Seismites as an indicator of active faulting along the Moradabad Fault: A further study on neotectonics in the Indo-Gangetic plains

This study highlights signatures of seismic activity along the Moradabad Fault (a transverse basement fault) in the upper Ganga plain. Soft-sediment deformation structures have been identified at different locations around the Moradabad Fault (MF) zone and analyzed from a morphological perspective. The deformational structures include deformed cross-beddings, sand volcanoes, water-escape structures, micro-faults, and plastic intrusions. The mechanism of deformation is related to liquefaction and/or fluidization processes. The presence of seismites and epicenters of recent earthquakes in the Moradabad Fault zone irrefutably associates the seismic activity in the Ganga plain with the basement fault activation. Furthermore, subsurface GPR data, surface geomorphic evidence such as channel offset, stream convergence, initiation of new channels, and different stages of river terrace development in the upthrown and downthrown blocks of the fault suggests the active nature of the Moradabad fault.