Slope and land use in western doon of Dehra, Uttrakhand (India)

Tajvir *

Associate Professor of Geography, S.M. Government Girls College Safidon, Haryana, India.
 
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2022, 06(02), 263–271.
Article DOI: 10.30574/ijsra.2022.6.2.0370
Publication history: 
Received on 18 July 2022; revised on 25 August 2022; accepted on 28 August 2022
 
Abstract: 
The study of slope of the terrain of a geomorphic unit is very significant. slope may be expressed in two dimensions. These are the magnitude and direction of the slope. Study of both the dimensions are equally important particularly in mountainous regions. Magnitude of slope not only helps in terracing genetic history of geomorphic units but also determines the land use pattern and developmental activities in the area. Similarly, slope direction determines the land use and erodibility of slope faces. Doon of Dehra is a very important geomorphic unit in terms of both natural and cultural point of view Dehradun, which is the capital city of Uttarakhand is also situated in this geomorphic unit. Topographical sheets  published by the government of India are the database of study. Wentworth’s method of average slope has been used to calculate the magnitude of slope. The slope of this area varies from little more than 0° to 39.5°. Minute study of isopleths of slopes at the interval of 2° and 5° reveals that there are certain breaks of slope at the zone of 25° to 30°, 10° to 15°, 5° to 10°. Regional breaks of slopes are also observed in Nun, Sitla and Bin basins. Pattern of slope also changes rapidly at the extreme western portion of basin, near the mouth of Yamuna in the study area. These major changes of slopes may be related to thrust, faults and lineaments. In this basin, sunny, eastern-sunny and western-sunny slopes cover about 51.47% of the total mountainous region. These sunny slopes exhibit 92.2% of total cultivated land, 94.7% of total settlement and 28.7% of total forested area of this morpo-unit (mountainous region). More than 92% of total barren land is found on these sunny slopes. This may be attributed to the fact that these facets may have steep and unstable slopes due to more weathering of rocks by heating of the surface due to sun-rays.
 
Keywords: 
Blucher; Dehra; Morphometry Mussoorie Shady; Slope; Wentworth
 
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