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Spatial Variability of Topographic Attributes and Channel Morphological Characteristics in the Ladakh Trans-Himalayas and Their Tectonic and Structural Controls

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Himalayan Neotectonics and Channel Evolution

Part of the book series: Society of Earth Scientists Series ((SESS))

Abstract

The Trans-Himalayas in India comprise of the Ladakh, Karakoram and Zanskar (also spelled as Zaskar) ranges. These ranges are marked out by the presence of several active major thrust faults, which are epicenters of recurrent seismic activity. Their alignments control the main stream courses of the area, resulting in sharp bends, obtuse junctions, steep defiles and abrupt changes in channel morphology, wherever streams transition across different morpho-structural units. The present study focuses on the drainage composition and topographic characteristics of the Leh and Nubra valleys in the Ladakh region, along the courses of the Indus, Zanskar, Shyok and Nubra rivers. The morphometric attributes and spatial variation in terrain aspects of the basins developed within the aforementioned three ranges and draining into these four rivers are examined using the ALOS PALSAR Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to elicit watershed and channel parameters related to tectonics. Thrust faults digitized from the available geological maps of the region are compared with the principal streams extracted from the above DEM dataset through an overlay analysis to discern the influence exerted by the principal thrust faults and other structural lineaments on the drainage alignment. Segment-wise stream gradient indices reveal the abrupt changes in longitudinal profile and resultant changes in channel morphological characteristics as the rivers traverse these various structural and lithological entities. These attributes of the drainage character are compared with the various lithological and geomorphic entities of the area, to elicit the river character in each physiographic unit.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Mr. Rajarshi Dasgupta of the Department of Geography, East Calcutta Girls’ College, Kolkata and Dr. Somasis Sengupta of the Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan, Barddhaman, for their inputs regarding the paper.

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  1. Department of Geography, Presidency University, 86/1, College Street, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700073, India

    Priyank Pravin Patel & Madhurima Bose

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Shantamoy Guha

  3. Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Debsmita Das

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Techno India University, Kolkata, India

    Harendra Nath Bhattacharya

  2. Department of Geography, Vivekananda College for Women, Kolkata, India

    Soma Bhattacharya

  3. Department of Geography, Krishnagar Government College, Krishnanagar, India

    Balai Chandra Das

  4. Department of Geography, Aliah University, Kolkata, India

    Aznarul Islam

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© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Patel, P.P., Guha, S., Das, D., Bose, M. (2022). Spatial Variability of Topographic Attributes and Channel Morphological Characteristics in the Ladakh Trans-Himalayas and Their Tectonic and Structural Controls. In: Bhattacharya, H.N., Bhattacharya, S., Das, B.C., Islam, A. (eds) Himalayan Neotectonics and Channel Evolution. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95435-2_3

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