Recent fold growth and drainage development: The Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the Siwalik foothills, northwest India

International audienceThe active growth of a fault-and-thrust belt in frontal zones of Himalaya is a prominent topographical feature, extending 2500 km from Assam to Pakistan. In this paper, kinematical analysis of frontal anticlines and spatial mapping of active faults based on geomorphological features such as drainage pattern development, fault scarps and uplifted Quaternary alluvial fans are presented. We analyse the geomorphic and hydrographic expressions of the Chandigarh and the Janauri active anticlines in the NW India Siwaliks. To investigate the morphological scenario during the folding process, we used spatial imagery, geomorphometric parameters extracted from digital elevation models and fieldwork. The approach presented here involves analysis of topography and drainage incision of selected landforms to detect growth of active anticlines and transfer faults. Landforms that indicate active folding above a southwest-dipping frontal thrust and a northeastdipping back-thrust are described. Along-strike differences in ridge morphology are measured to describe the interaction of river channel patterns with folds and thrust faults and to define history of anticline growt