Search
Search Results
-
Morphology, sedimentology and origin of an anomalous cut-off along the Pravara river, deccan trap region, India
23-43Views:292River 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.
-
Quantitative Morphometric Analysis of Streams in Extreme Humid Areas: A Case Study of the Um-Mawiong River Basin, Mawsynram, Meghalaya
59-75Views:129Quantitative morphometric analysis of the drainage system is essential to characterising a watershed, as all the hydrologic and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed. Consequently, this plays a crucial role in understanding the geo-hydrological attributes of a drainage basin to the terrain feature and its flow patterns, thus enabling the estimate of the incidence of infiltration and runoff and other related hydrological characteristics of a watershed, which strongly impacts natural resource conservation. The study area selected is the Um-Mawiong River basin in Mawsynram, Meghalaya. The basin shows a dendritic pattern that highlights the homogeneity in the texture of the basin. Results suggest that the stream frequency of the basin is 19.10 km², suggesting a faster surface runoff and less infiltration. In addition, it has an Elongation ratio of 0.75 indicating an elongated basin shape. The current study demonstrates that the implementations of GIS techniques are trustworthy, efficient, and capable of managing extensive databases for managing river basins. The present study tries to analyse the linear, areal and relief aspects of the basin using a GIS environment and manipulated for different calculations. The analysis reveals that the total number of stream segments and length are maximum in first-order streams and decrease as stream order increases. The drainage density exhibits a high degree of positive correlation, i.e., 0.87, with its frequency suggesting an increase in stream population concerning increasing drainage density and vice versa.
-
Morphological alteration of the Dráva as the result of human impact
58-75Views:113The Croatian-Hungarian border section of the Dráva River has been undisturbed for almost a century, and it is characterised by unique fluvial morphology (braided pattern and islands) supporting rich habitats and wildlife. However, during the last decades human impact became more and more intensive. Between 1975 and 1989 three water reservoirs were built on the Croatian section of the river, just 16 km from the beginning of the border-section, altering the hydrology and the sediment characteristics of the river. On a local scale cut-offs, revetments and groynes were built. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of these human interventions. As the result of the alteration of the hydrology the channel pattern of the Dráva has been changing from braided to meandering, though on the upstream meandering part the territory and number of islands increased due to the drop of water stages. A cut-off and a groyne influenced only the morphology of a short section. As the result of the cut-off braided pattern became more pronounced, and the groyne caused intensive channel aggradation and gave way to lateral island development.
-
Field pedological characterisation of two transects along the inner and outer sides of a sixty years old Tisza dike - a contribution to the problem of primary and secondary alkali grasslands
87-112Views:49Two transects were studied by field pedological investigations and soil bulk electrical conductivity measurements in order to understand the effect of a 60 year old dike along the Tisza River on soil formation and vegetation composition. There were no great differences in the soil properties. The soil is more saline and wetter inside the dike and vegetation reflected this environment. We hypothesize that the increasing build up of the riverbed might contribute to the contrast in soil and groundwater salinity between the area inside and the area outside the dike, similarly as conceptualised by Kuti (1989) for the Danube area, but at a much smaller distance.