The Thar or the Great Indian Sand Desert

Abstract

Located along the eastern margin of the vast Indo-Saharan hot arid belt the monsoon-driven Thar Desert has a dominantly sandy landscape, where a range of other landforms sculpted by the fluvial and aeolian processes are also found. Several fluctuations in climate between drier and wetter phases during the Quaternary period and periodic earth movements have decided about the type and intensity of geomorphic processes. Most of the landform assemblages are, therefore, polygenetic in nature and have interesting evolutionary history. Parabolic dunes cover the largest area in the Thar, while numerous ranns (playas) act as some major receptors of water and sediments. Presently the human activities are becoming a major driver of geomorphic process acceleration, resulting in significant modifications in the landforms and consequent implications for environment and livelihood both within and outside the desert.