TITLE:
Soil Geomorphology of Garpanchkot Hill Area and Its Influence on Land Use and Land Cover
AUTHORS:
Arindam Sarkar
KEYWORDS:
Soil, Geomorphology, Foothill, Agriculture, Forest, Sandy Loam
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.7 No.7,
July
26,
2019
ABSTRACT:
The present study is about to
find out different attributes of soil as well as geomorphology. It is very much
relevant to the study of land use land cover (LULC). Garpanchkot hill is
situated in Purulia district of West Bengal. There are two geomorphological and
seven pedological parameters that have been selected for the study. Shuttle radar
topographic mission (SRTM) and advanced land observing satellite (ALOS) data
are analyzed by remote sensing software to find out the geomorphological
character of the area. There are twenty soil samples that have been taken from top of the hill to foothill pediment area with the change of elevation and slope for laboratory analysis. Different
statistical techniques are used for representation. Foot hill area of the Garpanchkot
hill can be determined by less than 150 m elevation and 5o slope. Elevation and
slope of rest of the hill area (greater than 150 m and 5o) are fully dominated
by forest and scattered vegetation. Elevated area (greater than 205 m) with
less slope (10o - 15o) is associated with dense forest. Escarpment area is associated with
grass land and scattered vegetation. Foothill area is bearing the signature of
scattered vegetation, bare soil ground and agriculture. The richness of clay minerals plays an important role in the foothill
pediment area for development of agriculture. Sandy loam is dominating soil
texture in the rest of the hill area. Percentage of organic matter (1.8%), status of
salinity (6.65 - 7.72) and alkalinity (up to 138.6 μs/cm) remain high in the high elevated
area due to forest cover. The area is very dry, only fed by the rainfall during
monsoon season. Artificial reservoir feeds the foothill agriculture system. Rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane, pulses chili
and vegetables are the main crops of this area.