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Microstructural Evidence of Palaeo-Coastal Landform from Westernmost Fringe of Lower Ganga–Brahmaputra Delta

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Quaternary Geomorphology in India

Part of the book series: Geography of the Physical Environment ((GEOPHY))

Abstract

The largest delta of the world, i.e. Ganga–Brahmaputra (G-B) delta has been characterized by ample evidences of regional morphogenetic variations. The westernmost fringe of this G-B delta has long been influenced by both Chottonagpur upland as well as recent alluvium plain between the Cretaceous to early Quaternary period. Successively, the undulating Rarh topography that separates these two morphogenic units has been evolved as one of the relict terrains having the dominancy of ferrallitic soils. In this area, most of the sedimentary formations and pedogenesis processes have been performed during post-Pleistocene epoch. Here, all the features of this residual topography directed through hydro-morphogenetic origins had been performed over the remnant ocean basin , which are also treated as a product of Palaeo-marine deposition. Alterations as well as modifications of the ferrallitic–lateritic micro-features are also continuing through the changes of various hydro-meteorological components. The present chapter concentrates on the studies of deposited microstructure features in one of the lateritic pockets of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal. Few soil samples from Palaeo-coastal tracks in the gully dominated badland topography have been collected and the thin sectioning has been done for the assessment of prevailed process of Palaeo-coast development and its associated events. The snaps of the microscopic view along with digital colour analysis of samples depict the evidences of cross-bedding, to ripple marks and shoreline retreat mechanism in the study area.

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Mafizul Haque, S., Ghosh, S. (2019). Microstructural Evidence of Palaeo-Coastal Landform from Westernmost Fringe of Lower Ganga–Brahmaputra Delta. In: Das, B., Ghosh, S., Islam, A. (eds) Quaternary Geomorphology in India. Geography of the Physical Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90427-6_3

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