Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tectonics and Net Erosion Rates in the Zagros Structural Belt, Southwestern Iran
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented the results of a study of the geomorphology of the tectonically active Zagros Structural Belt (ZSB) of southwestern Iran using a digital elevation model constructed from Landsat-5 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) bands 7-4-1 and ground truth.
Abstract: The authors present the results of a study of the geomorphology of the tectonically active Zagros Structural Belt (ZSB) of southwestern Iran. More specifically the tectonic structure of the ZSB is examined using a digital elevation model (DEM) constructed from Landsat-5 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) bands 7-4-1 and ground truth. The emphasis was on detecting net erosion rates and constructing a graded profile of the Dez River that indicates that the area has been tectonically disturbed. Three topographic profiles were plotted on the DEM that are approximately perpendicular to the NW-SE direction of the Zagros main trend. Based on the initial landform shape, topography, and initial folding, net erosion rates of the study were calculated.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used field data coupled with the tectonic-related factors to provide a solution for slope-related hazards and concluded that the recent construction of the new roads in the region has increased the potential danger for generating the mass wastes and thus makes the region more unstable.
Abstract: Mass movements or mass wasting is being consid- ered as one of the severe forms of natural disasters. Iran is geographically located in the Alps-Himalaya seismicity belt. It has a high potential to mass wasting. This seismic phenomenon creates landslides and rock falls in the high mountains of Alborz and Zagros. These mass movements and various types of slides can be systematically assessed and mapped through traditional mapping frameworks using geo- information technologies. The geo-information-based tech- nology offers the earth scientist to study and map various types of mass movement and stability of slopes. In this study, we used field data coupling with the tectonic-related factors to provide a solution for slope-related hazards. Firstly, various geological and geomorphological factors such as lineaments andfaults, vegetation, lithology,slope,drainage,landuse/land cover, seismicity and roads network were extracted and compiled using geo-information technology. This is because the factors mentioned above play important role in the instability of the region. Then, the study area was divided into four regions based on the rate of mass wasting and its degree of vulnerability. The results of this study showed that the erosion in Karaj formation is severe. Additionally, this research also reveals that the hydrothermal solutions caused by the erosional activities have influenced the glassy element of tuffs and subsequently changed into the clays. This change has caused the tuffs to be relatively unstable. Further, it is evident that the chemical and physical weathering has had a big impact on it whilst most of the mass wasting has occurred within the unstable tuffs of Karaj formation. Finally, the paper concluded that the recent construction of the new roads in the region has increased the potential danger for generating the mass wastes and thus makes the region more unstable.
70 citations
Cites background from "Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..."
...It is possibly originated from the Red Sea due to the neo-tectonic activity that creates subduction changing the landscapes and topography in the tectonic active areas ( Ali and Pirasteh 2003; Pirasteh et al. 2009a, b; Safari et al. 2009)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) data from 9 November 2002 to enhance the structural patterns in the Zagros Structural Belt.
Abstract: Arabia-Eurasia convergence is achieved in north-west Zagros by a combination of shortening on NW-SE-trending folds and thrusts, mainly in the Zagros Structural Belt, and by right-lateral strike-slip on the NW-SE-trending Main Recent Fault. Structural patterns are often used as indicators of major features on the surface. In the present study, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) data from 9 November 2002 was digitally processed to enhance the structural patterns. The contrast stretching of ETM band 4 was found to be the best in displaying lineaments and folds for the area, hence was further processed by using directional filters and generating different combinations of false colour composites (FCCs). Finally, a structural map of the study area (Dezful-Brojerd) was prepared using the processed ETM images. This study indicates that the Landsat ETM data are useful for locating and interpretation of the structural features in the Zagros Structural Belt. Examination of the Landsat ETM 2002 images combined wi...
69 citations
Cites background from "Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..."
...Structurally, the Zagros Structural Belt is the result of tectonic activities from Late Cretaceous to Recent (Ali et al. 2003)....
[...]
...The development of thrust (figure 9) can be seen in various parts of the satellite image (figure 2) very easily (Ali et al. 2003)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to estimate soil erosion for sheet, rill and inter-rill in Awassa catchment, Ethiopia.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify challenges and quality of landslides assessment based on remotely sensed data by the mean of existing works of the literature and practices attempted in the Zagros and Alborz Mountains in Iran and the red rock shield Lake, China.
Abstract: Understanding and assessing the landslides is immensely important to scientists and policy-makers alike. Remote sensing conventional methods and modelling approaches in geographical information system (GIS) tend to be limited to authentic quality and spatial coverage. This study aims to identify challenges and quality of landslides assessment based on remotely sensed data by the mean of existing works of the literature and practices we attempted in the Zagros and Alborz Mountains in Iran and the red rock shield Lake, China. Remote sensing data for landslides investigations require a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) from either aerial photography, satellite images, airborne laser scanning (ALS) or terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived in order to enable a reliable and valid output performance. This paper presents weaknesses and strengths of the existing remote sensing techniques in the last decades and further provides recommendations for a reliable approach to the fu...
40 citations
Cites result from "Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..."
...This study results in a high accuracy of landslide determination, identifying morphologic features (Ali et al. 2003a, 2003b; Pirasteh et al. 2009, 2011)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, a hydrochemical study has been carried out graphically and spatially in GIS environment in part of Bundelkhand Massif to expose the water quality by measuring the concentration of parameters and comparing them with the drinking water and irrigation standards.
Abstract: The tribulations of water quality have become more serious than the quantity, as the environmental evils are getting more severe day by day in different parts of the world. Large number of components like soil, geology, sewage disposal, effluents and other environmental conditions in which the water tends to reside or move and interact with ground and biological characteristics, greatly persuade the groundwater quality. Therefore, hydrochemical study has been carried out graphically and spatially in GIS environment in part of Bundelkhand Massif. The hydrochemical study exposes the water quality by measuring the concentration of parameters and comparing them with the drinking water and irrigation standards. Groundwater samples have been collected and analysed for physiochemical characteristics in order to understand the hydrochemistry of the water. The results revealed that ground water is alkaline in nature and total hardness observed in all samples falls under moderately hard to very hard category. At some places higher concentration of Cl− could be dangerous from health point of view. Major hydrochemical facies were identified using Piper Trilinear diagram and Durov diagrams, etc. Analysis of different determinations such as sodium adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate and per cent sodium revealed that most of the samples are unsuitable for irrigation. It was also observed that the quality of groundwater was not suitable for drinking purpose in industrial and irrigation area. In the area, few sampling sites showed unsuitability because of influences of urban and industrial waste discharge, aquifer material mineralogy, other anthropogenic activities and increased human interventions.
39 citations
References
More filters
22 Apr 1977
621 citations
"Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..." refers background in this paper
...Because an active front is usually straight, whereas an inactive one becomes increasingly embayed, the sinuosity of the mountain front is a useful indicator of the level of long-term tectonic activity (Bull and McFadden, 1977)....
[...]
TL;DR: In the simply folded belt of the Zagros Mountains, a sequence of Precambrian to Pliocene shelf sediments about 12 km thick has undergone folding from Miocene to recent time as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the simply folded belt of the Zagros Mountains, a sequence of Precambrian to Pliocene shelf sediments about 12 km thick has undergone folding from Miocene to recent time. Much of the section (6,000 to 7,000 m), consisting of Cambrian to Miocene rocks, forms a single structural lithic unit, the Competent group. It is bounded above and below by detachment zones in evaporite deposits. Structures in the Competent group are typical of parallel folds formed by buckling and developed by a combination of flexural-slip and neutral-surface mechanisms. They include bedding-plane slickensides, extension structures on anticlinal crests, and congested anticlinal and synclinal fold cores. The neutral-surface component of folding has had an important influence on fluid migration. The symmetry of Competent group folds reflects shearing in the lower detachment zone. The enormous size of the folds is the result of many factors acting together; chief among these is the great thickness of the structural unit. Folding induced by salt movement may have occurred in the Competent group but is unrelated to the Cenozoic buckle folds; it provides a mechanism for salt diapirism through competent strata, and an explanation of how room was made for diapirs and why they rarely contain relics of country rocks. Preexisting diapirs have been reactivated in anticlines by the tectonic stresses causing buckling, but their movement generally has been halted in synclines. Diapirs are unlikely to have been initiated during buckle folding. The basement has not taken part in the folding, but instead has been deformed by strike-slip faulting.
279 citations
BP1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss some unknown or little-known relationships between surface structure and deep displacements in the well-exposed Zagros orogenic belt of south-west Iran, which can be divided into three major structural belts.
Abstract: Summary The object of this paper is to discuss some of the unknown or little-known relationships between surface structure and deep displacements in the well-exposed Zagros orogenic belt of south-west Iran, which can be divided into three major structural belts. The subjective nature of all inferences about deep structure in the absence of seismic data supported by deep borehole evidence is accentuated. Only at relatively shallow depths where the rock succession is well known can concealed structure be predicted with confidence from surface geology alone.
234 citations
"Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..." refers background in this paper
...The orogen has been divided into three structural zones: (1) an inner crystalline zone of overthrusting, (2) an imbricated belt, and (3) a zone of folding, often referred to as the Simple Folded Belt (Falcon, 1969)....
[...]
...A generalized stratigraphic column for the Zagros Simple Folded Belt, showing Cretaceous through Miocene strata grouped into four units according to relative resistance to erosion, is presented in Figure 2....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors estimate that relief production in Laramide ranges began at ca. 3 Ma.y, on the basis of the concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides, and they conclude that summit elevations have remained essentially constant even though several hundred meters of relief has been produced.
Abstract: Gently sloped summits and ridges (collectively referred to as summit flats) are abundant in many Laramide ranges in the western United States. The erosion rate of summit flats is ~10 m/m.y., on the basis of the concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides. Because erosion rates in valleys between summit flats are an order of magnitude faster, relief within these ranges is currently increasing by about 100 m/m.y. If summit-flat erosion is slower than rock uplift driven by the isostatic response to valley erosion, then this relief production could result in increased summit elevations. The mean depth of material eroded from a smooth surface fit to existing summit flats varies from 280 to 340 m in four Laramide ranges, based on geographic information system (GIS) analyses of digital elevation models. This erosion would result in a maximum of 250‐300 m of rock uplift, assuming Airy isostasy. However, because the Laramide ranges examined here are narrow relative to the flexural wavelength of the lithosphere, erosionally driven rock uplift is limited to ~ 50‐100 m. Over the past several million years, summit erosion would approximately offset this rock uplift. Therefore, we conclude that summit elevations have remained essentially constant even though several hundred meters of relief has been produced. On the basis of valley and summit erosion rates and the average depth of erosion, we estimate that relief production in Laramide ranges began at ca. 3 Ma. We hypothesize that this relief production was climatically driven and was associated with the onset or enhancement of alpine glaciation in these ranges.
197 citations
"Remote Sensing and GIS Study of Tec..." refers background in this paper
...5A–5C) that connects all of these erosional remnants, and then subtracting the modern topography from this surface, estimates of the average amount of erosion, as well as local erosion at each point, were made (Small and Anderson, 1998)....
[...]