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doi:10.1111/sjtg.12025

Landforms and landscape evolution in the


Mylliem Granite Area, Meghalaya Plateau,
Northeast India
Piotr Migoń1 and Paweł Prokop2
1
Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
2
Department of Geoenvironmental Research, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy
of Sciences, Krakow, Poland

Correspondence: Piotr Migoń (email: piotr.migon@uni.wroc.pl)

The Mylliem granite is one of many igneous bodies within the basement complex of the Meghalaya
Plateau, northeast India. Although relatively small in size at c. 90 km2, it is very diverse geomor-
phologically and shows a range of distinctive landscapes within its limits. Relict flat watershed
ridges and topographic basins characterize the northern and eastern part of the pluton, whereas to
the southwest the relief becomes higher, with steeper hillslopes and deeply incised valleys. Deep
weathering and thick saprolites are abundant, as are residual landforms resulting from stripping of
the saprolite: domes, tors and boulders. The major reason behind the diversity of granite landscape
of the Mylliem pluton is the progress of headward erosion, initiated at the Dauki fault in the south
of the Meghalaya. Headward erosion enhances local relief and hence, weathering systems. Multi-
concave morphology is gradually transformed into multi-convex one, which is hypothesized to be
the specific mode of plateau evolution and scarp retreat in granite bedrock.

Keywords: tropical geomorphology, granite, deep weathering, headward erosion, Meghalaya,


India

Introduction
An inherent implication of the notion of ‘tropical geomorphology’ is that geomorphic
systems of low latitudes and respective landform assemblages are different from those in
other environments. In particular, the humid tropical zone, with its copious rainfall and
persistently high temperatures, has been often claimed to have process-form relation-
ships that are in many ways specific or even unique. In the framework of morphocli-
matic approach to geomorphology and within various morphoclimatic divisions of the
world (e.g. Tricart & Cailleux, 1972; Büdel, 1977), the humid tropics have been invari-
ably distinguished as a zone of special significance. In early geomorphology, when
landforms were much in focus, various geomorphic features have been suggested to be
distinctive products of tropical environments, such as inselbergs and bornhardts in
basement terrains, lateritic mesas, tower and cone karst, and flat-floored channelless
depressions, otherwise known as dambo (see extensive review in Thomas, 1994 and
further references therein). Later, after many of these allegedly ‘tropical’ landforms
were shown to have much wider distribution in relation to present or past climatic
zones, emphasis has shifted towards processes and their rates. Thomas (1994; 2006)
argued that it is the great efficacy of deep weathering, rock-to-saprolite-to-soil conver-
sion and chemical denudation that decide about the specific nature of geomorphology
in the tropics, rather than landform themselves. In more recent years, valuable insights
have been obtained into patterns of weathering and chemical denudation rates in
humid tropical terrain (e.g. Oliva et al., 2003; von Blanckenburg et al., 2004; Braun et al.,
2005). High rates typify high-relief areas, but the progress of weathering and surface

Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 34 (2013) 206–228


© 2013 The Authors
Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography © 2013 Department of Geography, National University of Singapore and
Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
Landforms and landscape evolution 207

Figure 1. Location of the Meghalaya Plateau in northeast India.

lowering appears remarkably slow in poorly differentiated upland terrain. Unfortu-


nately, little of this modern process-oriented work is related to landforms themselves
and their evolution through time.
In this paper, we focus on geomorphology and geomorphic variability in the
Mylliem granite area in the Meghalaya Plateau in northeast India (Figure 1) and set
it in the context of the debate on geomorphic distinctiveness of low latitudes. Granite
is a common rock type in this climatic belt and many geomorphic concepts applied to
the tropics were developed and tested in granite areas (see Thomas, 1974; Twidale,
1982). However, many of these concepts have been subsequently successfully trans-
ferred outside the tropics which cast doubt on any claims that the inter-tropical areas
are geomorphologically specific. On the other hand, in this part of India we deal with
one of the rainiest environments on Earth, with more than 11 000 mm of precipita-
tion recorded annually in Cherrapunji, c. 30 km south-west of Mylliem, although in
the Mylliem area itself yearly precipitation is much less, c. 3500 mm. Finally, the
Meghalaya Plateau as a whole has been considerably uplifted in the late Cenozoic
along the southern escarpment (GSI, 1974; Johnson & Alam, 1991; Biswas et al.,
2007; Clark & Bilham, 2008), which seems to have triggered several pulses of head-
ward erosion, now apparently reaching the Mylliem area. Hence, by analysing land-
form patterns in the Mylliem granite and comparing it to other geomorphic settings
we intend to address the issue of controls of landscape development in basement
terrains. A question we wish to answer is whether geomorphology of the Mylliem
area can be explained in rather simple terms of dissection of an uplifted plateau, or
by the presence of ‘tropical imprint’ revealed in the assemblage of erosional
landforms.
208 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Scope and methods

Geomorphology of the Meghalaya Plateau has been little studied so far, despite its
diversity and unique geographical setting. Indian geological memoirs do not usually
consider it in any greater detail, although valuable general accounts can be found. In
particular, structural control on the river courses and the tiered arrangement of planar
surfaces have been emphasized (Chatterjee, 1968; Bandyopadhay, 1972; Mazumder,
1986). Recent work by Starkel & Singh (2004), Prokop (2007) and Soja and Starkel
(2007) focus on the Cherrapunji area rather than on the plateau as a whole and
highlight recent processes as related to extreme rainfall and ongoing land degradation.
On the other hand, Biswas et al. (2007) and Clark and Bilham (2008) deal with the
Meghalaya (Shillong) Plateau as a whole and try to decipher its uplift history in relation
to the Himalayan uplift, but are less concerned with geomorphology at the medium
scale.
The scope of this study includes the following components: (1) general characteris-
tics of the Mylliem granite area, including selected geomorphometric parameters; (2)
drainage pattern analysis and its relationship to structure; and (3) analysis of geomor-
phic diversity within the pluton and comparison with specific types of granite geomor-
phology reported from elsewhere, whether from the tropical zone or not. In addition,
characteristics of weathering mantles were noted but at this stage we did not adopt a
comprehensive morphopedological approach. The choice of Mylliem granite was dic-
tated by relatively easy access, little internal differentiation of the pluton itself which
might have affected its geomorphology, and evident relief variability over a small area
(see subsequent sections). These are the advantages over other granite massifs scattered
throughout the Meghalaya (Figure 2), although the results obtained in Mylliem may
not be directly transferable to the other granite areas in the region.
Our study is based on field work, analysis of a digital elevation model derived from
the Survey of India topographic maps at the scale of 1:25 000 and analysis of the satellite
image of IRS-1D of 8 November 1998. The latter two were studied to demarcate
lineaments, drainage segments and geomorphic features, subsequently checked during
geomorphic mapping in the field. The maps were transferred into digital form and
rectified together with the satellite image, to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
coordinate system in a GIS (ILWIS) environment (ITC, 1997) using ground control
points measured during fieldwork. A digital elevation model (DEM) was created from
digitized contours at intervals of 10 m. It was interpolated to a raster with a resolution
of 20 m to generate height, slope, relative relief and relief-shaded maps. The shape of
slopes (concave, straight, convex) was determined automatically, by calculating mean
curvature (average of plan and profile curvature) derived from DEM using filter opera-
tions within 3x3 window environment according to the Evans-Young formulas (Shary
et al., 2002). Negative mean curvature values describe mean-concave landforms, while
positive values refer to mean-convex ones. To carry out the spatial analysis, the area of
batholith was sliced into seven zones (each with an average area of approximately
12 km2) 1 km wide, each parallel to the base line drawn along the southern edge of the
granite area. Then the percentage of basic slope shapes was calculated for each zone.
Drainage pattern has been extracted from the toposheet and stream order has been
determined following Strahler’s classification. Azimuth frequencies for drainage lines
were calculated on the basis of cumulative length and presented as rose diagrams using
10° ranges, with the given values being the centre of the range (i.e. 10° should read as
5–15°).
Landforms and landscape evolution 209

Figure 2. Geology of the Meghalaya Plateau.


Adapted from GSI, 1974; Mazumder, 1986.

Location and environment


The Meghalaya Plateau is the northeastern extension of the Indian Peninsular Shield. It
forms an east-west trending horst block elevated nearly 2 km above the Bengal Plain in
the south and overlooking the Himalayan foredeep in the north (Figure 1). The highest
part of the plateau near Shillong is the main water divide between Brahmaputra and
Meghna. Its southern margin, related to the regionally important Dauki Fault (Evans,
1964; Srinivasan, 2005), is about 1500 m high and much steeper than the northern slope.
In its middle sector, where the Mylliem pluton is located, the escarpment is dissected into
several spurs by canyons up to 1000 m deep, some terminated by cirque-like valley heads
with waterfalls. The bulk of the escarpment slope in the cross-section is underlain by
basement rocks, whereas the top part is built of a sandstone cap which forms precipitous
rock faces up to 200 m high. The slope below is littered by big sandstone boulders derived
from a variety of mass movement, including massive rockfall. This morphology of the
escarpment suggests that its long-term geomorphic evolution comprises significant river
incision, accompanied by valley widening through mass movements and sapping.
However, at present no data exist to constrain the rates of escarpment geomorphic
evolution, except that it started some 14–15 Ma ago when the Meghalaya Plateau began
to rise (Biswas et al., 2007; Clark & Bilham, 2008). Biswas and Grasemann (2005) noted
that values of morphometric indices related to the intensity of uplift attain their
maximum in the sector of the escarpment south of the Mylliem granite area.
The climate is subtropical monsoonal, with the warm rainy season spanning from
June to October and the dry cool season from November to May. The mean annual air
210 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

temperature is closely related to elevation and varies from 24°C in the southern foothills
to 16.6°C in Shillong (1600 m a.s.l.), situated 5 km north of the Mylliem granite massif.
The mean monthly temperature in Shillong fluctuates between 10°C in winter
(January) and 21°C in summer (August). In the most elevated parts of the plateau
temperatures fall below 0°C in winters, however snowfall is rare. Annual rainfall
distribution pattern is strongly controlled by the southern escarpment of the Meghalaya
Plateau, which is a first barrier to the humid southwest monsoon on its way from the
Bay of Bengal to the Himalayas. It varies from 6000 mm in the southern foothills to
11 000–12 000 mm in Cherrapunji (1300 m a.s.l.). Then rainfall decreases with the
distance from the southern edge of the plateau to 3500 mm near Mylliem and only
2500 mm in Shillong. About 80 per cent of the annual rainfall occurs between June and
August (Prokop & Walanus, 2003; Murata et al., 2007).
Land use system influences to some extent the intensity of runoff and the pattern of
contemporary geomorphic processes. The upper part of the plateau is deforested and
overgrown by grass with scattered subtropical pines. Small fields of potato cultivation
are situated on the flattened interfluves and steep hillslopes. Valley floors are occupied
by terraced paddy rice fields (Prokop & Pore˛ba, 2012). In the last few hundred years
human impact has significantly contributed to stripping of the saprolite which survived
only partially on slopes inclined as much as 25–30° in the Mylliem area (Prokop, 2007).
Particle downwash during heavy rainfalls and deposition of eroded material in the
valley floors is facilitated by forest demise and crop cultivation. The dominant role of
slope wash in land degradation related to agriculture (shifting cultivation) is supported
by thick colluvia, with abundance of young charcoal dated for 130⫾30 BP (Poz-266)
and 375⫾30 BP (Poz-34677) in their bottom layers (at 165 cm and 385 cm depth
respectively) (Prokop & Bhattacharyya, 2011).

Geology
Regional geological context
The Meghalaya Plateau is a basement block, separated from the main part of the Indian
Shield by the tectonic trough occupied by the Ganga Plain. The basement is formed by
the Gneissic Complex (Figure 2), composed mainly of two-mica gneiss and amphibolite,
and the Shillong Group, which shows weaker metamorphism and consists of slates,
phyllites and quartzites (Mazumder, 1986). The former is of distant Precambrian age,
dated to 1714–1150 Ma (Ghosh et al., 2005), whereas the metasediments are younger,
dated for the late Proterozoic. Subsequently, numerous granite plutons intruded into
older formations and these are nowadays exposed as granite bodies of different size.
The later geological history involved long periods of surface lowering and planation,
to form a continental scale surface of low relief, likely characteristic for much of the
Indian Shield before the fragmentation of Gondwana (Gunnell, 1998). Concurrently
with the break-up of Gondwana by the end of Jurassic, the southern margin of the
plateau experienced eruption of trap basalts and the west-east trending Dauki Fault
originated. During the late Cretaceous-Paleogene transgression, sediments showing
facies transition from littoral marine to coastal-deltaic covered the southern part of the
present plateau. The resultant sedimentary complex is horizontally bedded or inclined
2–5° towards south (Nag & Pal, 1993). In the Cenozoic, the plateau has been subjected
to extensive compressional forces in north-south and east-west directions resulting from
the collision of the Indian plate with the Tibetan and Burmese plates respectively. In
effect, major uplift occurred and various thermochronological and geological constraints
Landforms and landscape evolution 211

suggest that it started in the Miocene and continues up to the present time (GSI, 1974;
Johnson & Alam, 1991; Biswas et al., 2007; Clark & Bilham, 2008; Yin et al., 2010).
Biswas et al. (2007) postulate an uplift rate of 0.4–0.53 mm per year, while innumerable
earthquakes ranging from microlevel to M>8 express seismic activity and indicate
ongoing uplift of the Meghalaya Plateau (Bilham & England, 2001).

Granite geology
The Mylliem batholith is one of many granite bodies which intruded the Precambrian
basement of the Meghalaya Plateau (Ghosh et al., 2005; Figure 2). It is the earliest
described pluton from northeast India (Oldham, 1854), named after an adjoining village
of the same name (Medlicott, 1869). Rb-Sr isotopic data indicate the timing of emplace-
ment of Mylliem granite at 607 Ma, which is an age similar to other granite plutons of
Meghalaya (881–479 Ma) and Indian Peninsular Shield (740–395 Ma) (Ghosh et al.,
2005). The Mylliem pluton also exhibits a marked similarity with other granites in
Meghalaya and Assam in terms of mineral composition (Ghosh et al., 1991). According
to data provided by Mazumder (1986), the Mylliem granite is characterized by variable
content of K2O (4–6 per cent) and Na2O (3–4 per cent). Most samples analysed by Hazra
et al. (2010) fall into the granite field, but some show more than 65 per cent of
plagioclase and hence, are classified as granodiorites. The content of potassium feldspar
versus plagioclase varies, although predominance of potassium feldspar appears more
common. Biotite content varies too, from as little as 2.15 per cent by volume to more
than 20 per cent (Hazra et al., 2010). Jointing pattern, as can be inferred from the limited
number of outcrops exposing fresh granite and the size of residual boulders, is fairly
regular, orthogonal and widely spaced (>1 m spacing). Porphyritic nature of the
Mylliem granite, along with a range of mineralogical compositions reported, suggests
that susceptibility to weathering is likely to vary. Unfortunately, no data is available to
assess if there are any systematic differences in mineralogy throughout the area.
The beds of Shillong Group surrounding the Mylliem granite are standing nearly
vertical and are reported to be highly metamorphosed near the contact with granite
(Mazumder, 1986). However, the topography along the perimeter of the intrusion is
inconsistent and a continuous tract of higher ground which can be related to elevated
resistance of country rock in the contact zone does not occur (Figure 3).

General relief and morphometry

The Mylliem pluton is about 90 km2 in area and occurs within quartzites of the
Shillong Group (Figure 2). It has an elliptical outline, whose west-east elongation is
oblique to the prevailing northeast-southwest strike in the surrounding Shillong
Group metasediments. The beds of Shillong Group are standing nearly vertical and are
highly metamorphosed near the contact with granite. Lithological contrasts affect the
regional altitude of the interfluves. Within the pluton, granite hills rise to a general
height of 1800–1850 m a.s.l., whereas ridges developed on the surrounding quartzites
peak at >1900 m a.s.l., particularly on the northwest side. Therefore, the pluton as a
whole appears like a gentle topographic depression (Figure 3). However, topographic
contrasts along the very contact are more complicated. Sections around the perimeter
of the pluton exist, where a distinct topographic low occurs on the country rock side,
as for instance in the northeast part. The upper course of the Umiew river, trending
from west to east and then round the granite boundary, exploits this apparently
weaker zone.
212 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 3. Contour map of the Mylliem pluton (contours every 50 m) and selected cross-sections to show
dissimilar topography in the southern and northern part of the pluton.

The topographic surface truncating the granite mass is generally located at 1700–
1800 m a.s.l. and shows little vertical differentiation throughout the study area.
However, two notable exceptions exist, both at the southern boundary of the Mylliem
massif. In the southwest, the canyon of Umiew has just reached the boundary of the
pluton and the confluence of Umiew and Umlien occurs in this area, at c. 1600 m a.s.l.,
hence 150–200 m below the general plateau level. Further extension of a deeply incised
valley is much more evident along Umiew, where it extends for another 6 km or so,
whereas the respective figure along its smaller tributary Umlien is only 2–3 km.
However, a major knick point in the Umiew river is located 10 km downstream from
the junction of Umiew and Umlien rivers (Figure 4). Minor knick points occur at the
distance of 3 km and 1 km above the junction, on Umiew and Umlien respectively. The
other area is located in the southeast, where a deep embayment of the Nongkynrih-
Umsong valley has reached into the granite area. The topographic scarp is more than
500 m high and shows a gradient exceeding 35°. Interestingly, in comparison with
Landforms and landscape evolution 213

Figure 4. Longitudinal profile of the Umiew river and its main tributary in the Mylliem granite in relation
to geology. Arrows indicate location of major knick points.

Umiew there is a little finger-like extension of the embayment into the plateau despite
a massive drop in altitude.
From a qualitative perspective, the granite topography of Mylliem, despite its limited
altitude range, is highly varied. In the southwest part the landscape is dominated by
rather closely spaced and irregularly distributed hilly compartments, separated by
narrow valleys and channelless elongated depressions, with little intervening flat land
(Figure 5). Individual hills tend to be oval in plan and convex in shape. Many are
crowned by tor groups which are actually clusters of boulders (Figure 6). Sections in
man-made excavations show that hills tend to be weathered throughout, although
corestones are abundant both at the surface and in the subsurface (see section 7). In the
northeast the morphology is somehow different. Topographic basins of rather small size,
separated by broad swells (Figure 7), are abundant and hence, local morphology fits the
description of a multi-concave relief, i.e. one dominated by flat-floored topographic
depressions. Basins occur at different elevations in respect to the Umiew river and local
drainage lines. Some are rather shallow headwater hollows, including hanging ones,
whereas others are located along established drainage lines and are elongated in down-
stream direction. Basin floors are extensively alluviated and the thickness of infill may
reach 10 m. However, the largest basin is present in the northwest part of the area, next
to the Umlien river and is c. 2 km long and up to 1 km wide. Finally, in the eastern part
of the pluton planar watershed surfaces occur at the similar altitude (1800–1850 m
a.s.l.). These level surfaces occupy much larger terrain in the northeast, compared with
the less elevated southwestern part. River channels are cut in fine-grained alluvia in the
northeastern part of the granite massif, but become filled with huge boulders in the
southwest.
214 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 5. Dissected hilly topography in the south-western part of the Mylliem granite area. Numerous
excavations show that the upper parts of the hills are weathered and rock cores exist beneath (photo P. Migoń).

Figure 6. Tors projecting above the convex hills south of Mylliem (photo P. Migoń).

The above descriptive characteristics of the Mylliem granite area are consistent with
the picture revealed by the gradient map (Figure 8). Taking the pluton as a whole,
percentages of the land surface belonging to each gradient class do not differ very much
from each other. The classes 0–5°, 6–10°, 10–15° and 15–20° each account for c. 18 per
cent of the total area. However, even the steeper slopes, 20–25° and >25° are repre-
sented by large tracts of the terrain, c. 14 per cent of the total area in each case. This
distribution, considering little overall relief, indicates significant contribution of short
but steep slopes. Flat terrain (0–2°) occupies a mere 5 per cent of the total.
The geographical distribution of slopes of different gradients is however far from
uniform over the area. The very steep slopes (>25°) cluster in the southeast and
Landforms and landscape evolution 215

Figure 7. Basin-dominated relief north of Nongkrem in the eastern part of the Mylliem granite area (photo
P. Prokop).

southwest part of the area, in the deeply incised terrain mentioned above, and along the
Umiew and Umlien rivers and their tributaries. They also enclose the very distinct, large
topographic basin in the northwest of the area. By contrast, very little steep terrain
occurs in the basin-dominated central and northeastern part of the pluton, except for
localized high-gradient slopes of individual granite hills.
Conversely, the spatial pattern of low gradient surfaces shows that very few flat
terrain facets occur in the southwestern part, whereas they are far more abundant in the
centre, northwest and northeast of the massif. They occur in two different topographic
settings. First, they form planar valley and basin floors. Second, they occur as near-
horizontal interfluves, widely present south and north of Umiew valley in the central
part of the area. The remaining slope gradient classes are rather evenly distributed in
space.
This distribution pattern is confirmed by an analysis of slope curvature. Figure 9
shows that it changes from south to north, or southeast to northwest. Using the
southern boundary of the pluton as a base line we see that in the south, straight slopes
account for c. 35 per cent of the area, then their percentage decreases and increases
again to nearly 45 per cent in the north, distinctly dominating over convex and
concave slopes. This distribution reflects the occurrence of deeply incised river valleys
in the south and flat-floored basins and planar watersheds in the north. Convex
shapes are most represented in the 3rd/4th 1-km slice and then their percentage rapidly
declines. The trend in the occurrence of concave slopes follows the one for convex
shapes, but their percentage is consistently higher across the pluton. These relation-
ships do not change significantly if the base line is drawn northwest-southeast rather
than west-east.
Altogether, the altitude, slope gradient and shape distributions indicate the hilly
nature of granite topography, with a limited proportion of near-horizontal surfaces in
different geomorphic settings. The descriptive and geomorphometric characteristics
show also that relief is enhanced in the southwest, in the vicinity of the incised reaches
of major rivers, such as Umiew and Umlien. Taking now the spatial dimension only,
gentler relief in the northeast gives way to more hilly terrain further southwest, with
216 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 8. Slope gradient map of the Mylliem pluton. Pie chart shows the percentage of slopes belonging to the
specified slope gradient ranges. Flat floors of basins are outlined.

less and less intervening flat land between hills and ridges. Finally, convex slope shapes
tend to be more common in the south, whereas straight slopes dominate in the north.

Structural control on drainage lines


Granite landscapes around the world show different degrees of adjustment of drainage
lines to the underlying structures. Although the phrase ‘joint control’ is typically used,
scale relationships dictate that the actual control is exerted by larger structures such as
strike-slip fault zones, shear zones or straight lithological boundaries (Ericson et al.,
2005; Migoń, 2006). The central part of the Meghalaya Plateau is criss-crossed by a
Landforms and landscape evolution 217

Figure 9. (A) Slope shape distribution within Mylliem batholith calculated on the basis of mean curvature;
(B) Changing percentages of mean slope curvature classes in 1 km-wide slices, using west-east (top) and
northwest-southeast (bottom) lines as baselines.

number of strike-slip zones, apparently of different ages (Evans, 1964; Mazumder, 1986;
Das, 1994) and it is reasonable to assume that these may have focused fluvial incision.
DEM of the Mylliem granite area reveals the existence of two principal structural
directions (Figure 10). The southwest-northeast direction is of regional importance and
218 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 10. Shaded-relief of the Mylliem pluton to show major structural directions and lineaments (dashed
lines).

can be traced across the central part of the Meghalaya Plateau, including the major
Barapani Shear Zone (Das, 1994). Structures following this trend are exploited by the
Umlien river, the upper reach of the Nongkynrih river in southeast of the area and a
number of smaller streams throughout the area. In addition, certain ridges show
southwest-northeast elongation, particularly in the eastern part of the pluton. The latter
probably owe their origin to particularly strong weathering and erosion of adjacent parts
of the massif which helped to transform fracture-guided valleys into wider corridors and
basins. Fracture-aligned basins of Bohuslän in southwest Sweden (Johansson et al.,
2001) may serve as an analogue.
The other principal direction, roughly N80°E, is revealed mainly by the general
course of the Umiew river within the pluton. However, in detail the Umiew valley may
be divided into two sections. The western one, which terminates at approximately
91°51′, follows this structural trend very clearly and retains its straight course over more
than 5 km. The eastern one shows a tortuous course, with incised loops and sharp bends
in between residual granite hills and ridges. Thus, the adjustment of upper Umiew to
structure is partial, although the general location of the valley within the pluton does
suggest the role of geology. No other comparable geomorphic linear features exist in the
massif, indicating the primacy of southwest-northeast direction.
The results of drainage pattern quantitative analysis are shown on Figure 11.
Although no 10° direction range is represented with a particularly high frequency (i.e.
>10 per cent), domination of the north to northeast sector is clear. It is least pronounced
for the ‘all streams’ category, indicating little pattern in the orientation of 1st order
streams or their reaches. If streams of higher order are considered, the frequency of
10–30° directions generally increases, which points to an increasing role of regional
southwest-northeast lineaments. However, the situation for the highest order (>4th)
drainage lines is slightly different. The southwest-northeast direction remains dominant,
but with less frequency, whereas minor modes are seen at 60° and 160°. The latter
direction is followed mainly by tributaries of the Umiew in its west-east elongated reach,
Landforms and landscape evolution 219

Figure 11. Rose diagrams to show orientation of drainage lines for streams of different order.

Figure 12. Deeply weathered granite hill, with isolated corestones within clayey grus.

which join the main river at right angles. The west-east direction, exploited by much of
the Umiew, is less evident on rose diagrams, perhaps because it is almost parallel to the
extension of the southern escarpment of the Meghalaya and hence, unlikely to be
exploited by too many large rivers.

Weathering and landforms


The Mylliem granite is considerably weathered. Along the Shillong – Cherrapunji road
there are numerous excavations into the weathering mantle, exploited for sand, gravel
and boulders by local people. Further exposures exist more into the Mylliem area and
they together helped to decipher the patterns of weathering at a field scale, which are
important for the understanding of granite geomorphology and its evolution.
First, exposures show considerable thickness of the saprolite, which is not uncom-
monly 15–20 m (Figure 12) and possibly more, as the transition to solid rock is seldom
exposed in quarry floors. Second, there is usually significant within-profile-variability,
indicative of highly selective weathering. In particular, unweathered or little weathered
compartments (corestones) occur in abundance, often apparently stacked one upon
another (Figure 13). The diameter of corestones varies and includes giant examples
>5 m long. In other exposures there are deeply penetrating pockets of sandy grus
220 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 13. A residual group of corestones, left standing after weathered material has been excavated. Note a
person on the right (photo courtesy of A. Latocha).

enclosed by less weathered compartments. Third, the best exposures of thick weathering
are located within hilly relief in the southwest part of the area. Many convex relief
compartments are evidently weathered throughout, and only isolated corestones testify
to the derivation from the solid rock. Thus, deep weathering is not necessarily associated
with gentle planar terrain but may occur under dissected relief as well. Unfortunately,
less is known about deep weathering patterns in the more subdued northeastern part
due to limited exposure, but occasional outcrops show comparably great depth of
weathering as well. In terms of grain size of weathering products, individual exposures
differ from each other. Some show the predominance of clayey grus, defined by Hall
(1986) as residual granular material with significant content of secondary clay, whereas
in others more sandy grus is widespread. However, deeply weathered clayey saprolites
are not evident. There is certain vertical gradation observed in some exposures, which
contain an upper oxidized part, distinctively red in colour, and the lower, pale part.
Corestones appear more common in the lower part.
A question arises whether thick saprolites observed in the dissected SW part of the
Mylliem area are inherited from a distant past, when they formed under a tentative
planation surface, or have evolved concurrently with relief dissection. We favour the
second hypothesis, arguing that long-term surface lowering from an initial deeply
weathered planar surface would likely focus on weathered compartments leaving
residual rock relief which is not the case. At the local scale, field relationships indicate
that much of the local surface morphology observed nowadays can be explained by
selective erosion of the weathering mantle from moderately inclined slopes. Rainfall-
triggered runoff from the inclined surfaces, now often bare because of agricultural and
pastoral use, removes fine weathered material which is then temporarily stored in
elementary basins and along river courses as sand bars, and eventually moved away
down the system, towards the Ganga – Meghna Plain in Bangladesh. Corestones are
left as residuals and, depending on their density, scattered boulders or bouldery tors
originate.
Landforms and landscape evolution 221

Reasons of diversity in granite relief

Geomorphological and morphometric analysis of the Mylliem pluton reveals that three
major types of surface morphology may be identified within the limits. They are listed
below and related to descriptive typology of granite terrains, initially offered by Thomas
(1974) and later extended by Migoń (2006). These are (a) multi-concave relief domi-
nated by basins, locally with planar watersheds; (b) hilly landscape with abundant
convex landform elements and rather few topographic hollows; and (c) steep sides of
deeply incised valleys of main rivers and their tributaries. The landscape of (b) type
bears close affinities to the multi-convex type of relief, as characterized by Thomas
(1974; 1995) and Godard (1977), and reported from a number of tropical localities
(Raunet, 1985; Xu, 1996; Gunnell & Bourgeon, 1998; Dubroeucq & Volkoff, 1998;
Coelho Netto, 1999). However, classic multi-convex relief consists of hills weathered
throughout, perhaps with a rock core, whereas in the Mylliem area the abundance of
boulders in the shallow subsurface and at the surface (Figures 5 & 6) is striking. Some
hills appear to be completely covered by a boulder lag, others have already turned into
bouldery tors. In a classic multi-convex relief, rates of deep weathering are inferred to
exceed those of saprolite removal by surface processes (Migoń, 2009). In the Mylliem
area the wide presence of granite boulders may indicate some limits to deep weathering
and a more active role played by hillslope processes in shaping the residual hilly
topography.
The (c) type, with its steep terrain, appears to fit the description of all-slopes
topography (see Twidale, 1982), but sharp-crested water divides do not occur. On the
other hand, structural control on drainage lines is evident in these areas and both major
rivers follow straight courses for an appreciable length. Therefore, a variant of joint-
valley landscape may be identified, although in contrast to the ‘type locality’ of joint-
valley landscape in southern Sweden (Lidmar-Bergström, 1995), the prime reason of
fracture exploitation is fluvial incision rather than fracture-guided weathering.
Geographically, multi-concave morphology occupies the central, northeast and
extreme northwest part of the Mylliem area, the most distant places from the deeply
incised canyon of the Umiew river. Multi-convex variant of relief dominates in the
southwest, whereas deep canyons extend finger-like into the pluton from extreme
southwest (Figure 14).
A peculiar fragment of terrain within the Mylliem granite, which clearly diverges
from other types of relief, is the southeastern part, where the plateau surface meets a
massive escarpment that grades into the Nongkynrih-Umsong valley. The scarp is almost
500 m high, sloping >55° in the uppermost part, and deeply incised by several tributaries
of Nongkynrih-Umsong. In the same general area it is worth noting that some rivers cut
their valleys along the granite/country rock boundary over the length of a few kilome-
tres. Altogether, these circumstances suggest that the southeast part of the Mylliem
granite is considerably weaker than the remaining part of the pluton, and hence more
prone to erosion.
The geographical distribution of the above mentioned types of granite relief in
relation to the course of the Umiew river (Figure 12), which dissects the Meghalaya
southern escarpment and cuts back into the plateau, suggests that their position in space
may be related to geomorphic evolution through time and jointly they form a temporal
sequence. Surely, in the absence of detailed petrological data about the entire Mylliem
granite area, this proposal should be treated with some caution, but nevertheless it does
seem to explain contrasting morphologies within the relatively small and compact area.
222 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

Figure 14. Occurrence of different types of relief in the Mylliem granite in relation to directions of headward
erosion.

Given that headward erosion of Umiew and its tributaries generally proceeds to the
northeast and into the plateau, and acknowledging that fluvial incision at the base
induces changes in slope shapes and gradients, relief rejuvenation is expected to occur
from the southwest, with a new type of landscape replacing one that existed prior to the
arrival of headward erosion pulse. Consequently, the following sequence is hypothesized:
1. The relief type of longest history is the poorly differentiated plateau at c. 1850–
1900 m a.s.l., of which only remnants have survived as level surfaces away from
current drainage lines (Figure 14). It is possible that the plateau echoes an extensive
Gondwana palaeosurface, later covered by Cretaceous-Palaeogene marine sedi-
ments and re-exposed (exhumed) in the late Cenozoic. The tilted sandstone cover
today crops out c. 10 km south from the Mylliem granite, and the projected warped
sub-Cretaceous surface is close to the plateau level (Figure 15).
2. Multi-concave relief developed from the plateau through selective deep weathering,
focused on zones of structural or lithological weakness, in the conditions of little
relative relief and shallow depth to the local base level. Here, two- (or multi-) stage
model of landform evolution due to etching and stripping applies most readily and
the abundant boulders are exposed corestones from deeply weathered mantles.
3. Multi-convex morphology has evolved from the basin-dominated landscape
through dissection of basin floors, more efficient deep weathering under hillslopes
and significantly enhanced stripping, under conditions of general valley deepening
and increasing relative relief. Preservation potential for saprolites is limited, despite
apparently high production rates.
4. Deeply incised valleys and marginal escarpments are landforms of the shortest
history, developed as the geomorphic response to the long-term activity of the
Dauki Fault, post-Miocene uplift of the Meghalaya Plateau, long-term evolution of
the escarpment and falling base level.

It needs to be emphasized that each type of relief continues to evolve at its own pace.
Therefore, even far away from incisions, we do not deal with inherited, ‘frozen’
Landforms and landscape evolution 223

Figure 15. Cross-section to show how the plateau level within the Mylliem granite relates to the sub-
Cretaceous surface further south. Geological map after Mazumder (1986). The photograph taken west of the
Umiew river shows the planar contact between basement and cover rocks.

landscapes of great antiquity. Transformation of the level surface into the multi-concave
relief appears to occur independently from the incision of the Umiew river.
The history behind these four types of granite relief is hypothesized to be the
following. The key role is played by active headward erosion of the Umiew, causally
related to uplift along the Dauki Fault, initiated in the middle Miocene and continu-
ing until today (Biswas et al., 2007; Clark & Bilham, 2008). Going upstream, erosion
focused on and exploited pre-existing zones of structural weakness, mainly
southwest-northeast (Mazumder, 1986; Das, 1994), and has led to the development of
deeply incised fracture-aligned valleys. When the pulse of headward erosion reached
the granite area, transformation of the pre-existing plateau topography was initiated.
Geographical relationships suggest that this topography was multi-concave rather
than planar. Remnants of the latter are only occasionally preserved along water
divides in the eastern part of the Mylliem pluton, well away from deeply incised
valley tracts. Hence, multi-concave relief appears to have evolved from an ancient
planar palaeosurface through long-term, selective lowering accomplished by etching
and stripping. Further relief transformation involved the development of multi-
convex type of relief at the expense of basin-dominated morphology. Following
Thomas (1995) we assume that it was triggered by the arrival of headward erosion
pulse, an increase of hydraulic gradient and tensile stresses within bedrock, thus
224 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

reinforcing weathering systems which begin to penetrate deeper, altering granite to


sandy and clayey grus. In consequence, higher relief has meant more efficient
removal of near-surface regolith layers, widespread exposure of boulders and tors, and
increased supply of sediment to rivers. However, the very restricted occurrence of
planar relief along water divides and the widespread occurrence of shallow topo-
graphic basins in the northern and northeastern part of the Mylliem pluton suggest
that a considerable degree of transformation of the palaeosurface through long-term,
selective lowering must have occurred before headward erosion of the Umiew system
has reached the area.
Thus, the multi-convex relief appears to evolve from the multi-concave landscape,
the transformation being triggered by fluvial dissection. Interestingly, both Thomas
(1974) and Migoń (2006) hypothesized that it is multi-concave landscapes that evolve
from multi-convex relief rather than vice versa, but this would occur under conditions
of stable base level which allows for enlargement of basins through enhanced scarp-foot
weathering (see also Bremer, 1975) and would require long-term environmental sta-
bility, perhaps difficult to sustain, especially at the Quaternary time scale. In respect to
southern India, Gunnell (2000) pointed out that these two distinctive types of relief
occur along a climosequence, with the multi-convex type characterizing the wetter
western part of the peninsula and the convexo-concave type being more common in the
drier interior. This climate-related change in topography occurs along a distance of a few
tens of kilometres at least. By contrast, the transition observed in the Mylliem granite
takes place over a few kilometres and within essentially the same climatic region,
although the northern part of the pluton is probably somewhat drier than the southern
part, in accordance with regional precipitation gradient (Prokop & Walanus, 2003;
Murata et al., 2007).
In more general terms, the geomorphic evolution of the Mylliem granite terrain
represents transformation of a poorly differentiated plateau into a much higher relief,
triggered by valley deepening and headward erosion after major regional uplift. This
pathway of landform evolution is best known and understood from sedimentary rock
terrains, although mainly from arid lands (e.g. Laity, 1988; Young & Young, 1992), but
less so from basement areas. In sedimentary rocks, usually sandstone-capped plateaus,
there is little scope for selective deep weathering, even in warm and humid regions.
Therefore, steep marginal escarpments border with planar upland surfaces, with little
intervening hilly terrain. Scarp retreat is accomplished by spring sapping, rock fall and
major slope failures (e.g. Peulvast et al., 2010). Actually, all these can be observed
along the southern margin of the Meghalaya, in the Cherrapunji area, where Creta-
ceous sandstones build the plateau (Starkel & Singh, 2004). In basement terrains, the
pattern of long-term plateau reduction is more complicated because deep weathering
becomes an important factor of landform evolution. It appears that, if weathering
systems are efficient (e.g. in humid areas), marginal parts of plateau surfaces evolve
into a type of relief similar to the multi-convex one and the general scarp retreat
proceeds via surface dissection and lowering. Multi-convex relief in this case is thus a
transitional type of relief and modulator of long-term backwearing. It needs to be
noted again that the hilly morphology of the western Mylliem area, which is imme-
diately adjacent to the deep incision of the Umiew river, differs from typical deeply
weathered tropical multi-convex landscapes. However, these have been usually
reported either from below the great escarpments such as those from southeast Brazil
(Thomas, 1995) or from elevated tracts of land, protected from zones of dissection by
structural thresholds (Bétard, 2007).
Landforms and landscape evolution 225

Concluding remarks

The granite geomorphology of the Mylliem pluton, interesting in itself, allows one for a
broader look at low latitude granite geomorphology in general. The latter is known to be
extremely diverse, ranging from extensive planation surfaces in shield settings, through
upland and hilly terrains with a multitude of secondary convex and concave relief
features, to mountains of different heights. The Mylliem granite area, although rather
small in extent, is characterized by considerable variety of relief, with four major types of
geomorphological landscape present. Although one of them, the planar watersheds, may
be inherited from the very distant past (Mesozoic?), the other three are dynamically
evolving contemporary features, although each has a different history and lifetime. Thus,
relief diversity in the Mylliem area clearly shows the morphological complexity of tropical
granite terrains. Although there are good reasons to believe that multi-convex relief is
distinctive for the humid tropics, as it is hardly seen elsewhere (Migoń, 2009), it may, and
does, co-exist with other morphological types. Its presence in the close proximity of the
deep incision of the Umiew river seems to be the most distinctive tropical ‘imprint’ on the
granite landscape of Mylliem. Otherwise, geomorphology of the Mylliem granite area
does not represent a uniquely tropical type of relief, despite its location in a very
distinctive climatic environment, with the highest annual rainfall on Earth.
The multitude of granite landscapes, although long recognized, is still insufficiently
explained. Usually, two major controls are invoked, litho-structural and climatic, which
may complement each other to some extent. The case of Mylliem is, however, different
and fits more the classic models of geomorphological evolution in which the factor of
time was central. Although there is a rainfall gradient across the Mylliem pluton, it is
unlikely to be responsible for the observed change in geomorphological landscape, from
a marginal scarp through deeply incised valleys, multi-convex relief to the basin-
dominated northern and eastern part. Rather, we see the transformation of the primary
planar surface into more and more differentiated relief due to regional uplift, associated
incision and headward erosion. The spatial assemblage of landscapes, with clear tran-
sition from one type to another while going upstream, is interpreted as an example of
relief rejuvenation subsequent to plateau uplift, operating in bedrock very prone to
selective degradation. Over time, the multi-convex relief is predicted to continue to
develop at the expense of the multi-concave one, although it will be subject to fluvial
dissection itself. Given that rapid uplift (exhumation) of the Meghalaya commenced
some 8–14 Ma ago (Biswas et al., 2007; Clark & Bilham, 2008), its surface uplift was
delayed by a few million years and occurred at the rate 0.4–0.53 mm per year (Biswas
et al., 2007), and that some time must have elapsed until the knick point of the Umiew
reached the Mylliem granite outcrop, we suggest that under seasonally humid tropical
climate transformation of the primary planation surface into the multi-convex relief
occurs over a timescale of a few million years.

Acknowledgements

This paper is the outcome of bilateral project agreed between the Polish Academy of Sciences and
Indian National Science Academy, in which the second author has participated. We express our
gratitude to the Prof. S. Singh and Dr. H.J. Syiemlieh, Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill
University, who facilitated data collection and helped in organizing our fieldwork. This paper also
subscribes to the long-term individual research project by the senior author, focused on geomor-
phic evolution of basement terrains and funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education
in Poland via the University of Wrocław.
226 Piotr Migoń and Paweł Prokop

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