The Quaternary basin of the Gujarat plain is formed due to the reactiv
ation of Tertiary basement faults. The uplift as a horst of the Araval
li in the east and the Saurashtra peninsula in the west, comprising a
culminating event of the post-Mesozoic rifting of the western continen
tal margin, resulted in the Quaternary basin which was later filled up
by alluvial sediments. The basin that received the fluvial sediments
marked the end phase of the Cambay graben subsidence that was initiate
d in the Paleocene. The nature of variation in thickness of the Quater
nary sediments in its different segments indicates that the basin comp
rised a series of horsts and grabens. Whereas the Early Quaternary tec
tonism gave rise to the differential basement topography, the tectonic
events of the Late Quaternary were responsible for the present landsc
ape development in Central Gujarat.