17.1 17.1 Pakistan
Compiled by: R. A. Snead
Last revised: December 2002 ©Geostudies Pty Ltd.
17.1.1 Introduction
The coastline of Pakistan is about 1,365 km long from the Iranian border eastward to the Indian border at the Rann of Cutch. Much of the coast has been influenced by the uplift of marine platforms and the Makran mountain ranges. The Las Bela Valley represents a structural trough forming part of the Owens Fracture Zone that extends southward under the Arabian Sea. Both the southeastern part of the Indus delta and the Rann of Cutch appear to be undergoing subsidence. The Pakistan coast shows evidence of sea level changes (Ali Khan et al. 2002) and is one of the most tectonically active regions of the world, with 20 recorded earthquakes between 1939 and 1960. The November 1945 earthquake was particularly severe: it generated a tsunami, reported to have been 12–15 m high, across the coast, and a section of the shore near Pasni was uplifted 4.6 m (Sondhi 1947).
This coastal...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ali Khan, T. M., Kabir, A. and Sarker, M. A. 2002 Sea level variations and geomorphological changes in the coastal belt of Pakistan. Marine Geodesy, 25: 159–174.
Dales, G. E. 1962 A search for ancient seaports. Expedition, 4:2–11.
Field, H. 1959 An Anthropological Reconnaissance in West Pakistan. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Holdrich, T H. 1896 Notes on ancient and medieval Makran. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 7: 387–405.
Hunting Survey Corporation, Ltd. 1960 Reconnaissance Geology of Part of West Pakistan: A Colombo Plan Co-operative Project. Maracle Press, Ltd., Oshawa, Ontario.
Pithawalla, M. B. 1936 A Geographical Analysis of the Lower Indus Basin (Sind), Part I. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science, 4: 1–355.
Sailing Directions for the Persian Gulf of Oman and Northern Shore of Arabian Sea Eastward to Ras Muari. 1960 US. Naval Oceanographic Office, Hydrologic Office Publication 62, Washington, D.C.
Siddiqi, M. L. 1956 The Fisherman’s Settlements on the Coast of West Pakistan. Schriften des Geographischen Instituts der Universitat Kiel.
Snead, R E. 1963 Disappearing town of Sonmiani, West Pakistan. Geografia, 1: 26–31.
Snead, R. E. 1964 Active mud volcanoes of Baluchistan, West Pakistan. Geographical Review, 54: 546–560.
Snead, R. E. 1966 Physical Geography Reconnaissance: Las Bela Coastal Plain, West Pakistan. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge.
Snead, R. E. 1967 Recent morphological changes along the coast of West Pakistan, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 57: 550–565.
Snead, R E. 1968 Physical Geography Reconnaissance: West Pakistan Coastal Zone. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Snead, R E. 1979 Morphological changes in the Balakot coastal region of Pakistan, Field Research Projects, Coconut Grove, Florida (on microfiche).
Snead, R E. and Frishman, S. A. 1968 Origin of sands on the east side of the Las Bela Valley West Pakistan. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 79: 1671–1676.
Snead, R. E., and Tasnif, M. 1966 Vegetation types in the Las Bela region of West Pakistan. Ecology, 47: 494–499.
Sondhi, V. P. 1947 The Makran earthquake, 38th November 1945: the birth of new islands. Indian Minerals, 1: 147–158.
Spate, O. H. K. 1960 India, Pakistan, and Ceylon: The Regions. Methuen & Co., London.
Ullah, A. 1954 Physiography and structure of S.W. Makran. Pakistan Geographical Review, 9: 28–37.
Zoha, S. 1952 The physiographical personality of Baluchistan. Pakistan Geographical Review, 7: 20–29.
References
Ahmad, E. 1972 Coastal Geomorphology of India. Orient Longman, New Delhi.
Chatterjee, S. P. 1962 Fluctuations of Sea Level around the Coasts of India during the Quaternary Period. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementband 3.
Earattupuzha, J. J. and George, V. 1980 Shoreline changes on Kerala coast. In Geology and Geomorphology of Kerala, Geological Society of India Special Publication 5: 83–85.
Gupta, S. K. 1977 Quaternary sea level changes of the Saurashtra coast. In D.P. Agrawal B. M. Pande (eds.) Ecology and Archaeology of Western India. Concept Publications, Delhi: 181–193.
La Fond, E. C. 1966 Bay of Bengal. In R. W Fairbridge (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Oceanography. Reinhold, New York
Manohar, M. 1961 Sediment movement at the Indian ports. Proceedings of the 7th Conference of Coastal Engineers
Mehr, S. S. 1980 The miliolite problem. Proceedings 67th Session, Indian Science Congress, Section of Geology and Geography (IV): 16–42.
Meijerink, A. M. J. 1971 Reconnaissance survey of the Quaternary geology of the Cauvery delta. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 12: 113–124.
Pascoe, E. H. 1964 A Manual of the Geology of India and Burma. Government of India, Delhi.
Prudhvi, R. and Vaidyanadhan, R. 1978 Geomorphology of Vishakhapatnam. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 19: 26–34.
Sambasiva Rao, M., and Vaidyanadhan, R. 1979 Morphology and evolution of the Godavari Delta, India. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 23: 243–255.
Shrivastava, P C. 1978 A note on the possible Holocene shoreline of India. Indian Minerals, 32: 44–47.
Spate, O. H. K. and Learmonth, A. T. A. 1967 India and Pakistan. Methuen, London.
Vaidyanadhan, R. 1981 Sea level changes during the Quaternary in India. In M. J. Tooley (ed.) Sea Level. Information Bulletin of I.G.C.P Project, 5: 1–5.
Wadia, D. N. 1961 Geology of India. Macmillan, London.
References
Amarasinghe, S. R, and De Alwis, R. 1980 Coastal Zone Management in Sri Lanka. 2nd Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Management, Florida. Pages?
Arulchelvam, K., 1968 Mangroves. Ceylon Forester, 8 (3&4): 1–34.
Bird, E. C.F. 1987 Coastal lagoons and their management in Sri Lanka. Marga Quarterly Journal, 8: 9–17.
Cederlof, U., Rydberg, L., Arulananthan, KJ. And Wiyeratne, E. M.S. 1995 The tidal response of Puttalam Lagoon, Sri Lanka: a large shallow tropical lagoon. Ambio, 24: 444–447.
Cooray P G. 1967 Introduction to the Geology of Ceylon. National Museums, Colombo.
Cooray P G. 1968 The geomorphology of the northwestern coastal plain of Ceylon. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 7: 95–113.
De Alwis, K A. 1971 The Pedology of the Red Latosols of Ceylon. Ph.D. thesis, University of Alberta.
Katupotha, J. 1995 Evolution and geological significance of Holocene emerged shell beds on the southern coastal zone of Sri Lanka. Journal of Coastal Research, 11: 1042–1061.
Katz, M. B. 1975 Geomorphology and reconnaissance geology of the Wilpattu National Park. Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences), 11(2):83–94.
Mergner, H, and Scheer, G. 1973 The physiographic zonation and the ecological conditions of some South Indian and Ceylon coral reefs. Proceedings of the 2nd International Coral Reef Symppsium, Brisbane, 2: 3–30.
Rajasuriya, A. and White, A. T. 1995 Coral reefs of Sri Lanka: review of their extent, condition and management status. Coastal Management, 23: 77–90.
Rajasuriya, A., Ohman, M. C. and Svensson, S. 1998 Coral and rock reef habitats in southern Sri Lanka: patterns in the distribution of coral communities. Ambio, 27: 723–728.
Seneviratne, M. 1979 Some Mahauamsa Places. Lake House, Colombo.
Shepard, F P, and Dill, R S. 1966 Submarine Canyons and Other Sea Valleys. Rand McNally, Chicago.
Swan, S. B. St. C. 1964 Evidence for Eustatic Changes in Southwest Ceylon. Master’s thesis, University of London.
Swan, S. B. St. C. 1974 The Coast Erosion Hazard Southwest Sri Lanka. New England Research Series in Applied Geography, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Swan, B. 1979a Areal variations in textures of shore sands, Sri Lanka. Journal of Tropical Geography, 49: 72–85.
Swan, B. 1979b Sand dunes in the humid tropics: Sri Lanka. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 23:152–171.
Swan, B. 1982a An Introduction to the Coastal and Submarine Geomorphology of Sri Lanka. National Museums, Colombo.
Swan, B. 1982b The Coastal Geomorphology of Sri Lanka. University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Throckmorton, P. 1964 Appendix A. In Clarke, A. C. The Treasure of the Great Reef Barker, London.
References
Agarkar, S. P. 1929 The vegetation of the Ganges Region. Journal of the Madras Geographical Association, 4: 14–16.
Ahmad, N. and Khan, F. K. 1959, The Sundarban forests of east Pakistan-a resource appraisal. Oriental Geographer, 3: 13–32.
Alam, M. 1996 Subsidence of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta of Bangladesh and associated drainage, sedimentation and salinity problems. Kluwer Academic Publications, Netherlands, 2: 169–192.
Ascoli, F. D. 1910 The rivers of the delta. Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 6: 543–556.
Ascoli, F. D. 1912 Changes in the delta of the Ganges. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 34: 611–612.
Bhattasali, N. K. 1941 Antiquity of the Lower Ganges and its courses. Science and Culture, 7: 233–239.
Chatterjee, S. P. 1947 River problems in Bengal. Punjab Geographical Review, 2: 12–20.
Chatterjee, S. P. 1949 Bengal in Maps. Orient Longmans Ltd., Calcutta.
Colebrooke, R H. 1803 On the courses of the Ganges through Bengal. Transactions of the Asiatic Society, 7: 1–31.
Dey, N. 1921 The early course of the Ganges. Indian Antiquity, 50: 8–72.
Fergusson, J. 1863 Delta of the Ganges. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 19: 321–354.
Heathcote, J. A. 1862 Surface current of the Bay of Bengal. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 32: 234–241.
Johnson, L. B. 1971 South Asia. Heinemann Educational Books, London.
Johnson, L. B. 1975 Bangladesh. Heinemann Educational Books, London
Morgan, J. P. and McIntire, W. G. 1956 Quaternary Geology of the Bengal Basin. Coastal Studies Institute, Technical Report 9, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
Mukerjee, R. 1938 The Changing Face of Bengal. University of Calcutta, Calcutta.
Rainey, J. R. 1891 The Sundarban. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 13: 273–275.
Rennell, J. J. 1781 The Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 71: 91–103.
Sailing Directions for India and the Bay of Bengal. 1978 Defense Mapping Agency, Hydrologic/Topographic Center, Office of Distribution Services, DMA Stock No. SDPUB173, Washington, D.C.
Singh, O. P. 2002 Predictability of sea level in the Meghna estuary of Bangladesh. Water and Energy International, 58: 13–19.
Spate, O. H. K. and Learmonth, A. T. A. 1967 India, Pakistan, and Ceylon: The Regions. Methuen and Company London.
Umitsu, M. 1997 Landforms and floods in the Ganges Delta and coastal lowlands of Bangladesh. Marine Geodesy, 20: 77–87.
Wadia, D. N. 1949 Geology of India. Macmillan, London.
West, R. 1956 Mangrove swamps of the Pacific coast of Colombia. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 66: 98–121.
References
Bay of Bengal Pilot 1978 Hydrographic Office, Taunton.
Pascoe, E. H. 1962 A Manual of the Geology of India and Burma, 3. Geological Survey of India, Delhi.
Volker, A, 1966 The deltaic area of the Irrawaddy river in Burma, In Scientific Problems of the Humid Tropical Zone Deltas and Their Implications. UNESCO, Paris: 373–379.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Bird, E.C.F. (2003). South Asia. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) The World’s Coasts: Online. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48369-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48369-6_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48369-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive