Extremely fast Holocene coastal landscape evolution in the Kachchh Upland (NW India): Clues from a multidisciplinary review

Abstract

The coastal landscape of the Kachchh Upland (KU) region (NW-India) changed over the last fewthousand years from a shallow marine gulf to a salty desert (1-4 meters asl). In this area,bordered to the south by the Northern Hill Range (NHR), the tectonic-climatic interactiontriggered the sea level fall from +2/4 m circa (6000-2000 BP) to zero. An ancient riverpattern deposited a tidally regulated delta area during the sea level fall that stopped 2000-3000 years ago due to tectonic activity and a dry climate.Deltaic-alluvial fans (DAF) in front of the NHR suggest that the KU’s tectonic activity led tofast landscape evolution. We explored such drastic changes by integrating scientificinformation from a multidisciplinary literature review, identifying terraces and DAFs, andinferring faults through landform recognition, quantitative morphometry, andfield surveys.Our interpretation, summarized in a map, provides new information on active processesalong the NHR.