BALASAN BASIN: MORPHOLOGY AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the present study is to trace out the landscape evolution of Balasan basin in
the context of morphological analysis of landforms and drainage characteristics. The drainage basin of
Balasan, a sixth order stream, located in Darjeeling Himalaya, West Bengal, was quantitatively analyzed
using modern morphometric techniques. The area under study falls in the Eastern Himalaya, a prominent
physiographic region in the North east India. Humid sub tropical climate with monsoonal influence
prevails in this part of the world. Darjeeling gneiss of Archaeans era, Gorubathan formation, Siwalik
group and the alluvial formation of recent to sub recent of Quaternary period are the major rock
formations present in the area under study. Geologically the basin exposes glacio-fluvial and fluvial
surfaces of the landscape. The study identifies four erosional surfaces and three distinct morphological
units in the basin: a) Rugged Hilly terrain, b) Dissected foot hills and c) Plain zone. The landscape of the
basin came across the polygenetic process and developed under multi cycle of erosion. At present the
landscape of the basin going through the mature stage of cycle of erosion.

Keywords: Landscape, Landform, Morphology, Morphometry.