Geoheritage and Geotourism Sites from the Narmada-Son Fault (NSF) Zone, Narmada River, and Mahi River in Central Mainland Gujarat, Western India

A wealth of geological data is now available from the Mainland Gujarat, Kachchh, and Saurashtra in Gujarat state that highlight major geological events including the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea and subsequent tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the western continental margin of India. The present article showcases six important geological sites from the Narmada-Son Fault (NSF) zone, the Lower Narmada Valley, and the Lower Mahi Valley in central Mainland Gujarat from geoheritage and geotourism point of view. Three geosites are included from the NSF zone that comprise textbook examples of a fault controlled landscape and tectonically active fault zone. One of these geosites contains a layer of Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) ash layer midway in the exposed river cliff section that represents the largest volcanic eruption during Quaternary time, which occurred at ~74 ka in Indonesia. Two geosites from the Lower Narmada Valley are described that comprise one of the world’s largest Late Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits and alluvial plain sediments with large-scale sedimentary bedforms indicating large size of the paleo-Narmada River compared to the present one. The geosite in Lower Mahi Valley comprises sediments representing the climatic changes during the last full glacial cycle, vertically stacked in one river section. All the described geosites are close to and accessible from the world’s tallest statue, the “Statue of Unity”, which attracts millions of tourists. The geosites may be integrated with this tourist place and other sacred pilgrimage places along Narmada River to make geotourism sustainable.