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Aeromagnetic evidence for the arcuate shape of Mahanadi Delta, India

Earth, Planets and Space volume 58, pages 1093–1098 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The stream network comprising Mahanadi and its tributaries, viz. Katjhori, Devi, Koyakhai, Kushbhadra and Bhargavi, cut transversely the ESE-WNW trending basement structure in the Cuttack-Paradip-Puri section and diverge radially from one another near and around Cuttack. The Mahanadi river flows in an ESE-WNW direction, the Katjhori and Devi rivers flow in a NW-SE direction and Koyakhai, Kushbhadra and Bhargavi River in an almost N-S direction. The general southeasterly direction of these rivers and the delta formation was thought to be continued throughout the Quaternary period and the delta was a case of superposition upon the deformational structures derived from the erosional surfaces covered by recent sediments.

Analysis of the aeromagnetic anomaly field of the Mahanadi Delta area of the on-shore portion has indicated three prominent structural trends in ESE-WNW, NW-SE and N-S directions along which the rivers Ma-hanadi/Chitratala, Katjhori and Devi, Koyakhai, Kushbhadra and Bhargavi flow, respectively. The tectonic disturbance along the N-S direction, in the western part of Bhubaneswar-Puri section, seems to have been controlling the Koyakhai and Kushbhadra and Bhargavi river system, following the possible trace of 85°E Ridge, whereas the concealed NW-SE trending Mahanadi graben trend is inferred to be the probable cause for the NW-SE flow of the Katjhori river in the middle portion south of Cuttack and the ESE-WNW flow of the Mahanadi and Chitratala rivers in the Cuttack-Paradip section controlled by the Eastern Ghat trend.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad-, 500007, India

    Goutam Kumar Nayak, Ch. Rama Rao & H. V. Rambabu

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  1. Goutam Kumar Nayak
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  2. Ch. Rama Rao
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  3. H. V. Rambabu
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Correspondence to Goutam Kumar Nayak.

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Nayak, G.K., Rao, C.R. & Rambabu, H.V. Aeromagnetic evidence for the arcuate shape of Mahanadi Delta, India. Earth Planet Sp 58, 1093–1098 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352615

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352615

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