Reprint - Central Arid Zone Research Institute

een sculptured through a complex interplay between the presentrock formations and the exogenic and endogenic processes.102 Kar, A. (1993)Aeolian processes and bedforms in the Thar desert. Journal of AridEnvironments. 25: 83-96Studies so far indicate that the aeolian processes are very efficientin the western part of the Thar where mobility of dunes is high andformation of new bedforms takes place even without human-inducedland degradation. The dune trend correlates well with the presentdaysouth-west monsoon wind direction, suggesting very littlechange in the sand shifting wind pattern, at least during the lateQuaternary period. The major source of dune sand is local. Althougha few major dune types were formerly recognised, recent studiesusing remote sensing suggest a more complicated arrangement ofdunes. New data on grain size and dune movement are presented.103 Kar, A. (1993)Neotectonic influences on morphological variations along thecoastline of Kachchh, India. Geomorphology. 8: 199-219The coastline of Kachchh in the arid, western most part of India canbe broadly divided into five major segments. These are, from west toeast, the deltaic coast, the irregular drowned prograded coast, thestraightened coast, the spits and cuspate foreland complex and themud flat coast. Satellite remote sensing helped in correctidentification and mapping of the segments, while fieldinvestigation, followed by remote sensing, helped in identificationand characterisation of the landform units within the segments.Neotectonism appears to have played a crucial role in effecting theabove coastal division.104 Kar, A. (1993)Present day geomorphic processes as key to the reconstruction ofQuaternary landform history in the Thar desert. Journal of theGeological Society of India. 41: 513-17Most of the studies on the Quaternary landform evolution in theThar are devoted to broad morphological processes, the changingclimate and absolute dating of different episodes of sedimentation.Reconstruction of actual sequence of events which led to thedevelopment of many present day forms and the role ofneotectonism have received relatively less attention. The author,during his traverses in the desert, came across certain evidences tosuggest that a knowledge of present day process- form interactionsmay provide significant clues to the possible past processes. A fewexamples have been cited.