International Journal of Civil, Structural, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering Research and Development (IJCSEIERD) ISSN 2249-6866 Vol. 3, Issue 3, Aug 2013, 21-28 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF YERRIGEDDA CATCHMENT AREA, , ANDHRAPRADESH- USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES

K. HARIKRISHNA, V. VENKATESWARA RAO, E. AMMINEDU & G. JAISANKAR Department of Geo-Engineering, College of Engineering, Andhra , Visakhapatnam, ,

ABSTRACT

Geomorphological map is an essential tool for various types of planning and developmental activities in a catchment area such as land use planning, agriculture, forestry, civil-engineering, exploration and utilization of mineral resources, groundwater development, terrain evaluation etc. The geogmorphological mapping for Yerrigedda catchment area was carried out with the help of IRS-P6, LISS III imagery on 1:50,000 scale by visual interpretation techniques. The method was found suitable for identifying and delineating different categories of geomorphic units. The terrain features which are difficult to be mapped in the field by conventional methods could very well be delineated with the help of Remote Sensing techniques. Based on the existing landforms, drainage characteristics, nature of relief, structure, slope on the imagery, following geomorphic units have been identified in Yerrigedda catchment area, viz. These are Structural hills, Denudation hills, Piedmont slope, Pedi plain moderate and Pedi plain shallow. Remote Sensing sources ranging from satellite imagery to aerial photographs are most useful to get the primary data about the terrain features.

KEYWORDS: Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Lineament, Geology, Drainage and Slope

INTRODUCTION

The very recent studies by the International Institute of Environment and Development, a service organization of England reveals that the Visakhapatnam city is one of the fastest developing city in the world. The Visakhapatnam city consists of highly undulating terrain and the storm water generated in elevated places reach the plains and low-lying areas immediately and causing floods. Since last 15 to 20 years every year some of the areas like , , and some margin areas all along the streams in the Yerrigedda catchment area get inundated after a high intensity rainfall. This is predominant where catchments area of a drain covered with more than 60-70% urbanization/ concretion.

The present study is an attempt to analyze the Geomorphologic studies of Yerrigedda Catchment Area. Numbers of research papers were published relating to Geomorphology, Geology, and drainage net work analysis. Borse R.J and Patil Y.V, (2006) has analyzed a study of Hydro geomorphic Feature in Jalgaon District. Hydrological Characteristics and Fluvial Morphology in the Bhagirathi-Jalangi Floodplains of the east central West Bengal by Prasad Nageshwar and Mukherje Indrani (2010). Srinivasulu,G. et al. (2009) has analysed the Geomorphological studies to assess the imapct of watershed development Practices in Kondurg Mandal, Mahabubnagar District of Andhra Pradesh. The study of Identifying Geomorphological Characteristics of Roha, Raigada district Using Remote Sensing Technique, Maharastra state by Swaminathan and Chanedrasekharam (2006). Vaidyanathan (2010) have discussed Some Aspects of Applied Geomorphology.

Physiographically, the study area is highly variable terrains like hill range, up lands, undulating plains, low lying areas and marshy swamps. Kailasa hill range runs for about 10km in the east-west direction starting from the sea coast to Simhachalam in which 4 km stretch is a part of the study area. Maximum altitude of the hill range in the study area is 22 K. Harikrishna, V. Venkateswara Rao, E. Amminedu & G. Jaisankar

+484m (figure 2). An elevated hill mound/ ridge exist along the east boarder of the catchment and the area covered by the mound is Rajendranagar, CBM Compound and . The highly intensified urban agglomeration in the study area consists of Dwarakanagar, Seethampeta, Srinagar, , Madhuranagar, Lalithanagar, Dondaparthi, , railway quarters area etc., situated on undulating plains and are in between +10m and +30m contour lines. Area below 10m contour is railway grounds, Gnanapuram, Sebastian colony and FCI godowns area. Some part of the area below +10m contour is marshy land consists of clays and marine clays and prone to frequent flooding.

STUDY AREA

The study area is covered in 65 O/5, 65 O/6, 65 O/1 and 65 O/2&3 Survey of India topo sheets on 1:50,000 scale bounded between north latitudes 170 32’ and 170 52’ and east longitudes 830 04’and 830 24’. The GVMC area comes under the Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh. Location of the study area is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 OBJECTIVES

 Analysis of Geomorphologicial features of the study area.

 To study the natural drainage network of entire Yerrigedda catchment area and divide into sub-catchments areas.

DATABASE AND METHODOLOGY

The present work is carried out with two important sources. Firstly, the topographical information like contours, spot heights, and drainage was gathered from Survey of India, toposheets. The identification of different geomorphic units and lineaments was carried out with the help of interpretation of the satellite imagery - IRS-P6, LISS IV (Feb., 2005) based on the photo elements like slope, geology, drainage pattern etc. which supported by number of field visits. The National Remote Sensing Centre classification of geomorphic units was used for this study. Digital data was analyzed through image processing software (ERDAS imagine 9.1) and Arc GIS 9.1 software. The various geomorphic features were delineated in online digitization.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES

Geomorphology is the science of landforms. In this study an attempt has been made to discern different geomorphological landforms in relation to understand fluviatile activity in the area. In this study, 5 no.s of different landforms have been delineated by standard visual interpretation techniques. These are Structural hills, Denudation hills, Piedmont slope, Pedi plain moderate and Pedi plain shallow and are shown in figure 2&3. Brief descriptions of these landforms are given below. Geomorphological Studies of Yerrigedda Catchment Area, Visakhapatnam, 23 Andhrapradesh- Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Structural Hills: The northern part of the study area consists of kailasa hill range belong to khondalite rock with east-west strike.

Denudational Hill: Isolated hills are observed on the western part belong to khondalite as well in the eastern part belong to leptinite/ charnockite rock. Khondalite rock has better groundwater nature than the leptinite/ charnockite rock.

Piedmont Slope (PS): This zone is normally located in the hilly area. Disappearance of drainage is one of the characters of this landform. This geomorphic unit is disturbed greatly by various anthropogenic activities like construction of buildings, excavations and various developmental activities. Part of Seetammadhara, port quarters, Narasimhanagar, CBM compound, Asilmetta places covered in this zone.

Pediplain Shallow (PPS): The culmination of pediments in the formation of multi concave topographic surface is called Pediplain. The shallow Pediplain regions are having close proximity to the hilly terrain. In this geomorphic unit the weathering takes place through in-situ process and by transportation. The soil cover is less than 5 meters thickness and slightly sloppy. This geomorphic unit is completely disturbed by settlements and various developmental activities in order to meet the population requirements. Some of the places covered in this geomorphic unit are Lalithanagar, Dwarakanagar seetampeta, Dondaparthi and Tatichtlapaem.

Figure 2

Figure 3 24 K. Harikrishna, V. Venkateswara Rao, E. Amminedu & G. Jaisankar

Pediplain Moderate (PPM): The evolution of this landform is totally controlled by in-situ process. This zone is confined over the plains, which are suitable for sediment deposition. Pediplain moderate has 5-10 meters soil cover. The areas covered under this category are Railway new colony, railway yards, FCI godowns and Gnanapuram.

LINEAMENT STUDIES

Different Scientists with variety of meanings defined the term lineaments in various ways. Leary defined lineaments as map able, simple or composite linear features of a surface, whose parts are aligned in a rectilinear or slightly curvilinear relationship, which differs distinctly from the patterns of adjacent features and presumably reflect a subsurface phenomenon. The advent of remote sensing technology has provided aerial photographs and satellite imageries, which are being used for structural analysis, especially in the lineament mapping. Lineaments are seen as linear tonal discontinuities in an image. Lineaments play an important role in the development of groundwater regime. They create the secondary porosity and the weak zones which help the precipitations to percolate down wards to create the secondary porosity and the weak zones which help the precipitations to percolate downwards to create an aquifer. In hard rock terrain these lineaments create the opening, which increases the permeability of the rock, which forms a trap for groundwater to form an aquifer. Therefore in any study related to groundwater or surface water delineation of lineaments are very important and are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 The major lineaments direction is NS-SW and NW-SE, these are classified in to four classes they are

 Major Lineaments

 Minor Lineaments

 Macro Lineaments

 Micro Lineaments

High lineament density observed over the hill terrain. This can be ascribed to the hilly terrain is structurally controlled. Majority of the lineaments are disturbed due to various anthropogenic activities. A major lineament with the trend of E-W direction is parallel to the nearby denudation hill. This phenomenon reflects that the lineament area is a major valley, which is structurally controlled. The termination of Yerrigedda into the has developed inland migration. Moderate to low lineament density are identified over the plains, which are characterized by urban sprawl. These lineaments can act as conduits and therefore unsuitable for landfill site. Geomorphological Studies of Yerrigedda Catchment Area, Visakhapatnam, 25 Andhrapradesh- Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques GROUND WATER CONDITIONS OF STUDY AREA

In order to have a comparison of availability of groundwater with respect to the geomorphic features of the study area, the data available earlier and some field observations data has been utilized. Ground water in study area occurs under unconfined and semi confined conditions. In the structural hill areas over the kailasa hill there is no groundwater exploration, but the hilly region is highly fractured rock exists on the surface and this would help in recharging the aquifer. In the piedmont zone that covering seetammadhara, port quarters etc., groundwater is available under semi-confined condition. Groundwater table under phreatic condition vary between 12m to 35m from the ground level depending the topographical elevation. In the same zone in the CBM compound region water table is around 10m to 25m from the ground level. Groundwater being explored only through open bore wells in this region

The geomorphic unit, shallow buried pediplain areas like Dwarakanagar etc., water table is around 5m in the low lying areas and the aquifer is unconfined. In the same area, water table varies between 8m and 15m in the semi-confined aquifers. Groundwater being explored through open wells as well through bore wells in this region. In the moderately buried pediplain area water table is within 5m from the ground level. Shallow water table occurs in the central marshy area, where the quality of water is slightly brackish. The areas that come under this zone are Convent junction and some industrial zones.

GEOLOGICAL STUDIES

The Greater Visakhapatnam region comprises the Precambrian Meta sediments and intrusive Meta igneous bodies (Narasimha Rao, 1945). The high hill ranges namely the Kailasa to the north, the to the south and to the West make the city area appear like an amphitheatre. These are mainly composed of Garnet –sillmanite – biotite gneisses locally called as khondalites (King, 1886), hypersthenes granites (charnockites), garnetiferous granites (Leptynites), quartzite and pegmatite’s forming as banded members (Murthy, 1961, Bhaskara Rao and Raju, 1975). Apart from the Meta sediments the area is also marked by the occurrence of the Quaternaries such as the red sediments with calcium carbonate calcretes, dune sands, and beach sands with economically important black sands (Natarajan, et. al., 1979).

The area of investigation is located in north Mobile Belt (EGMB). It is composed of high-grade metamorphic rocks and igneous intrusive bodies. The order of abundance of rocks is khondalite, Charnokite and quartzite. Distribution of geological formations is shown in figure 5.

Figure 5 26 K. Harikrishna, V. Venkateswara Rao, E. Amminedu & G. Jaisankar

SLOPE ANALYSIS

The slope map of the study area is generated by digitizing contours of 20 meters interval from the toposheet. The contour values are assigned under the ArcGIS 9.1, ERDAS Imagine 9.1 environment. This will be considered as the corresponding attributes of the slope.

For general understanding the map has been divided into four categories of slope (figure 6). The slope category gentle slope covers large area. This can be ascribed to plain land with nearly gentle slope. The second highest slope moderate slope which accounts 15% of the area. The other categories of slopes like moderately to steep slopes are limited to kailasa hill.

Figure 6 DRAINAGE STUDIES

In geomorphology, a drainage system is the pattern formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular watershed. They are governed by the topography of the land, whether a particular region is dominated by hard or soft rocks, and the gradient of the land. A drainage system (industrial and residential) is a facility to dispose of liquid waste. Types of drainage system (geomorphology) fall into one of several categories, depending on the topography and geology of the land.

Drainage Network of Study Area

The drainage map is primarily extracted from the Survey of India toposheet of 65 O/6 on 1:50,000 scale (Figure 7). Finally it is updated from the high resolution Quick bird satellite data available in Google Earth web site. High drainage density is observed in the hilly terrain.

The type of drainage of the catchment is dendritic type (Figure 7). The major drain that originating from Kailasa hill and finally join with the sea at north port channel is locally known as Yerrigedda. The area of the catchment is 18.85 sq.km covering the major part of the high density urban area. Geomorphological Studies of Yerrigedda Catchment Area, Visakhapatnam, 27 Andhrapradesh- Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Figure 7 Table 1: Geomorphic Properties of the Yerri Gedda Basin Basin Parameters Values Area of the Yerri Gedda basin (A) 18.85 sq.km Perimeter of the Yerri Gedda basin (P) 19.9 Km Basin Circularity Ratio (Rc) 0.592 Elongation Ratio (E) 2.51 Rotundity Factor (K) 2.91 Drainage Density (D) 1.68 Stream Frequency (F) 4.93 Texture Ratio (T) 0.01561 Constant of Channel maintenance © 18856994.04

CONCLUSIONS

The foregoing analysis clearly reveals that the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data with its better spatial and radiometric resolution has proved to be an extremely versatile tool in the study of various geomorphological units in the study area. The following geomorphic units have been identified in Yerrigedda catchment area, viz. These are Structural hills, Denudation hills, Piedmont slope, Pedi plain moderate and Pedi plain shallow. The various geomorphological units discussed are the result of different geomorphologic processes especially the fluvial activities that have been operated in the area. It is composed of high-grade metamorphic rocks and igneous intrusive bodies. The order of abundance of rocks is khondalite, Charnokite and quartzite. The slope category gentle slope covers large area. High lineament density observed over the hill terrain. This can be ascribed to the hilly terrain is structurally controlled. High drainage density is observed in the hilly terrain. The type of drainage of the catchment is dendritic type. Majority of the lineaments are disturbed due to various anthropogenic activities.

REFERENCES

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