Alluvial Fan Sedimentation in Heran and Kara River Valleys of Lower Narmada Basin, Western India

Sedimentation in an alluvial fan environment in Heran and Kara river valley of lower Narmada basin has been recognized. The fans are incised by Heran and Kara rivers due to vertical movements along faults. The architecture of the fans is built by various lithofacies (Gc, Gms, Gh, Gp, Gm, Sh, Sp and Gsh) with maximum clast size ranging from cobbles to large isolated boulders, mainly of basalts. The variations in the lithofacies are considered to be largely controlled by the then prevailing climates. Tectonics created the accommodation space within which fan aggradation took place and shaped their present morphology. The fan aggradation in Heran and Kara rivers appear to have taken place during Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, respectively. An overall humid climate together with tectonic activity is inferred for the formation of alluvial fans in Heran and Kara rivers.