The Indo-Gangetic foreland basin has some of the highest rates of groundwater extraction
in the world, focused in the states of Punjab and Haryana in northwest India. Any assessment of the
effects of extraction on groundwater variation requires understanding of the geometry and sedimentary
architecture of the alluvial aquifers, which in turn are set by their geomorphic and depositional setting. To
assess the overall architecture of the aquifer system, we used satellite imagery and digital elevation models
to map the geomorphology of the Sutlej and Yamuna fan systems, while aquifer geometry was assessed
using 243 wells that extend to ∼200 m depth. Aquifers formed by sandy channel bodies in the subsurface
of the Sutlej and Yamuna fans have a median thickness of 7 and 6 m, respectively, and follow heavy-tailed
thickness distributions. These distributions, along with evidence of persistence in aquifer fractions as
determined from compensation analysis, indicate persistent reoccupation of channel positions and suggest
that the major aquifers consist of stacked, multistoried channel bodies. The percentage of aquifer material in
individual boreholes decreases down fan, although the exponent on the aquifer body thickness distribution
remains similar, indicating that the total number of aquifer bodies decreases down fan but that individual
bodies do not thin appreciably, particularly on the Yamuna fan. The interfan area and the fan marginal zone
have thinner aquifers and a lower proportion of aquifer material, even in proximal locations. We conclude
that geomorphic setting provides a first-order control on the thickness, geometry, and stacking pattern of
aquifer bodies across this critical region.