thrown into
confusion following the allegations. John Talent, from the
school of Earth sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney,
accuses Gupta of creating 'a quagmire of palaeontological
disinformation'. Gupta, who has threatened to sue Talent, said
last week that the allegations were 'baseless, mischievous,
personal and biased'. Gupta has published more than 300 articles
in ... To continue reading this article,