International Journal of Remote Sensing Applications (IJRSA) Volume 5, 2015 doi: 10.14355/ijrsa.2015.05.001
www.ijrsa.org
Morphodynamic Change of Fraserganj and Bakkhali Coastal Stretch of Indian Sundarban, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India Ismail Mondal1, Jatisankar Bandyopadhyay2, Parthasarathi Chakrabarti3, Debasish Santra4 Department of Remote Sensing & GIS, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore-721102, West Bengal Abstract The Bengal plain is characterized by the presence of an extensive coastal tract bordered by the Bay of Bengal in the south. Two contrasting coastal environments are prevailing in the area, namely; the macro tidal Hooghly estuary in the east; and the mesotidal Midnapore Coastal plain to the west. A morphogenetic study based on the terrain mapping unit (TMU) concept reveals the form- process-material interactions of these two contrasting coastal environments with a possible geo-history model of the coastal Quaternaries. It has been established that the entire process-response system of the coastal tract of the Bengal plain started operating after the rise of sea level around 6000yrs B.P. (i.e., optimum of flandrian transgression) and the Hooghly estuary, the mangrove vegetation plays a significant role as the dominant geomorphic agent in the evolution of the tidal shoals and their eventual accretion to the main landmass resulting in delta progradation. In the present-day scenario, the Hooghly estuary becomes the abandoned part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta in India, and is also turning destructive and forming erosional regime in the mesotidal Midnapore coastal area. Keywords RS & GIS; Morphodynamic Change; Coastal Resource and Habitats; Coastal Zone Management Introduction The indo-Gangetic plain is the biggest alluvial tract of the world and this alluvial fill is essentially of Quaternary age, the indo-Gangeticplain, more precisely, the Bengal plain in its southern part of Bakkhali and Fazergange area extremity, is characterised by the presence of an extensive coastal belt. This stretch of coastal Quaternaries exhibits varied geomorphological signature (like sand dunes, beach ridge, intertidal clayey/sandy flats, tidal shoals, etc.) evolved out of dynamic and varied interactions of marine agencies like waves, tides and littoral currents, combined with fluvial and aeolian components, Geomorphological and Quaternary geological studies reveal that contrasting coastal environments are prevailing in the study area: The macro tidal (tidal range: >4m) Hooghly estuary, characterised by an embroidery of tidal creeks, encompassing the islands and offshore linear tidal shoals, aligned perpendicular to the shoreline and separated by swales. Aim: Morphodynamic Change of Fazergange and Bakkhali area. Objective 1.
From the-process-material interactions/interrelationships in terms of identification of morphodynamic change
2.
To identify the spatial distribution and the existing land use/land cover pattern.
3.
To prepare Geology Map of the Study Area.
4.
To prepare shoreline change Map of the Study Area.
5.
Creation of buffer to identify the erosional zone.
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