Relief Morphometry of Nayaseri Watershed: A Case Study in Northern Slopes of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

The study of relief elements is very significant in geography. Relief set the stage for all types of development of cultural features on the surface of the earth. To make planning regarding development of cultural landscape, for sustainable development, the study of relief is must, particularly in mountainous regions. The study of relief enlighten many characteristics of the area, like - slope, dissection of area, stability and instability of topography, erosion capacity of area, hydrological aspects and stages of sequential development of landforms etc.  In the light of this need, relief morphometry of catchment has been studied. To study the Morphometry of the watershed, parameters like – relative relief, absolute relief, dissection index, slope, hypsometric integral curve, clinographic curve,  relief ratio and ruggedness number, relief profile have been taken. The topographical map published by Government of India is the database of the analysis. Instruments, like- Rotameter and Planimeter have been used for various measurements. The observations per square kilometer are taken to calculate the areal coverage of absolute and relative relief, average slope and dissection index. The study reveals that the watershed has experienced tectonic incidences in the recent past. Fault, submergence, upliftment, tilt and sudden breaks of slopes are imprints of these activities on topography of the area. Indicators like - Slope, relief ratio, ruggedness number and relief profiles suggest that the watershed has Steep slopes, unstable landmass and capacity of intense erosion. Various measures of relief also imply that the area is in the youthful phase of its sequential development.