The present study aims at deciphering the morphometric neotectonic features in the badland affected part of the Mandakini River watershed of Chitrakoot, India. The study attempts to decipher the relative time sequencing of the morphotectonic events based on certain assumptions. Badlands are essentially erosive systems that result due to some critical combination of multiple factors such as a change in rainfall pattern, deterioration of soil properties, overgrazing history, changes in land use and land cover, changes in groundwater conditions, etc. and may or not have additional impetus due to tectonic events in their growth. The thin layer of sediments with variable thickness showing active badlands in the study area overlies the southernmost part of the Faizabad Ridge, which has a subsurface horst formation. With the assistance of remote sensing and GIS, numerous morphotectonic parameters have been determined. The result shows that the less elongated (Re = 0.7) shape of the Mandakini River watershed, Hypsometric integral (HI = 0.48), and basin shape index (Bs = 1.6), and the windy channel are indicative of moderately active tectonism in the watershed. Although the watershed is more or less symmetrical in some parts, the basin asymmetry factor (AF) is 55.24, which again indicates there is a partial impact of low active tectonics on the watershed under the study area. Sub-watersheds at the third order-level show significant variations of these morphotectonic indicator parameters observed through the sub-watersheds of the study area. In this regard, it is also of significant consideration that the spatial orientations of several sub-watershed show strong discords from the general orientations of the rest of the sub-watersheds at the third-order level, and as such, they occur as morphometric 'inliers' in the current scheme of the current drainage processes. Continuous, uninterrupted geomorphic processes cannot account for this discord, and in the absence of any significant anthropogenic interference, these could only be correlated to aggravating impacts of neotectonics interventions. On the basis of significant values of the morphometric parameters indicative of neotectonism and spatial discord of the sub-watershed, a division of zones has been attempted here, showing a degree of neotectonic interference during the sustained erosive phase of badlands formations. The values are found to be ranging from High Tectonic to Low tectonic signatures of different tectonic activity phases. The tectonic events have been classified in the GIS environment, and the spatial signatures of tectonic events, namely the High Tectonic Activity Phase (HTAP), Moderate Tectonic Activity Phase (MTAP), and Low Tectonic Activity Phase (LTAP), have been deciphered. Finally, the present work offers assumptions for sequencing the events.

本研究旨在破译印度奇特拉库特曼达基尼河流域受荒地影响部分的形态计量新构造特征。该研究试图根据某些假设破译形态构造事件的相对时间顺序。恶地本质上是侵蚀性系统，由多种因素的某些关键组合导致，例如降雨模式的变化、土壤性质的恶化、过度放牧的历史、土地利用和土地覆盖的变化、地下水条件的变化等，并且可能会或不会由于构造事件在它们的生长中具有额外的推动力。厚度不一的沉积物薄层显示研究区活跃的荒地位于 Faizabad Ridge 的最南端，该地区有一个地下地垒形成。在遥感和地理信息系统的帮助下，已经确定了许多形态构造参数。结果表明，曼达基尼河流域较小的拉长（Re = 0.7）形状、Hypsometric积分（HI = 0.48）和盆地形状指数（Bs = 1.6）和风道表明流域中的构造活动中等活跃. 虽然流域在某些部分或多或少是对称的，但盆地不对称因子（AF）为55.24，这再次表明低活动构造对研究区下流域的部分影响。通过研究区的子流域观察到的三阶子流域显示出这些形态构造指标参数的显着变化。在这方面，同样重要的是，几个子流域的空间方向与三阶水平的其余子流域的总体方向表现出强烈的不一致，因此，它们作为形态测量的“内点”出现在当前排水过程的当前方案。连续、不间断的地貌过程无法解释这种不和谐，并且在没有任何重大人为干扰的情况下，这些只能与新构造干预的加剧影响相关联。根据指示子流域新构造运动和空间不协调的形态测量参数的显着值，这里尝试了区域划分，显示了在荒地地层的持续侵蚀阶段期间新构造干扰的程度。发现这些值的范围从不同构造活动阶段的高构造特征到低构造特征。GIS环境下对构造事件进行了分类，破译了构造事件的空间特征，即高构造活动期（HTAP）、中度构造活动期（MTAP）和低构造活动期（LTAP）。最后，目前的工作提供了对事件进行排序的假设。