Geomorphic analyses using NEXTMap topographic data: application for the badlands of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.125.3.004Keywords:
badland gullies, channel concavity, high-resolution DTM, slope- area relationship, surface process transitionsAbstract
Technological innovations for topographic surveying such as airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) allow increasing availability and accuracy of high-resolution digital elevation models (DTMs). The DTM-based extraction of geomorphic parameters such as drainage areas, slopes, curvatures, etc. is very useful for detailed morphological analyses. Bilogarithmic plots of slope and drainage areas could be used to characterize regions with different dominated erosional processes on the basis of Flint’s law. This study uses IFSAR-derived NEXTMap® Europe DTM with a spatial resolution of 5 m, for distinguishing geomorphological signatures of surface processes occurring in two river basins in the Basilicata region, in southern Italy (i.e. the Basento and Cavone Rivers). The analysis of 81 longitudinal gully-channel profiles shows that the uppermost slopes, which are dominated by debris flows and small shallow landslides, are straight or slightly convex with slope values greater than 0.1-0.4 m/m. Below this slope range, fluvial dynamics predominate compared to the debris-flow erosion processes. Downstream, fluvial erosion conditions change from detachment-limited erosion, with highly concave and relatively steep channels, to transport-limited erosion, with lower concavity and slope. Although the lithology, in particular, intact caprock on the top of the hillslopes, influence the gradient of the relief, it does not affect the acting morphological processes; in fact, topographic parameters and erosional processes on the slopes do not change in the different regions, whether caprock is present or not, in addition landscape morphology does not seem to be affected by north or south exposure.
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