Meruda Takkar

Meruda Takkar is a landform located north of Khadir Bet in the Great Rann of Kutch, Kutch district, Gujarat, India. It has a presence of alkali feldsparsyenite rocks which are of either Precambrian or Pre-DeccanMesozoicplutonic origin. It is described as a hill, an island, an outcrop as well as a monadnock.[1]

Contents
Location
Geology
Exploration history
References

Location

Meruda Takkar is located in the salt flats in the Great Rann of Kutch, about 21 km north of Cheriya Bet of Khadir.[2] It is between Khadir Bet in Kutch and Tharparkar in Pakistan. Kori creek is located on its west and the Sui village on the east. It is located in a desolate and militarily sensitive area controlled by the Border Security Force.[3][4] It is located on the Nagarparkar Fault.[1]

Geology

Meruda Takkar is 200 metres long and 90 metres wide in size and has an elevation of 15 metres. These rocks are formed of alkali feldsparsyenite having nepheline and aegirine along with many fine-to-medium grained felsic dykes. The study proposes two viewpoints of their possible origin. The Precambrian origin is proposed based on their closeness with Trans Aravalli Belt anorogenic felsic magmatism. The Pre-DeccanMesozoicplutonic origin is proposed based to their genesis similar to other rocks such as at Nir Wandh in Pachchham Island, and Mundwara and Sarnu–Dandali complexes in Rajasthan.[2]

Based on the presence of the syenite at the site; it is assumed that the syenite rocks form the basement for the Kutch Basin sediments.[4][5][6] After 180 million years-long erosion, the Meruda Takkar and Nagarparkar hills are the only existing Syenite rocks in the region. The Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks forms the mainland and other uplands of Kutch while the upper layer are formed by 1500–2500 million years-old hard and crystalline rocks of Aravalli hill range.[3]

Exploration history

The site was visited in 1968.[4] Forty-eight years later, a team from the geology department of the Kutch University visited the site in May 2019.[3]

References

  1. Thakkar, M. G. (2017). "Geomorphological Field Guide Book on Kachchh Peninsula"(PDF) . New Delhi: 9th International Conference on Geomorphology: 16. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2018-01-07. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  2. Thakkar, M G; Chauhan, Gaurav; Shah, Yash; Jani, Chirag; Chavada, Bhavyata; Lakhote, Abhishek; Bhosale, Suraj; Mistry, C P (December 2021). "Nepheline syenite and related rocks at Meruda Takkar hill, northern Kachchh: Neoproterozoic Malani basement or Mesozoic alkaline magmatism?". Journal of Earth System Science. 130 (1): 4. doi:10.1007/s12040-020-01493-y. ISSN2347-4327 .
  3. Khakhariya, Nimesh (2019-05-08). "In geologists' second visit in 48 years, hope rises of Jurassic-era find in Kutch". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  4. Bhimani, Sazina A. (2013-07-31). Study on groundwater salinization and formulation of management strategies for the coastal aquifers of Mundra region, Kutch district, Gujarat state(PDF) (Thesis). Department of Geology, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. pp. 36, 38, 46. hdl:10603/58602. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  5. "Kutch Basin". National Data Repository. DGH, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original on 2020-08-22.
  6. Sohoni, Parag S. (2000-12-31). Structural studies on central Kachchh mainland with special reference to quaternary tectonism(PDF) (Thesis). Department of Geology, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. pp. 24–25. hdl:10603/60120. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-08-22.