Sahyadri
: The Great Escarpment of the Indian Subcontinent (Patterns of Landscape
Development in the Western Ghats)/edited by Y. Gunnell and B.P. Radhakrishna. Bangalore,
Geological Society of India, 2001, 2 volumes, xx, 1054 p., $72. ISBN 81-85867-45-3.
Contents: Vol. I. General introduction/Y. Gunnell and B.P. Radhakrishna. I. Sahyadri in ancient scripture: Editorial introduction: Sahyadri and geological time in ancient scripture/Y. Gunnell. 1. Sahyadri in Indian mythology/B.P. Radhakrishna. II. Changing views on the origin of a great escarpment: A. Foundation stones: early insights from field reconnaissance: Editorial introduction: Exploring the relief of peninsular India using digital elevation models/Y. Gunnell and R. Michom. Editorial comments: Papers 2 to 11. 2. The geological features of the South Mahratta country and adjacent districts/R.B. Foote. 3. Changes of level in the Indian peninsula/R.D. Oldham. 4. The evolution of Indian geography/R.D. Oldham. 5. Origin of the western ghats/R.D. Oldham. 6. The ghats/Anonymous. 7. Dykes in western India – a discussion of their relationships with the Deccan traps/J.B. Auden. 8. Physical geography of the western ghats/E.H. Pascoe. 9. The Mysore plateau: its structural and physiographical evolution/B.P. Radhakrishna. 10. The face of the land: the western littoral/O.H.K. Spate, A.T.A. Learmonth and B.H. Farmer. 11. The western ghats/D.N. Wadia. B. Global tectonics and denudation chronologies: I. Relief development at the western ghats passive margin: Editorial introduction: Morphology and scarp recession rates of the western ghats escarpment/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 12 to 22. 12. Cainozoic landsurfaces of India and Ceylon/L.C. King. 13. The western ghats of the Indian peninsula/B.P. Radhakrishna. 14. Recent advances in geomorphic studies of peninsular India: a review/R. Vaidyanadhan. 15. The western ghats: a geomorphic overview/K.R. Dikshit. 16. Deccan and other volcanic passive margins/K.G. Cox. 17. An excursion into the past—"The Deccan volcanic episode’/B.P. Radhakrishna. 18. Neogene uplift and geomorphic rejuvenation of the Indian peninsula/B.P. Radhakrishna. 19. Multi-generation mafic dyke-swarm related to Deccan magmatism, south of Bombay: implications on the evolution of the western Indian continental margin/A.G. Dessai and A.A.A.A. Viegas. 20. The "Panvel Flexure": part of a large structure in Western India/K.S. Misra. 21. Tertiary palaeosurfaces of the SW Deccan, Western India: implications for passive margin uplift/M. Widdowson. 22. Tectonics of Western India inferred from gravity patterns and geophysical exploration. II. Denudation, onshore drainage and offshore sedimentation: spatial patterns and time slice analysis: Editorial introduction: Fluvial routing systems and the signatures of onshore denudation in the offshore sedimentary record of Western India. Editorial comments: papers 23 to 33. 23. Evolution of the Sharavati drainage, Mysore state, South India/B.P. Radhakrishna. 24. Drainage basins of Konkan: forms and characteristics/K.R. Dikshit. 25. Evolution of Netravati drainage, Karnataka State, South India/P.S.N. Murty. 26. Morphology and denudation chronology of the coastal and upland river basins of Western Deccan Trappean landscape (India): a collation/V.S. Kale and S.N. Rajaguru. 27. Structure of the western continental margin of India and related igneous activity/S.K. Biswas. 28. Exploration of Bombay offshore basin/R.B. Mathur and K.M. Nair. 29. Geology and petroleum prospects of the Konkan-Kerala basin/N.K. Singh and N.K. Lal. 30. Onshore tertiary sediments of Kerala/K. Soman. 31. Flexural and stratigraphic development of the western continental margin of India/B.M. Whiting, G.D. Karner and N.W. Driscoll. 32. Short – and long-term denudation rates in cratonic environments: estimates for Precambrian Karnataka (South India)/Y. Gunnell and K. Gallagher. 33. Origin and evolution of the western ghats and the west coast of India/K.R. Subrahmanya. 3. Models of rifting and plateau uplift: Editorial introduction: Dynamics and kinematics of rifting and uplift at the western continental margin of India: insights from geophysics and numerical models/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 34 to 44. 34. Tectonic and magmatic responses of Indian passive continental margin development: example from the Kerala region/S. Sinha-Roy. 35. Possible cause of easterly tilt of the southern part of India/K.S. Subramanian. 36. Structure and evolution of the western continental margin of India deduced from gravity, seismic, geomagnetic and geochronological studies/D. Chandrasekharam. 37. Stratigraphy, composition and form of the Deccan Basalts, Western ghats, India/J.E. Beane, C.A. Turner and P.R. Hooper. 38. Volcanological and tectonic control of stratigraphy and structure in the Western Deccan traps/C.W. Devey and P.C. Lightfoot. 39. The role of mantle plumes in the development of continental drainage patterns/K.G. Cox. 40. Geomorphology and mantle plumes/M.A. Summerfield. 41. The Deccan traps: an interpretation in terms of progressive lithospheric flexure in response to a migrating load/A.B. Watts and K.G. Cox. 42. Uplift and erosional history of the Deccan traps, India: evidence from laterites and drainage patterns of the western ghats and Konkan coast/M. Widdowson and K.G. Cox. 43. The morphotectonic evolution of the western ghats, India: an exploration of denudation-driven flexural models/Y. Gunnell and L. Fleitout. 44. The interaction between geological structure and global tectonics in multistoreyed landscape development: a denudation model for the South Indian shield/Y. Gunnell. IV. Neotectonics and landscape rejuvenation: a debate around the Nilgiris and the Palghat gap: Editorial introduction: The influence of neotectonics and neo-epeirogeny on the morphology of the western ghats and peninsular India/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 45 to 48. 45. On the geological structure of the Nilghiri hills (Madras)/H.F. Blanford. 46. Recherches geomorphologiques en Inde du Sud/J. Demangeot. 47. Origin of the Palghat gap in South India – a synthesis/K.S. Subramanian and M.P. Muraleedharan. 48. Rock hardness and long-term divergent weathering as factors of relief development in the Charnockite massifs of South Asia: evidence from apatite fission-track analysis/Y. Gunnell and A. Louchet.
Vol. II. III. Cenozoic uplift of the western ghats and its consequences on the environmental change in peninsular India: A. Coastal laterites: Editorial introduction: Laterites of the Konkan and Kanara coastal plateaux as keys to understanding the denudation chronology of the western ghats/M. Widdowson and Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 49 to 53. 49. Laterites of Southern India/T.J. Newbold. 50. The geological features of the South Mahratta country and adjacent districts: the Deccan trap and iron-clay (laterite) formation/R.B. Foote. 51. Buchanan’s laterite of Malabar and Kanara/C.S. Fox. 52. The laterites of Goa and the problem of their genesis/C. Texeira. 53. The geological control for formation of laterite in western Maharashtra/C.S. Raja Rao. Ecological structuring of the climatic, soil and vegetation zones of peninsular India by the western ghats: I. The western ghats: a relief barrier to the SW Monsoon: Editorial introduction: An analysis of the steep climosequence in the rainshadow of the western ghats: theoretical palaeoenvironmental implications/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: paper 54. 54. The influence of passive margin uplifts on surface air flow systems in the tropics: evidence from the western ghats, past and present/Y. Gunnell. II. Bioclimatic change in the quaternary and holocene: Editorial introduction: Environmental changes in the western ghats during the quaternary/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 55 to 59. 55. Late quaternary alluvial history of the northwestern Deccan upland region/V.S. Kale and S.N. Rajaguru. 56. New data on the evolution of Konkan (Western India)/H. Bruckner. 57. A survey of soils and weathering patterns through land system mapping in the western ghats region/G. Bourgeon. 58. Andisols of the Nilgiri highlands: new insight into their classification, age and genesis//Laurent Caner and Gerard Bourgeon. 59. Late quaternary shorelines in India/H. Bruckner. III. Vegetation patterns and relief in the western ghats: Editorial introduction" Biogeography in peninsular India: the uplift of the western ghats as a driving mechanism for environmental change, faunistic impoverishment and the development of refugia—a hypothesis/Y. Gunnell. Editorial comments: papers 60 to 62. 60. Vegetation and phytogeography of the western ghats/K. Subramanyam and M.P. Nayar. 61. Floristic composition and distribution of evergreen forests in the western ghats, India/J.P. Pascal. 62. Patterns of vegetation, biodiversity and endemism in the western ghats/B.R. Ramesh. Epilogue. References.