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Assessment of spatio-temporal waterline changes of a reservoir: A case study of Ujjani wetland, Maharashtra, India
1-13Views:169The Ujjani reservoir is an artificial inland wetland and a potential Ramsar site in Maharashtra, India. The present study investigates the changes in the surface water area over time using remote sensing imageries (LANDSAT, LISS-III, Sentinel 2 series) for four decades (1981 to 2021) and the normalized difference water index (NDWI). The study reveals that the overall mean amount and rate of decrease in the surface water area are estimated at 20.50% (44.31 + 30.38 km2) and 0.75% year-1 (1.62 + 1.36 km2year-1), respectively. Furthermore, multiple correlation matrix analysis shows a strong positive correlation between surface water area and rainfall while a weak negative correlation with mean annual temperature (TMAX). Thus, indicating rainfall as the principal factor in inducing changes to the surface water area of the Ujjani wetland. However, the study also finds that the impact of the dramatic rise in population growth and anthropogenic activities in the form of overexploitation and land encroachments for agriculture are gradual but significant cursors to wetland degradation. Hence, the study recommends periodic monitoring, management, and conservation of wetlands, by employing stringent policies and effective technological measures.
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Grain surface features and clay mineralogy of the quaternary sediments from Western Deccan Trap Region, India, and their palaeoclimatic significance
22-46Views:56Quartz sand grains obtained from a deeply gullied topography along the banks of two tributaries of River Pravara in Maharashtra (India) have been examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Quartz grains have been selected after a heavy mineral separation and micro-photographs of each grain were taken at various angles and magnifications. The sediments reveal features resulting from mechanical grinding as well as from chemical alteration. Conchoidal fractures, cleavage planes, grooves, v-shaped indentations etc. are the mechanical features documented on the grains whereas solution pits of varying sizes and intensity, precipitation surfaces, oriented v-pits, solution crevasses and etching are the features of chemical origin. Several evidences indicate that the samples have undergone digenetic changes. Few grains show the features of intense chemical breakdown. The overall assemblages of the grain surface features suggest that the samples have been subjected to subaqueous transport for a considerable period of time. The minor chemical features such as solution pits or semi circular arcuate steps found in abundance on these grains are due to the dissolution of the sediments in a low energy fluviatile environment. For clay mineralogy, fractions between <2 and <0.2 mm were separated out from the sediments. The clay fractions were then subjected to examination by X-ray diffraction (XRD) of oriented K/Ca saturated samples using a Philips Diffractometer and Nifiltered Cu Ka radiation with the scanning speed of 1 0 2Ө min -1. The main clay minerals for all the samples are identical and show the presence of hydroxy-interlayered smectites with minor quantities of mica, kaolinite, smectites, quartz and feldspar. The first weathering product of the Deccan Basalt (DB) is the dioctahedral smectite. Since the present semi aridic climatic condition of the study area can not transform a smectite to HIS and either smectite to kaolin, it is quite likely that both the HIS and Sm/K are generated in the tropical humid climate of the Western Ghats and then carried through the exiting river system like Godavari, Adula and Mahalungi. Therefore it is evident that the clay minerals present in these sediments represent another climatic history more humid than the one prevailing at present.
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Land use change detection along the Pravara River basin in Maharashtra, using remote sensing and GIS techniques
71-86Views:100In the past few decades there has been an increasing pressure of population all over the world, especially in India, resulting in the utilization of every available patch of available land from woodlands to badlands. The study area represents a basin which is economically growing fast by converting the fallow lands, badlands and woodlands to agricultural land for the past few decades. IRS (Indian Remote sensing Satellites) 1 C – LISS III and IRS 1 C PAN and IRS P6 – LISS III and IRS 1 D PAN Images were merged to generate imageries with resolution matching to the landscape processes operating in the area. The images of the year 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007 were analyzed to detect the changes in the landuse and landcover in the past ten years. The analysis reveals that there has been 20% increase in the agricultural area over the past ten years. Built up area also has increased from 1.35% to 6.36% of the area and dense vegetation also has marginally increased. The remarkable increase in the agricultural area occurs owing to the reclaim of the natural ravines and fallow lands. Presently the area looks promising, but it is necessary to understand the sedimentological and geomorphological characteristics of the area before massive invasion on any such landscapes because the benefit may be short lived.
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Morphology, sedimentology and origin of an anomalous cut-off along the Pravara river, deccan trap region, India
23-43Views:294River meanders have always been an intriguing subject in fluvial geomorphology because of their ubiquity, dynamism, remarkable forms and practical consequences of their movement. Sometimes a relatively straight channel flowing over bedrock may develop a lone meander bend cut-off which is very out of the place from the surrounding area. The occurrence of a sudden bend along a river may not be a meandering bend but may be manifestation of sudden change in the river dynamism due to many reasons, such as, lithology, change in rainfall regime, tectonics etc. The formation of such features highlights the behavior of river in the past. One such striking feature has been observed along the River Pravara in the Deccan Trap Region, Maharashtra, India. Rivers in Deccan Trap Region do not meander and form cut-offs by rule. It is rocky country where rivers flow in deeply incised bedrock. Hence, the observed feature displays a striking anomaly in this region. Hence, an attempt has been made in the present paper to evaluate the mode of formation of this single cut-off along this channel. Morphological and sedimentological data were generated and analyzed for the channel loop and the link channel to understand the competence of the river in the past and present which were directly or indirectly responsible for the development of this channel anomaly in this reach. Based on the results of the analysis and intensive field observations, it has been inferred that this is a classic example of natural morphological adjustment of a river when a set of events occurred, first retardation of vertical erosion encountering bedrock followed by series of floods to induce the channel to divert from the original path to resume the present course. Presence of a tributary further aided to the process of the loop development. The study can provide additional knowledge to the studies involving anomalous channel cut-offs at any part of the world.