Detecting the Facets of Anthropogenic Interventions on the Palaeochannels of Saraswati and Jamuna

Predictive geospatial model for arsenic accumulation in Holocene aquifers based on interactions of oxbow-lake biogeochemistry and alluvial geomorphology

“…The oxbow lakes surrounding the elevated point bars formed by neck cut-off of meander bends of the Jamuna River in the Lower Ganges Delta of West Bengal. The river was an eastward-flowing, highly-sinuous distributary of the Hooghly River, and in the upper reaches of the Jamuna River Basin the river path has become moribund over time, and detached from the parent river by silting-up as consequence of upstream discharge reduction in the Hooghly River from the 18th Century onward (Mallick, 2013;Sahana et al, 2020). The geomorphology of the Holocene alluvial landscape of the Jamuna River Basin is characterized by flat, low-elevation topography (on average 4 m above mean sea level) of extensive floodplain sandy clay and silt deposits (Sahana et al, 2020).…”

“…The river was an eastward-flowing, highly-sinuous distributary of the Hooghly River, and in the upper reaches of the Jamuna River Basin the river path has become moribund over time, and detached from the parent river by silting-up as consequence of upstream discharge reduction in the Hooghly River from the 18th Century onward (Mallick, 2013;Sahana et al, 2020). The geomorphology of the Holocene alluvial landscape of the Jamuna River Basin is characterized by flat, low-elevation topography (on average 4 m above mean sea level) of extensive floodplain sandy clay and silt deposits (Sahana et al, 2020). Multiple point-bar and levee sandy deposits stand out as scattered hillocks and ridges up to 8 m above the clayey floodplain landscape (Fig.…”

“…The depth of the geomorphological groundwater entrapment in recent alluvial deposits equals the thickness of the individual point-baroxbow-lake geomorphological-element couple, and scales with the depth of the river from which they originate. Maximum depth data of the Jamuna River in the study area are not readily available because of the moribund state of the river (Mallick, 2013;Sahana et al, 2020), and bathymetric data of the Hooghly River, of which the Jamuna River was a distributary, serve as proxy. Measured river depth in a stretch 12 km west of the study area (Ghosh et al, 2020) is 7 m, which would be an indication of the entrapment depth.…”

Assessment of the Present State and Future Fate of River Saraswati, India: Water Quality Indices and Forecast Models as Diagnostic and Management Tools

“…The river gradually decayed over the last few centuries and now survives as a shallow, nonperennial, nearly discontinuous stream. [ 19 ] But at present, the river has become a narrow water channel and has lost its importance due to pollution load from agricultural runoffs, discharge of organic wastes from growing human settlements on both banks of the river, siltation, and unscientific fishing practices emerging on the river beds. The large portion of this river, covering 285.69 km 2 , flows through Polba‐Dadpur of district Hooghly.…”