Reconstructing the channel shifting pattern of the Torsa River on the Himalayan Foreland Basin over the last 250 years
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2019-0007Keywords
Evolution, Himalayan foreland, oscillation, old literature, remote sensingAbstract
The varied physiography, incidences of high seasonal discharge, influences of neo-tectonic activity and the young geological foundation with less consolidated cohesive and non-cohesive sediment have left the Himalayan foreland basin a formidable ground, where silt-laden rivers tend to migrate frequently. A set of maps prepared after 1764, space photographs captured in 1970 and current satellite images from 2015 and 2017 were studied to reconstruct the fluvial dynamics of the Torsa River on the foreland basin of Sikkim-Bhutan Himalaya considering a time span of nearly 250 years. Evidence collected from colonial literature, the above-mentioned satellite images and a field survey, were combined to verify results taken from the old maps used as the base of the study. The application of satellite remote sensing and analysis of the topographic signatures of the palaeo-courses in the form of the palaeo-levee, abandoned courses and ox-bow lakes were the major operational attributes in this study. As a consequence of the channel migration of Torsa River since 1764, the historical floodplain of Torsa has been topographically marked by beheaded old distributaries, a misfit channel system and the presence of abandoned segments. Morphometric changes in the old courses, major flood events and neo-tectonic activity guided an overall trend of channel migration eastwards and has led to a couple of channel oscillation events in the Torsa River over the last 250 years. The mechanism of the avulsion events was thoroughly driven by sedimentation-induced channel morphometric changes and occasional high discharge.
References
Aslan, A., Autin, W., & Blum, M. (2005). Causes of River Avulsion: Insights from the Late Holocene Avulsion History of the Mississippi River, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 75, 650-664.
Bandopadhyay, B. (1884). Coochbehar-Er Itihas. Kolkata: Dey’s Publishing.
Bhuiyan, M. H., Kumamoto, T., & Suzuki, S. (2015). Application of Remote Sensing and GIS for Evaluation of the Recent Morphological Characteristics of the Lower Brahmaputra-Jamuna River, Bangladesh. Earth Science Informatics, 8(3), 551-568.
Chakraborty, T., & Ghosh, P. (2010). Geomorphology The geomorphology and sedimentology of the Tista megafan , Darjeeling Himalaya : Implications for megafan building processes. Geomorphology, 115(3–4), 252–266.
Chakraborty, S., Dutta, K. (2013). Causes and Consequences of Fluvial Hazard – A Hydro-Geomorphic Analysis in Duars Region , India. Indian Stream Reseach Journal 2(12), 1-10.
Chakraborty, T., Kar, R., Ghosh, P., & Basu, S. (2010). Kosi megafan: Historical records, geomorphology and the recent avulsion of the Kosi River. Quaternary International, 227(2), 143–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.12.002
Chattopadhyay, G. C., & Das, A. (1979). Neotectonics in the Tista-Jaldhaka and Torsa interfluvial belt of North Bengal. In GSI-Record (Vol. 121, pp. 101-109). Calcutta: GSI.
Choudhury, H.N. (1903). The Coochbehar State and its Land Revenue Settlements. C.E.S. Press. Cooch Behar. Reprint 2010. Edi. N. L. Paul. N. L. Pub. Siliguri. WB. India
Das, A. (2012). The Quaternary Geological Map of North Bengal. Indian Cartographer, 32, 312-321.
Gao, B. C. (1996). NDWI - A normalized difference water index for remote sensing of vegetation liquid water from space. Remote Sensing of Environment, 58(3), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(96)00067-3
Gansser, A. (1983). Geology of the Bhutan Himalaya. Birkhaüser Verlag (Vol. 8). https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-9327(84)90075-9
Goswami, C., Mukhopadhyay, D., & Poddar, B. C. (2013). Tectonic control on the drainage system in a piedmont region in tectonically active eastern Himalayas, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0297-z
Guha, D., Bardhan, S., Basir, S. R., De, A. K., & Sarkar, A. (2007). Imprints of Himalayan thrust tectonics on the Quaternary piedmont sediments of the Neora-Jaldhaka Valley, Darjeeling-Sikkim Sub-Himalayas, India. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 30(3–4), 464–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2006.11.010
Gunning, J. F. (1911). Eastern Bengal and Assam District Gazetteers; Jalpaiguri. Government of West Bengal.
Hunter, W. W. (1871). Statistical Account of Bengal. XI. London: Trübner & Company.
Jain, V., & Sinha, R. (2004). Fluvial dynamics of an anabranching river system in Himalayan foreland basin , Baghmati river , north Bihar plains , India, 60, 147–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2003.07.008
Jain, V., & Sinha, R. (2005). Response of active tectonics on the alluvial Baghmati River, Himalayan foreland basin, eastern India. Geomorphology, 70(3–4 SPEC. ISS.), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.02.012
Jana, M.M. (2006). North Bengal Rivers, behavioural pattern and impact on development’ In Sengupta, S., (Eds.), Rivers and Riverine Landscape in North East India, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 163-168.
Leopold, L. B., Wolman, M., & Miller, J. P. (1965). Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology. San Francisco and London: W.H.Freeman and Co.
Miall, A. (2014). Fluvial Depositional Systems. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Mukhopadhyay, S. C. (2014). Aspects of Hydro-geomorphology of North Bengal drainage, India and surroundings with emphasis on the Torsa basin. Indian Journal of Landscape Systems and Ecological Studies, 37(2), 163-176.
Mukhopadhyay, S. C., & Dasgupta, A. (2010). River Dynamics of West Bengal (Vol. 1). Kolkata, India: Prayas Publishers.
Piegay, H., Darby, S. E., Mossellman, E., & Surian, N. (2005). A Review of Techniques Available for Delimiting Erodible River Corridor: A Sustainable Approach to Managing Bank Erosion. River Research Application, 21, 773–789.
Rashid, B., & Islam, B. (2016). Evidences of Neotectonic Activities as Reflected by Drainage Characteristics of the Mahananda River Floodplain and Its ... Evidences of Neotectonic Activities as Reflected by Drainage Characteristics of the Mahananda River Floodplain and Its Adjoining Are, (February)
Rudra, K. (2010). Dynamics of the Ganga in West Bengal, India (1764-2007): Implications for science-policy interaction. Quaternary International, 227(2), 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.043
Rudra, K. (2014). Changing river courses in the western part of the Ganga–. Geomorphology, 227, 87-100.
Saha, U. D., & Bhattacharya, S. (2016). A study of river induced major hydrogeomorphic issues and associated problems in Torsa basin, West Bengal. Geographical Review of India, 78(2), 132-145
Sinha, R. (1996). Channel Avulsion and Floodplain Structure in the Gandak-Kosi Interfan, North Bihar Plains, India. (K. H. Pfeffer, Ed.) Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementbände, 103, pp. 249-268.
Sinha, R., Bapalu, G. V., Singh, L. K., & Rath, B. (2008). Flood risk analysis in the Kosi river basin, north Bihar using multi-parametric approach of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 36(4), 335–349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-008-0034-y
Slingerland, R., & Smith, N. D. (2004). River Avulsions and Their Deposits. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci, 32(Qian 1990), 257–285. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.32.101802.120201
Soja, R., & Sarkar, S. (2008). Characteristics of hydrological regimes. In L. Starkel, S. Sarkar, R. Soja, & P. Prokop, Present-day Evolution of Sikkimese-Bhutanese Himalayan Piedmont (pp. 37-46). Warszawa: Stanisława Leszczyckiego.
Thatcher, T., Swindell, B., & Boyd, K. (2009). Yellowstone River Channel Migration Zone Mapping. Cluster Country, USA: Yellowstone River Conservation District Council.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 995
Number of citations: 13
