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Impact of morphometric and land cover parameters on bed sediments of stream watersheds in the Bhagirathi valley, Uttarakhand, India

Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India
  • 2Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 8, Issue (2), Pages 15-26, April,22 (2019)

Abstract

A study has been attempted to recognizing grain size characteristics and its relation with morphometric and land cover parameters on bed sediment of watersheds located in Bhagirathi basin, Garhwal Himalaya. To achieve the objective, twenty one bed sediment samples was collected from stream joining to the river Bhagirathi. Grain size analyzed and Folk and Ward\'s units were calculated. Morphometric and land cover parameters of the watersheds were determined using SRTM DEM, LANDSAT ETM+. The result suggests that the stream bed sediments in high altitude watersheds are characterized by moderate grain size, poorly sorted and extremely leptokurtic in nature. At a lower altitude, the bed sediments show large grain size, poorly sorted and very leptokurtic. The impact of the morphometric parameters has a significant relationship with sediment asymmetrical dispersion. Agriculture and glacier cover have more impact on sediment characters than any other land cover. The principle component analysis explains the 89% of the variance in the data. Dominant factors controlling the sediment nature are associated with agriculture practices and maximum elevation, minimum elevation and area of the watersheds.

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