Late quaternary geomorphic evolution of Yamuna-Sutlej interfluve: Significance of terminal fan

Abstract

Haryana-Punjab plain (Yamuna-Sutlej interfluve) is part of the Indo-Gangetic foreland basin and makes the eastern part of the Indus River system. It is characterized by southwestern regional slope and is made up of sediments derived from the Himalayan front. The southern part of the Haryana-Punjab plain has a narrow northeast sloping surface, made up of sediments derived from the Rajasthan craton, making the peripheral bulge of the basin. The area of interaction of these two opposing slopes is marked by a rather flat region of poor drainage with a number of water bodies. This interactive zone of the two slopes has a constricted belt of westerly outlet merging in the Indus alluvial plain. The excessive sediments derived from the Himalayan front formed mega-fans, which in Late Pleistocene, extended down to 200 m altitude close to the southern limit of Haryana-Punjab plain. There are geomorphic evidence of punctuations in reduction in fan building activity during Late Quaternary with terminations at 225 and 300 m altitude, prominently seen in satellite imagery and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The Haryana-Punjab plain also exhibits undulations with prominent highgrounds around Bhatinda, Hissar, and Sonipat-Jind. During the Late Quaternary, the streams of Yamuna-Sutlej interfluve region, viz., Dangri (sometimes referred as Tangri), Ghaggar-Saraswati, Markanda and Chautang, drastically reduced their carrying capacity due to reduced monsoon activity and neotectonic block movements. These streams abort within their terminal fans. Yamuna River is confined within its valley having prominent flood plain (T0) and well-developed Newer Alluvial plain (T1); as such it has not been a part of Indus system, at least during Holocene.