Gujarat’s own canyon in Kutch 1.25 lakh years old

RAJKOT: Some portions of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Raees’ were shot here and it has been the favourite among photographers, soon-to-be couples for pre-wedding shoots and adventurists, thanks to the spectacular background.
Located just four km from Bhuj, the sandstone gorge along Khari River, however, does not figure in the list of India’s best canyons. But one is sure to rush there if told that this gorge is as many as 1.25 lakh years old, almost at the same time when modern human species (homo species) started evolving.

For the first time, Kutch University’s geologists jointly with the Gandhinagar-based Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) and Jammu University, used an intricate mathematical model to calculate the age of this gorge. This method has been used for the first time in India for dating any landscape form.
The research reveals that the Khari gorge started forming when strongly favourable wet climate prevailed in Kutch along with the strong tectonic activities associated with the Katrol hill fault and Kutch mainland fault.
The research paper was recently published in the reputed Elsevier journal - Quaternary International.
Explaining the significance of this research, M G Thakkar, head of geology department, said, “This mathematical model can now help scientists find the date of origin of a riverbed landscape.”
While the gorge formation started 1.25 lakh years ago, it got the present shape before 8,000 years.
“We found and used the data of water flow during the strong monsoon conditions, erodibility or the strength of the sandstone in which the gorge developed and tectonic cycles that displace the sandstone vertically and horizontally. All parameters were compared and using a common formula with the time factor suggested that the gorge formation started around 1.25 lakh years,” Thakkar told TOI.
Along with Thakkar, geologists Girish Kothyari, Gaurav Chauhan, Ajay Taloor, Chirag Jani and Abhishek Lakhote were part of the study.
Kothiyari added that the cosmogenic dating method which is globally prevalent for landscape dating is not as accurate as this one as there are variations with the rock types especially in sandstone.