Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Role of Tributaries in Shaping the Middle Course of the Himalayan River Teesta after the 1968 Extreme Floods


Affiliations
1 Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Street address: Św. Jana 22, Postcode: 31-018 Cracow, Poland
 

Extremely high precipitation is characteristic of the frontal zone of the Himalaya. In this article we study tributaries which supply huge sediment loads to the Teesta river in the Darjeeling Himalaya, India and significantly affect transportation regime downstream the junction of the Great Rangit with the main river. The material supply is also conditioned by 70-80% deforestation of the catchment. Will the deepening of the Teesta river and its tributaries follow tectonic movements? Or will the Teesta follow smaller streams that drain the fringe of the Himalaya, and then will the huge foreland cones penetrate the mountain interiors? These questions are important, especially in the context of construction of dams and water reservoirs along the Teesta river and its tributaries.

Keywords

Dams and Reservoirs, Extreme Floods, High Precipitation, River Channels, Role of Tributaries.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Bruns, D. A., Minshall, G. W., Cushing, C. E., Cummins, K. W., Brock, J. T. and Vannote, R. L.,. Tributaries as modifiers of the river continuum concept: analysis by polar ordination and regression models. Arch. Hydrobiol., 1984, 99, 208–220.

  • Biron, P., Roy, A., Best, J. L. and Boyer, C. J., Bed morphology and sedimentology at the confluence of unequal depth channels. Geomorphology, 1993, 8, 115–129.

  • Benda, L., Andras, K., Miller, D. and Bigelow, P., Confluence effects in rivers: interactions of basin scale, network geometry, and disturbance regimes. Water Resour. Res., 2004, 40, W05402, 1–15.

  • Chen, S. C., Peng, S. H. and Capart, H., Morphology of alluvial fans formed by hyperconcentrated tributaries. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, Napoli, Italy, 2004, pp. 1095–1102.

  • Wan, Z., Bed material movement in hyperconcentrated flow. J. Hydraul. Eng., 1985, 111, 987–1002.

  • Benda, L., The influence of debris flows on channels and valley floors in the Oregon coast range, USA. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms, 1990, 15, 457–466.

  • Cenderelli, D. A. and Kite, J. S., Geomorphic effects of large debris flows on channel morphology at North Fork Mountain, eastern West Virginia, USA. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms, 1998, 23, 1–19.

  • Starkel, L., The role of catastrophic rainfall in the shaping of the relief of the lower Himalaya (Darjeeling Hills). Geogr. Pol., 1972, 21, 103–147.

  • Starkel, L. and Basu, S., Rains, Landslides, and Floods in the Darjeeling Himalaya, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2000.

  • Gansser, A., Geology of the Himalayas, Interscience Publ., New York, USA, 1964.

  • Kar, N. R., Investigations on a piedmont drift deposit in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas and its glacial and periglacial significance. Biul. Peryglac., 1962, 11, 21–28.

  • Nakata, T., Geomorphic history and crustal movements of the foot-hills of the Himalayas, Sci. Rep. 22, 177 Tohoku University, Geographical Department, 1972.

  • Basu, S. R. and Sarkar, S., Development of alluvial fans in the foothills of the Darjeeling Himalayas and their geomorphological and pedological characteristics. In Alluvial Fans: A Field Approach (eds Rechocki, A. H. and Church, M.), Wiley, Chichester, 1990, pp. 321–333.

  • Froehlich, W. and Starkel, L., Normal and extreme monsoon rains: their role in the shaping of the Darjeeling Himalaya. Stud. Geomorphol. Carpatho-Balc., 1987, 21, 129–160.

  • Sarkar, S., Hydro-meteorological study of high intensity rainstorms in the Upper Tista Basin. In Geomorphology and Environment (eds Singh, S., Sharma, H. S. and De, S. K.), ACB Publ., Kolkata, 2004, pp. 34–54.

  • Starkel, L. M., On Some Regularities in the Evolution of Relief of Mountains and their Forelands (Exemplified by Mountains of Eurasia), Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, SEDNO Academic Publishing, 2014.

  • Bluszcz, A., Starkel, L. and Kalicki, T., Grain size composition and age of alluvial sediments in the Tista valley floor near Kalijhora, Sikkim Himalaya. Stud. Geomorphol. Carpatho-Balc, 1997, 31, 159–174.

  • Froehlich, W. and Walling, D. E., The use of environmental radionuclides in investigations of sediment sources and overbank sedimentation rates in the Himalaya Foreland, India. In PUB Kickoff Proceedings of the PUB Kick-off meeting held in Brasilia, 20–22 November 2002 (eds Hubert, P. et al.), IAHS Publ, 2007, vol. 309, pp. 137–146.

  • Froehlich, W., Gil, E., Kasza, I. and Starkel, L., Thresholds in the transformation of slopes and river channels in the Darjeeling Himalaya, India. Mt. Res. Dev., 1990, 10, 301–312.

  • Wiejaczka, Ł., Bucała, A. and Sarkar, S., Human role in shaping the hydromorphology of Himalayan rivers: study of the Tista River in Darjeeling Himalaya. Curr. Sci., 2014, 106, 717–724.

  • Upreti, B. N. and Dhital, M. R., Landslide Studies and Management in Nepal, ICIMOD, Nepal, 1996.

  • Soja, R. and Starkel, L., Extreme rainfalls in Eastern Himalaya and southern slope of Meghalaya Plateau and their geomorphologic impacts. Geomorphology, 2007, 84, 170–180.

  • Basu, S. R. and Ghatowar, L., Landslides and soil-erosion in the Gish drainage basin of the Darjeeling Himalaya and their bearing on North Bengal floods. Stud. Geomorphol. Carpatho-Balc., 1988, 22, 105–122.

  • Starkel, L. and Sarkar, S., Different frequency of threshold rainfalls transforming the margin of Sikkimese and Bhutanese Himalaya. Stud. Geomorphol. Carpatho-Balc., 2002, 36, 51–67.

  • Dey, S., Design flood of the river Teesta in North Bengal. Indian J. Earth Sci., 1990, 17, 172–179.


Abstract Views: 399

PDF Views: 133




  • Role of Tributaries in Shaping the Middle Course of the Himalayan River Teesta after the 1968 Extreme Floods

Abstract Views: 399  |  PDF Views: 133

Authors

Leszek Starkel
Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Street address: Św. Jana 22, Postcode: 31-018 Cracow, Poland
Łukasz Wiejaczka
Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Street address: Św. Jana 22, Postcode: 31-018 Cracow, Poland
Krzysztof Kiszka
Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Street address: Św. Jana 22, Postcode: 31-018 Cracow, Poland

Abstract


Extremely high precipitation is characteristic of the frontal zone of the Himalaya. In this article we study tributaries which supply huge sediment loads to the Teesta river in the Darjeeling Himalaya, India and significantly affect transportation regime downstream the junction of the Great Rangit with the main river. The material supply is also conditioned by 70-80% deforestation of the catchment. Will the deepening of the Teesta river and its tributaries follow tectonic movements? Or will the Teesta follow smaller streams that drain the fringe of the Himalaya, and then will the huge foreland cones penetrate the mountain interiors? These questions are important, especially in the context of construction of dams and water reservoirs along the Teesta river and its tributaries.

Keywords


Dams and Reservoirs, Extreme Floods, High Precipitation, River Channels, Role of Tributaries.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv112%2Fi09%2F1896-1903