Late Pleistocene fluvial sedimentary facies, the Dhadhar River basin, Western India

The Late Pleistocene fluvial succession is exposed as 18–20 m high incised vertical cliffs all along the Dhadhar River basin in western India. The major fluvial sedimentary facies of the Late Pleistocene deposits in the Dhadhar River basin have preserved evidence of palaeodrainage and could provide an important link between the sub-humid Narmada basin in the south and the semi-arid Mahi basin in the north. The sedimentary facies documented include overbank fines, which are associated with crevasse splays. Fine grained overbank sediments are interpreted as having formed by sheet flow of sediments over the banks of minor distributary channels during the flood stage. The overlying thinly stratified fluvial sands and silts, at the top of the exposed sediment succession show a thin cap of aeolian sediments suggesting less intense aeolian activity than that observed in Sabarmati, Mahi and Orsang basins, though a significant reduction in fluvial activity is suggested during the arid phase of the LGM. However, the river may still have been perennial assuming that it retained the larger part of the catchment.