A Geomorphological Analysis of the Longitudinal Profile of Tambraparni River, Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster, South Western Ghats

This paper is a part of the authors research work dealing with the geomorphometry and geomorphology of the Tambraparni River Basin (Kanyakumari district), located on the Western flank of South Western Ghats. The Western Ghats mountain chain running parallel to Indias western coast extends from the state of Gujarat in the north up to Tamil Nadu in the south, over a distance of 1600 km uninterruptedly. The present work endeavors to interpret the geomorphology of the Tambraparni River through longitudinal profile approach. The study of longitudinal profile shows a smooth, parabolic curve, gently concave to the sky, practically flat at the mouth and steepening towards the source for the Tambraparni River that helped the classification of the river channel into four reaches namely lower, middle, upper and higher reaches. Moreover, a notable irregularity that affected the gradient of the longitudinal profile of the stream has been identified as knickpoints enabling further detailed study in the linear distribution pattern and the genetic relationship of waterfalls in the southern tip of Western Ghats mountain chain.