Delineation of Deccan Trap outcrop extensions using satellite remote sensing techniques in Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The visual interpretation and digital image analysis of remotely-sensed data of parts of the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh have enabled the identification of an area having scattered remnants of Deccan Trap basic volcanic rocks occurring in the form of mesas associated with its weathered derivatives, laterite and typical black cotton soil. The lithology of the borehole data from the study area and the presence of characteristic black cotton soil cover marked by extensive gully development confirms the occurrence of volcanic ‘traps’ overlying the Pre Cambrian Bundelkhand Granite. This finding strengthens the earlier postulation by Vredenburg that the Deccan Trap extended far to the north in the Bundelkhand region. The interpretation of remotely-sensed data has also helped in delineating the boundary lineaments. Further, the present study has revealed that hitherto unknown bounding lineaments of the study area identified through satellite remote sensing and the abrupt termination of quartz reefs in the northern extremity of the area, suggest block faulting leading to the preservation of Deccan Trap rocks which might otherwise have remained exposed and been eroded.