Evolution of saline lakes in Rajasthan

Abstract

Saline lakes are widely distributed in the Thar desert of western Rajasthan. The cardinal factors in the evolution of saline lakes are aridity and the formation of play a depressions, characterized by ephemeral drainage of centripetal type. Most of the large saline lakes are found to have riverine ancestry. Common models suggested for the evolution of saline lakes involve segmentation of stream channels with the onset of aridity. Stream trapping phenomenon is associated with a few saline lakes. The most effective process of stream segmentation was through the formation of linear horsts across the NE-SW trending river channels. Integrated studies based on geophysical, tectonic and remote sensing data indicated control of NE-SW and NW-SE intersecting sets of lineament, particularly the nature of movement along them, in the development of playa depressions. The process of formation of saline lakes can be tied up with the blotting out of the Saraswati and Drishadvati river systems due to drainage disorganization during the Late Quaternary.