Unraveling Recent Crustal Movements of The Marginal Gangetic Alluvial Plains:
A Computer Aided Geomorphic Approach
MISHRA M N
THE MARGINAL GANGETIC ALLUVIAL PLAINS
STUDY AREA ~ 6000 sq km
STUDY AREA
INDIA
RAVINOUS TRACT
PENINSULAR UPLAND
AMPHETHEATRE headed DEEP GULLIES
KANKAR HORIZONS
HEIGHT OF THE SCARP 25 m APPROX.
INITIATION OF BADLAND TOPOGRAPHY IN CLAYEY LITHOLOGY
MORPHOTECTONIS & RECENT CRUSTAL MOVEMENTS
STUDY OF RECENT OR QUATERNARY CRUSTAL MOVEMENTS INVOLVES A THOROUGH APPRAISAL OF MORPHOTECTONCS
MORPHOTECTONICS IS GEOMORPHOLOGY OF LANDFORMS WHOSE CHARACTER IS RELATED TO RECENT TECTONICS
ELEMENTS OF MORPHOTECTONICS
FAULTING, TILTING & FOLDING OF QUATERNARY DEPOSITS
SEPARATION OF RIVER TERRACES LACAL VARIATIONS IN RIVER GRADIENT AND INCISION SECTORIAL DEVELOPMENT OF TERRACES OFF-SETTING OF RIVERS ACROSS LINEAMENTS WARPING OF PLANATION SURFACES DIFFERENTIAL ACCCUMULATION OF YOUNG SEDIMENTS SEISMOTECTONICS
THE PRESENT STUDY BLENDS
TRADITIONAL GEOMORPHIC TECHNIQUE & COMPUTER-AIDED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE
TRADITIONAL GEOMORPHIC TECHNIQUE
SYSTEMATIC GEOLOGIC & GEOMORPHIC MAPPING STUDY OF MULTI-DATE TOPOSHEETS, AERIAL PHOTOS & IMAGES (IRS LIII) (PERIODS 1922, 1952, 1976, 1990)
COMPUTER-AIDED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE
EXTREME FLATNESS OF THE TERRAIN NECESSITATED THE USE OF THE COMPUTER FOR THE STUDY OF RELIEF & SLOPES DTM & CONTOUR MAP (1m) WERE GENERATED BY DIGITIZING SPOT HEIGHTS
ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTER-AIDED TECHNIQUE
THE STUDY HELPED IN UNDERSTANDING
THE BASEMENT TECTONICS
MORPHOLOGIC RESPONSE OF RIVERS TO ACTIVE TECTONIC DEFORMATION
UNRAVELING LATE QUATERNARY HISTORY OF THE ALLUVIAL TRACT
GEOMORPHIC MAP OF THE WESTERN MGAP
T2 178-145 m, T1 142-132 m, T0 135-125 m
INSET
THICKNESS OF THE ALLUVIUM 50 TO 250m LARGE ELEVATION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VARIOUS SURFACES & DEEP INCISION OF RIVERS WIDTH OF THE RAVINOUS TRACT AND PRESENCE/ABSENCE OF EROSIONAL TERRACES
1st CYCLE OF GULLYING
2nd CYCLE OF GULLYING
A FLIGHT OF TERRACES
MEANDERS ARE UP- SLOPE
STRUCTURAL MAP
CONTOUR VALUES IN m asl
CONTOUR INTERVAL 2m
DEEP INCISION & ABSENCE OF TERRACES SEEN AT THE DOMAL FEATURE
SLOPES OF THE REGIONAL UPLAND SURFACE ARE AWAY FROM THE CHAMBAL DUE TO SYNFORMAL DOWNWARPS & ANTIFORMAL UPWARPS DEATH OF THE PC NOTE WIDTH OF THE RAVINOUS TRACT ALONG RIVERS WIDTH OF CATCHMENT & LENGTH OF TRIBUTARY STREAMS
3-D TERRAIN MODEL OF THE ALLUVIAL TRACT
CHAMBAL RIVER
LENGTH OF TRIBUTARIES
PALAEOCHANNEL IS NOT INCISED THE ELEVATION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHAMBAL & THE PALAEOCHANNEL IS 55 m
PALAEOCHANNEL
DHAULPUR
WELL-DEFINED PALAEOBANKS, BLUFFS, AND WELL-PRESERVED MEANDERS ALONG THE ABANDONED VALLEY INDICATE RECENCY OF ABANDONMENT PALAEOCHNNEL IS DEVOID OF INCISION, GULLYING, CONTROLS OF LINEAMENTS IN CONTRAST TO THE MODERN DRAINAGE; HENCE IT PREDATES THESE EVENTS
LINEAMENT MAP OF THE WESTERN MGAP
ACTIVITY ALONG LINEAMENTS
EPICENTRE OF EARTHQUAKE OFF-SETTING OF RIVERS st FASTER HEADWARD EROSION ALONG THEM OF 1 SEPTEMBER, 1994 4.8 MAGNITUDE ON MSK TILTING OF QUATERNARY STRATA SCALE SEISMICITY DIFFERENTIAL BLOCK MOVEMENTS
EVIDENCE OF BLOCK MOVEMENT ALONG LINEAMENTS
ELEVATION OF POINT BARS w.r.t. 120 m asl SEGMENTAL GRADIENT CHANGES IN RIVER COURSE (27 to 9 cm/km) ELEVATION OF POINT BARS & T1-TERRACE IS NOT WHAT THE CHANNELGRADIENT WOULD SUGGEST DEEP INCISION & ABSENCE OF TERRACES ON UPTHROWN BLOCKS THE THALWEG IS INCISED WITHIN THE POINT BARS, WHICH SHOW MORE THAN ONE LEVEL WITH BREAK IN SLOPE
EVIDENCE OF BLOCK MOVEMENT ALONG LINEAMENTS
SEGMENTAL GRADIENT CHANGES IN RIVER COURSE (27 to 9 cm/km) ELEVATION OF POINT BARS & T1-TERRACE IS NOT WHAT THE CHANNELGRADIENT WOULD SUGGEST DEEP INCISION & ABSENCE OF TERRACES ON UPTHROWN BLOCKS THE THALWEG IS INCISED WITHIN THE POINT BARS, WHICH SHOW MORE THAN ONE LEVEL WITH BREAK IN SLOPE
MORPHOTECTONIC EVOLUTION
DEEP INCISION WITH LITTLE LATERAL MIGRATION
REJUVENATION ON A REGIONAL SCALE WITH LARGE SUDDEN AND RAPID LOWERING OF BASELEVEL
BREAKDOWN OF METASTABLE HYDROLOGIC EQULIBRIUM
GULLYING & DEVELOPMENT OF BADLAND TOPOGRAPHY
TWO DISTINCT EPISODES OF NEOTECTONIC ACTIVITY CAN BE INTERPRETED
EPISODE I
THE RIVERS WERE UNINCISED AND MORE MEANDERING TYPE THE PALAEOCHANNEL & THE CHAMBAL HAD THE SAME BASELEVEL SUDDEN REJUVENATION BLOCK UPLIFT WARPING OF ALLUVIAL SURFACE REVERSAL OF SLOPE DEMISE OF THE PALAEOCHANNEL BEFORE IT COULD INCISE ITSELF
REJUVENATION DISPLACEMENT OF RIVERS FROM METASTABLE HYDROLOGIC EQUILIBRIUM GULLYING BADLAND TOPOGRAPHY
EPISODE II
INITIAL CYCLE OF RAPID UPLIFT & INCISION EXPERIENCED A RELATIVE QUIECENCE RIVERS ENGAGED IN LATERAL MIGRATION, FORMING T1-EROSIONAL SURFACE THE 2nd CYCLE OF UPLIFT CAUSED ABANDONMENT OF T1-SURFACE AND FORMATION OF CUT-OFF MEANDERS
THIS CYCLE WITNESSED SEVERAL SHORT PULSES OF UPLIFT CAUSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FLIGHT OF TERRACES
PENINSULAR UPLANDS
CHAMBAL YAMUNA GANGA
HIMALAYAN THRUST SHEET LOADING
GHAGHRA
TIBET
CRUSTAL REBOUND
FLEXED LITHOSPHERE
REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS
TECTONISM & UPLIFT OF THE ARAVALLIS DURING HOLOCENE & HISTORIC PERIOD DRASTIC CHANGES IN DRAINAGE NETWORK OF NW INDIA Geoarchaeological evidence during pre-historic & the historic period, the Yamuna (& the Sutlej), having a southwesterly course shared their waters with the mighty Saraswati on the banks of which the Vedic civilization flourished
A minor tributary of the Chambal (the modern Yamuna), through rapid head-ward erosion robbed the waters of the then southwesterly flowing Yamuna. The Sutlej also changed its course due to the effect of tectonic activity Betrayal by the Yamuna & the Sutlej caused the demise of the Saraswati and the consequent decline of the Vedic civilization
Tectonic activity leading to the warping of the alluvial tract, rejuvenation of the terrain, deep incision and gullying appears to have a close link with the uplift of the Aravallis during the Holocene
DATING, GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL EVIDENCES
Dating by Singh (1997) suggests two major episodes of neotectonic activity in western MGAP at 9000 years and 5000 years B.P. Historical evidence a major part of the ravinous tract has indeed appeared during the historic past The entrenched cut-off meanders contain innumerable villages, castles, forts, temples and their remains on their banks in the ravines Legend has it that these were once on the banks of the rivers
Ruins of settlements, broken potteries including PWG, 5th & 11th century idols (broken) of Hindu deities and Lord Buddha, ruins of 11th century temples etc. dot the ravine landscape Excavations by the ASI suggest that the area has been inhabited by the people since the Mahabharata Period The town of Dhaulpur has been shifted from the bank of the Chambal to its present position during the mediaeval period These evidences suggest that the tectonic movements responsible for the topographic rejuvenation in this part of the Ganga Plains must have taken place during the past few millennia of the Late Holocene
5th Century
5th century
11th century
An 11th century temple with a part of its base eroded away by the onslaught of ravines
THANK YOU
