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GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MANDAKINI RIVER BASIN USING REMOTESENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUESSandeep Kumar1 and S. K. Bansal2
Assistant Professor, Govt. College, Dujana, Jhajjar, Haryana, India
2Professor (Retired), Department of Geography, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
Email: phalswalsk@gmail.com
1

How to cite this paper:
Kumar Sandeep, Bansal S.
K. (2023) Geomorphological
Analysis of Mandakini River
Basin
Using
RemoteSensing
andGISTechniques,
JournalofGlobal Resources, Vol. 09(02)
DOI:10.46587/JGR.2023.v09i02.007

Received: 24 April 2023
Reviewed: 15 May 2023
Final Accepted: 26 June 2023

Abstract: Geomorphology is important for theunderstanding of Earth surface processes, geochronology,natural resources, natural hazards and landscape evolution.
Present study analysis’s the Geomorphological analysis of
the basin like geomorphology, lineaments, lithology, land
use/land cover, DEM, slope and aspects. The present study
is based on spatial data acquired form of Survey of India
topo-sheets, ASTER GDEM (2011) and BHAVAN(bhavan.nrsc.gov.in). Mandakini River is a major tributary of
Alaknanda River and it originates from the Chorabariglacier.
The total catchment area of the river is near about 1666.34
km². The Remote Sensing and GIS techniques have beenused to complete the work on present study. The geoinformatics-based study of Geomorphological analysis ofriver basin characteristics can be used by local people forsustainable development of this area.
Keywords: Geomorphology, Lineaments, Lithology,
Remote Sensing and GIS

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Introduction
Geomorphology is defined as the science of landforms with an emphasis on their origin,evolution, from and distribution across the physical landscape. The geomorphological analysis
involves delineation of distinct units from satellite data and classification of these units basedon there nature of genesis, extent and their processes (Reddy et.al., 2002). It is important for
the understanding of Earth surface processes, geochronology, natural resources, naturalhazards and landscape evolution. It involves the partition of the particular area based onmorphology, genetics, composition, structure, land cover, soil, ecology as well as landforms.
Geomorphological studies in India have received great fill up by the works of geologist andgeographers. There has been an emphasis on various aspects of Geomorphology from regional
to coastal, structural, fluvial, climatic and Applied Geomorphology (Sharma H.S., 1982). The
main objective of present study is to explore the geomorphological analysis of the Mandakini
river basin by using remote sensing and GIS technology.
Study Area
Mandakini river is a major tributary of Alaknanda River which flow in the part of Rudraprayagand Tehri Garhwal districts in higher Garhwal Himalaya (Fig. 01). It originates from theChorabariglacier, located just 02 kms upstream from Shri Kedarnath shrine. The total catchment
area of the river is near about 1666.34 km². It geographically lies between 30º 35’ to 30º 49’ Nlatitudes and 78° 59’ E to 79° 22’ E longitudes. The major tributary of this river isMadhyamaeshwar, whereas smaller tributaries include are Laster Gad, Helaun Gad, KakraGad, Kyunja Gad, Kyar Gad, Ghasta Gad, Markanda Ganga, Kali Ganga and Vasuki Ganga.
The Mandakini River finally merges into Alaknanda River at Rudraprayag.
Figure 01: Location of Study AreaData Sources and Methodology
Both types of data primary (satellite data – LISS III (2013) and ASTER GDEM (2011) as well as
secondary data (bhavan.nrsc.gov.in) have been used in this study. The boundary of study area
has been demarked based on Survey of India Topo-sheet numbers (53J/14, 53/J15, 53N/1,53N/2, 53N/3, 53N/4 and 53N/6) on 1:50,000 scale and Global Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
generated from Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)
data 2011 with 30 m resolution. Geomorphological and Lineaments map have been preparedusing BHAVAN(bhavan.nrsc.gov.in) database. Lithology map has prepared the help of The Holy55

Himalaya (A Geographical Interpretation of Garhwal) book. The map of land use and land coveris prepared by using data from Google Earth software (2017). Similarly Slope and Aspect map
is also prepared by using Digital Elevation Model (DEM).
Geomorphology
The Mandakini River basin is mountainous, forming a part of the Western Himalaya.
Geomorphologically, the area of Mandakini river basin have been divided into seven different
geomorphic regions characterized by different geomorphic elements and reliefcharacteristics(Fig.02 and Table-01). These are Structural Origin- Highly Dissected Hills andValleys, Structural Origin- Moderately Dissected Hills and Valleys, Denudation Origin- Piedmont
Slope, Mass Wasting Production, Fluvial Origin- Alluvial Plain, Glacial Origin- Snow Cover,Glacial Origin- Glacial Terrain and Water bodies.
Figure 02: Geomorphology

The largest area is under structural origin- highly dissected hills and valleys. This category
having an area of 1320 Km² out of geographical area 1666 Km² which is cover about 79.23percent of total area basin.
Table 01:Mandakini River Basin: Geomorphological Features
Categories
Structural Origin- Highly Dissected Hills and Valleys
Glacial Origin- Snow Cover
Structural Origin- Moderately Dissected Hills and Valleys
Glacial Origin- Glacial Terrain
Denudation Origin- Piedmont Slope, Mass Wasting Production
Fluvial Origin- Alluvial Plain
Water bodies
Total Area
Source: Computed by Researcher with the help of Fig.02

Area in Km²1320
253
53
1915
60.4
1666.34

Area in Percent
79.23
15.18
3.18
1.14
0.9
0.36
0.02
100

The Moderately Dissected Hills and Valleys are occupied by 53 Km² area which is about 3.18
percent of total area. This Category is near about Kund, Guptkashi and Ukimath. The glacialorigin- snow cover and glacial terrain is mostly present in North, North–West and North-East.
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They Categories cover area of 253 Km², 19 Km² and which is occupied by 15.18, 1.14 percentof basin area. Denudation origin is covering the area only 15 Km² which is about 0.9 percent.
This area is mostly present in North and North-East. Alluvial plain is the result of deposition bythe river. Mostly the alluvial plain found in central and lower part of river basin. Its cover 6 Km²
which is about 0.36 percent. Water bodies are occupied by 0.4 Km² which is about 0.02 percent.
Lithology and Lineament
Lithology is a broad physical characteristic of rocks such as understanding the structure andcomposition of a rock formation. In the study area of Rock types ranging in period from
Palaeoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic. In this area found basically five lithology zone like
Tourmaline granites, Darjeeling gneisses, Chamoli-Jaunsar Quartizite,Jutogh-Navakot
gneisses and Basic-Ultra Basic.
Figure 03: Lithology and Lineaments

Lineament is a linear feature in a landscape which is an expression of anunderlying geological structure such as a fault. Mandakini river basin is occupied five major
thrusts Ramgarh Thrust, Berinag Thrust, Barkot- Bhatwari Thrust, Munsiari Thrust and Vaikrita
Thrust, MCT– I, II and some major lineaments are along the Mandakini River. Lineament map
are classified into three classes based on the using BHAVAN portal database(www.bhavan.nrsc.gov.in). These are structural lineaments- joint Fracture, geomorphic
lineament- drainage parallel and structural lineament- fault. The highest length occupied by thestructural lineament- fault about 193.60 Kms of the basin area (Fig.03).
Land Use/Land CoverThe land use and land covered are two important terms used in physical and human geography.
Land is an important constituent of earth surface. Land cover is a physical entity whichconstituents natural vegetation, bare earth, water bodies, impervious surface, etc. whereas land
use refer to these activities performed by human being for agriculture, economic purpose etc.

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Figure 04: Land Use/Land CoverThe Fig.04 Shows classification the land use/land covers categories and table-02 show
the under these categories. Out of this open forest has maximum area of 721.33 Km² which is
43.25 percent of total geographical area of basin. The forest cover mainly includes tree of Pinus
logifolia & Sorea Robusta. The second category is dense forest of area 429.16 Km² and 25.81
percent of total area of basin. The main trees include Quercus incana etc. in these forests.
These forest covers are mainly present in North-East and East part of basin. Under the Snow
Cover area is 361.13 Km² and 21.88 percent of whole basin area. This occurred at high altitude
zone which is North and North East region of basin. In this zone there is snow for more than 6months in year, so habitants in this region are not permanent
Table 02: Mandakini River Basin: Land Use/Land Covers
Sr. NoCategories
Area in Km²
1
Agriculture Land
48.78
2
Snow Cover
361.13
3
Water Body
1.50
4
Scrub Land
39.47
5
Settlement
15.32
6
Dense Forest
429.96
7
Grass Land
7.77
8Open Land
41.36
9Open Forest
721.33
10Total Area
1666.34
Source: Computed by Researcher with the help of Fig.04

Area in Percent
2.93
21.68
0.09
2.37
0.92
25.81
0.47
2.48
43.25
100

Some glaciers are persistent in this region like Chorawari bak, Dudhganga bak, etc. The
area of agricultural land is 48.78 Km² which is 2.93 percent of basin area. The agricultural land
mainly expended in lower region of basin. As height of basin increases due to low temperatureand steep slope, the agricultural land decreases.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) provides the description about three dimensional surfaces anddata foundation for impressive three-dimensional visualisation of geographical data, but also58

sets the foundation for deriving other surface morphological parameters such as slope, aspect,curvature, slope profile and catchment area (Zhou Qiming and Liu Xuejun, 2004). Using DEMs
topographic attributes (elevation, slope, aspect etc) are easily calculated and can be shown as
output image called DEM derived surfaces. With help of these images DEMs show therelationship between topography and geology. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) map are classified
into seven categories based on using ASTER data (Fig.05 and table-03). These are 600-1000,1000-2000, 2000-3000, 3000-4000, 4000-5000, 5000-6000 and 6000-6600 meter. The highest
area is covered between 2000-3000 meters about 559 Km² which is about 33.55 percent of thebasin.
Figure 05: Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

Table 03: Mandakini River Basin: Elevation in Meters
Height in Meters
Area in km²
600 - 1000
441000 - 2000
495
2000 - 3000
559
3000 - 4000
288
4000 - 5000
217
5000 - 6000
56
6000 - 6600
7.34Total Area
1666.34
Source: Computed by Researcher with the help of Fig. 05

Area in Percent
2.64
29.71
33.55
17.28
13.02
3.36
0.42
100

Slope
Slope is an important parameter for the measurement of surface. The term slope has two
commonly used meanings, one referring to the angle of inclination of the surface, express indegrees or a percent, and the other is the inclined surface itself (Chorrley Richard, 1984). Slopemap of Mandakini river basin is generated from the GDEM ASTER (2011) using Arc GIS 9.3
software (Fig. 06). The slope ranges between 0°-90° shows table-04. Slope map are classified
into 5 classes that are 0°-15°, 15°-30°, 30°-45°, 45°-60°, 60°-76°. It is observed that the area
202 km² less than < 15° and 676.34 km²of the area is a slope 15°-30°.An area of 600 km² of
total area is a slope of 30°-45°, similarly 177 km² area is slope of 45°-60°. The lowest area iscovered between 60°-76° about 11 Km² which is about 0.66 percent of the basin.

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Figure 06: Slope

Table 04: Mandakini River Basin: Slope in Degrees
Slope in Degree
Area in km²0 - 15202
15 - 30676.34
30 - 45600
45 - 60
17760 - 76
11Total Area
1666.34
Source: Computed by Researcher with the help of Fig. 06

Area in Percent
12.12
40.58
36
10.63
0.66
100

AspectAspect identifies the down-slope direction. Aspect images may enhance landforms such as
fluvial network, alluvial fans, faceted fault related scarps etc (Cires J.et. al, 1994). Aspect isusually known to the horizontal direction to which a mountain slope faces. Aspect map describes
the distribution of aspect within the study area. Aspect is measured clockwise in degrees from0° North to 360° North coming full circle. Aspect map is generating using the same ASTER
GDEM (2011) of the using Arc GIS 9.3 (Fig.07). The Map is classified into eight categories
divided equal interval at 45°. These are NNE (0°-45°), ENE (45°-90°),ESE (90°-135°), SSE(135°-180°), SSW (180°-225°), WSW (225°-270°), WNW (270°-315°) and NNW (315°-360°)
Conclusion
Geomorphology is a systematic and organised description and study of landforms of the Earthsurface.Geomorphologically, the area of Mandakini river basin have been divided into sevendifferent geomorphic regions characterized by different geomorphic elements and reliefcharacteristics. The highest area occupied by Structural Origin- Highly Dissected Hills andValleys are 1320 Km² as weel as the lowest area is water bodies 0.4 Km². Geologically, thearea have been divided into four categories i.e. Munsiari Formation area is 547 Km², Vaikrita
Group is 601 Km², Ramgarh Group is 417 Km² and the area occupied by Berinag Formation is101 Km². Slope is derived Global Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generated from Advanced
Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data 2011 with 30 mresolution and further Aspect has been used for finding the direction of slope. The contour ofminimum height is 600 meters and maximum height is 6600 meters. The lowest part of slope
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exists in mainly in Mandakini valley near Rudraprayag while the highest slope occurs mainly inNorth and North-East.
Figure 07: Aspect

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