Variation of Heavy Minerals in Different Lithofacies and Geomorphic Units of the Ganga - Yamuna River near their Confluence at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh

Recent sediments of the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in three sectors, viz Sector-A , Sector-B and Sector-C were subjected for heavy minerals study to understand their distribution in various facies, and differences and similarities The heavy minerals mciude garnet, hornblende, kyanite, tourmaline, epidote, sillimanite, zircon, chloritoid, apatite and staurolite There exists an mverse relationship between their percentage and gram size Among the heavies, garnet dominates in all the three sectors of study area, followed by hornblende in Sector-A and -B, and epidote in Sector-C with augite and rutile m the Sector-B only Anatase, hypersthene, sphene and corundum are restricted to Yamuna nver sediments Also, brookite is more common m Sector-A Nine lithofacies, namely St, Sp₂, Sp₁, Sr₁, Sr₂, S1, Sh, Fl and Fm (8 SandandlMud- sublithofacies) are identified in the area Irrespective of occurrence in any geomorphic unit, Sr₁, - Sr₂ facies have higher concentration of heavies in coarser fraction while the Sp₁ - Sp₂ facies have higher concentration of heavies in finer fraction Bed forms have significant control on the distribution of the heavy minerals in a vertical profile, with differences m the source of the sediments of the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers reflected well in the respective heavy mineral assemblage.