Application of remote sensing in the study of geomorphic processes and lanforms in piedmont zone of Darjeeling Sub-Himalaya

The piedmont zone, located between the foothills of Darjeeling Sub-Himalaya and the flat plains of North Bengal is elongated from west to east and its average height varies from 150 m in the north to 50 m in the south. Morphologically, the region is divided into three distinct physiographic units. Many large and small rivers originated from the Darjeeling Sub-Himalayas intersect it. Most of these rivers have their large catchment area in the mountainous tract. The study area has about 350 cm of annual rainfall and peak discharge in the rivers is very high during monsoon period. Rivers carry large amount of sediments, gravels, and pebbles both in suspension and traction and these materials are deposited in the foothills of the Sub-Himalaya as fan deposits and on the riverbeds making braided channels. Landforms in the study area are mainly complex and their origins are influenced by neotectonic and fluvial activities. Many rivers terraces, palaeo-channels, out wash plains, valley-fills and channel bars are formed in the region due to both erosion and depositional processes. These processes and modifications of landforms are still going on in the region.