Late Quaternary stratigraphic development in the lower Luni, Mahi and Sabarmati river basins, Western India

Jain, M. ; Tandon, S. K. ; Bhatt, S. C. (2004) Late Quaternary stratigraphic development in the lower Luni, Mahi and Sabarmati river basins, Western India Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences - Earth and Planetary Sciences, 113 (3). pp. 453-471. ISSN 0253-4126

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Official URL: http://www.ias.ac.in/jess/sep2004/eps-jain.pdf?q=l...

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02716736

Abstract

This study reviews the Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy in three semi-arid river basins of western India i.e., lower Luni (Rajasthan), and Mahi and Sabarmati (Gujarat alluvial plains). On the basis of OSL chronologies, it is shown that the existing intra-valley lithostratigraphic correlations require a revision. The sand, gravel and mud facies are present during various times in the three basins, however, the fluvial response to climate change, and the resulting facies associations, was different in the Thar desert as compared to that at the desert margin; this makes purely lithostratigraphic correlations unviable. It is further shown that the rivers in the Thar desert were more sensitive to climate change and had small response times and geomorphic thresholds as compared to the desert-margin rivers. This is illustrated during the early OIS 1, when the Luni river in the Thar desert was dynamic and showed frequent variations in fluvial styles such as gravel bedload braided streams, sand-bed ephemeral streams and meandering streams, all followed by incision during the early Holocene. The coeval deposits in Sabarmati, however, only show a meandering, floodplain-dominated river. Late Quaternary alluvial deposits in these basins unconformably overlie some older deposits that lack any absolute chronology. Based on the facies types and their associations, and the composition and architecture of the multistoried gravel sheets in the studied sections, it is suggested that older deposits are of pre-Quaternary age. This hypothesis implies the presence of a large hiatus incorporating much of the Quaternary period in the exposed sections.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Keywords:Late Quaternary; Lithofacies; Luminescence Chronology; Stratigraphic Correlation; Fluvial Response; Climate Change
ID Code:75089
Deposited On:21 Dec 2011 14:08
Last Modified:18 May 2016 19:15

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