Geospatial assessment of active tectonics using SRTM DEM-based morphometric approach for Meghalaya, India

An assessment of the geomorphodiversity and land use/cover change (LUCC) effects associated with landslides in Meghalaya, India

“…The Dauki, Oldham, Dhubri, Kopili, Umrangso faults and Barapani shear zone are some of the significant tectonics features in the study region (Figure 1a; Agrawal et al, 2022). Due to its proximity to the convergent plate boundary of the Indian-Eurasian Plates, the active subduction zone of the Indo-Burmese arc and the presence of several faults and other structural discontinuities, the region is tectonically active, and possesses high seismicity.…”

“…The relief parameters, for example, relative relief (R), ruggedness number (Rn) and dissection index (DI), which help in interpreting the extent of landscape degradation processes, are also calculated (Argyriou et al, 2016;Chauhan & Dixit, 2024). A high range of relief parameters represents recent vertical displacement, high physiographic structures and highly dissected landscapes with congenital structural complexity (Agrawal et al, 2022;Basu & Pal, 2019). For the present study, R, the maximum elevation difference within a unit area, is extracted from DEM with a moving circular window of a radius of 20 cells using focal statistics in ArcGIS 10.8.…”

“…Further, the The high-density zones are found clustered along the Dauki fault in the south-central and south-eastern portions, which also contain enormous landslide initiation points (purple-blue zones in Figure 9). This region is near the southern Plateau margins, having relief of more than 1000 m and experiencing large-scale bedrock erosion and concomitant hazards, and has been recognized as zone of high relative active tectonics (Agrawal et al, 2022;Jaiswara et al, 2020;Mishra, 2019).…”

“…The presence of structural discontinuities, a lithology susceptible to weathering, steep gradient and high relief, which eventually govern the geomorphic behaviour of the region, create the basis for rock mass weathering leading to landslides (Conforti & Ietto, 2021). The geomorphic processes (exogenic and endogenic) are the physical and chemical processes responsible for changes in the configuration of the Earth's surface (Agrawal et al, 2022; Shukla et al, 2014), producing different geomorphological landforms and geodiversity (Argyriou et al, 2016; Rawat & Sharma, 2012; Różycka & Migoń, 2022; Sinha, 2021). These geomorphic processes are influenced by various factors, such as climate, topography and lithology, and play an imperative role in landscape development.…”

“…and 11) due to torrential rain, active tectonics and resulting geomorphic responses(Agrawal et al, 2022). The LUCC shows a significant increase in built area over the terrain slopes >15 (mean expansion ratio of 1.55 [55%] and 2.3 [130%] for 2017-2021 and 2017-2022), posing a threat to GmD in the region(Melelli et al, 2017).…”