Quantitative Morphometric and Morphotectonic Analysis of Pahuj Catchment Basin, Central India
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Quantitative Morphometric and Morphotectonic Analysis of Pahuj Catchment Basin, Central India S. C. Bhatt1*, Rubal Singh1, M. A. Ansari1 and S. Bhatt2 1
Institute of Earth Sciences, Department of Geology, Bundelkhand University Jhansi - 284 128, India Institute of Environment and Development Studies, Bundelkhand University Jhansi - 284 128, India *E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 2
ABSTRACT In the present work, the morphometric and morphotectonic analysis of the Pahuj basin catchment of the Bundelkhand region of Central India was carried by using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The drainage map, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), density, contour, aspect, and other thematic maps were extracted from ASTER-DEM (30m resolution) data by using geographical information system (GIS) tool. Five order streams have been validated in the study area and an inverse relationship between the stream order and stream number has been established. The high mean bifurcation ratio (Rb=5.12) indicates that the drainage pattern is controlled by geological structures in the impermeable granitic terrain. The stream frequency (2.69) is indicative of the increment of stream population for drainage density. Contrary to this the drainage density (2.08) is suggestive of low to moderate infiltration rate and is showing the thin vegetal cover on the impermeable rocky terrain. The elongation ratio (0.61) and form factor (0.29) infer that the catchment basin is elongated and shows low peak flows. The value of ruggedness and Melton ruggedness number implies that the basin is moderately rugged and debris watershed and is less susceptible to soil erosion. The drainage pattern of basin catchment flowing in diverse lithological and structural terrain (Archean and Palaeoproterozoic age) is exhibiting less influence of active tectonics. The NW-SE, E-W and NNE-SSW trending lineaments resembling the orientation of lower-order streams are suggestive of structural control. The NE-SW trending high order streams flowing in an elongated Pahuj basin catchment and coinciding with the orientation of major NE-SW lineaments are indicative of major tectonic control. INTRODUCTION Morphometry is explained as measurement and mathematical evaluation of the earth’s surface and shape, size, and dimensions of landforms (Clarke, 1966; Agarwal, 1998; Obi Reddy et al., 2002). It is defined as the hydrological response of a river basin interrelated with size, shape, slope, drainage density, and length of the streams (Gregory and Walling, 1973). It reveals that the geological and geomorphological processes undergone in geological time have an influence on the drainage basin and are significant in understanding the landform processes, the physical and erosional property of soil (Horton, 1945; and Strahler, 1952, 1964). The development of fluvial landforms and drainage patterns shows the inherent control of lithology and tectonics (Horton, 1932; Ritter, 1986; Pati et al., 2008 Shukla et al., 2012). The quantitative physiographic methods for evolution and behavior o
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