Geology and Tectonic Setting of the study area:

The Bengal Basin occupies a major part of Bangladesh, West Bengal of India and the offshore part of the
Bay of Bengal. The total area of this basin in Bangladesh comprises about 1,44,000 sq km on shore and
63,000 sq km offshore up to 200 m water depth. Tectonically, Bangladesh part of the Bengal Basin is
divided into two major divisions (a) the Precambrian Rangpur Platform and (b) the Bengal Foredeep.
(Figure 1).
The stable Precambrian Rangpur platform occupies Rajshahi, Bogra, Rangpur and Dinajpur areas and is
characterized by limited to moderate thickness of sedimentary rocks above a Precambrian igneous and
metamorphic basement. This unit is geologically stable in relative terms and has not been affected by fold
movement. Some fault bounded graben basins occur within the Precambrian Basement. The Precambrian
Rangpur platform is divided into a northern Rangpur Saddle with a very shallow Precambrian basement
(130 to 1,000 m) and a southern Bogra Shelf with a basement at moderate depth (1 to 6 km).

The study area is located in the north western part (Bogra shelf zone) of Bangladesh. The spatial extent of
Bogra district is between 24° 32′30′′ to 25°06′34′′ N latitude and 88°57′50′′ to 89°44′00′′E longitude with
an area of 2911.90 km2. This study area represented by a regional monocline gently plunging towards the
southeast up to the hinge zone. The shelf is bounded by a stable Indian platform at the northwest and
Shillong Massif in the north and separated from the Foredeep area of the Bengal Basin by Calcutta
Mymensing Hinge Zone. The surface geology of the study area consists entirely of sedimentary formations
ranging in age from Permian to Recent. Depth to the basement in the Shelf varies more than 5 km, reflecting
the irregular relief of the basement surface. Thickness and nature of sediments are also varying from place
to place.
In this study area loam, loam to silty clay loam, silty clay loam and sandy loam to sandy type of soils are
the major groups of soils. Among these, loam and loam to silty clay loam (33.33% and 33.86% of the total
area, respectively) are the main soil types (SRDI, 2005). The elevation ranges from 14m to 40m and almost
all of the areas can be categorized as flat to nearly flat topography. Flood in the study area is a common
phenomena and it affects the area to a varying extent almost every year. Bogra district has experienced
many severe floods that have devastated the area like other parts of Bangladesh in the past (Rahman and
Saha, 2008). The land use/land cover map of Bogra District revealed that the cropland (including
agricultural fallow) was the dominant in Bogra district and almost all of the areas can be categorized as flat
to nearly flat topography (elevation ranging from 14-40m).
The District enjoys a tropical climate with monsoon and periodic thundershower during summer. Average
minimum and maximum temperature of the District ranges between 21°C and 31°C. The total rainfall was
recorded 2417mm for the year 2004 (BBS, 2005).