Drainage network and lineament analysis: An approach for Potwar Plateau (Northern Pakistan)

Drainage responds rapidly to tectonic changes and thus it is a potential parameter for tectonogeomorphological analysis. Drainage network of Potwar is a good geological record of movement, displacements, regional uplifts and erosion of the tectonic units. This study focuses on utilizing drainage network extracted from Shuttle Radar Digital Elevation Data (SRTM-DEM) in order to constrain the structure of the Potwar Plateau. SWAN syncline divides Potwar into northern Potwar deformed zone (NPDZ) and southern Potwar platform zone (SPPZ). We extracted the drainage network from DEM and analyzed 112 streams using stream power law. Spatial distribution of concavity and steepness indices were used to prepare uplift rate map for the area. DEM was further utilized to extract lineaments to study the mutual relationship between lineaments and drainage patterns. We compared the local correlation between the extracted lineaments and drainage network of the area that gives us quantitative information and shows promising prospects. The streams in the NPDZ indicate high steepness values as compared to the streams in the SPPZ. The spatial distribution of geomorphic parameters and uplift rates suggest the distinctive deformation among eastern, central and western parts. The local correlation between drainage network and lineaments from DEM is strongly positive in the area within 1 km of radius.

[1]  P. Grassberger,et al.  Measuring the Strangeness of Strange Attractors , 1983 .

[2]  William E. Dietrich,et al.  The Problem of Channel Erosion into Bedrock , 1992 .

[3]  Richard Gloaguen,et al.  Automatic extraction of faults and fractal analysis from remote sensing data , 2007 .

[4]  G. Tucker,et al.  Landscape response to tectonic forcing: Digital elevation model analysis of stream profiles in the Mendocino triple junction region, northern California , 2000 .

[5]  A. Hameed,et al.  Subsurface Geometry of Potwar Sub-Basin in Relation to Structuration and Entrapment , 2007 .

[6]  Mustayeen A. Khan,et al.  Geology of Petroleum in Kohat-Potwar Depression, Pakistan , 1986 .

[7]  Irantzu Lexartza Artza,et al.  Knickpoint recession rate and catchment area: the case of uplifted rivers in Eastern Scotland , 2005 .

[8]  W. Frisch,et al.  Hinterland-Vergent Tectonic Wedge Below the Riwat Thrust, Himalayan Foreland, Pakistan: Implications for Hydrocarbon Exploration , 1997 .

[9]  Gregory E. Tucker,et al.  Predicting sediment flux from fold and thrust belts , 1996 .

[10]  K. Whipple.  BEDROCK RIVERS AND THE GEOMORPHOLOGY OF ACTIVE OROGENS , 2004 .

[11]  Colin Wilson,et al.  Spatial analysis of lineaments , 1994 .

[12]  N. Snyder,et al.  Tectonics from topography: Procedures, promise, and pitfalls , 2006 .

[13]  中田 高.  Active faults of Pakistan : map sheets and inventories , 1991 .

[14]  K. Whipple,et al.  Geomorphic constraints on surface uplift, exhumation, and plateau growth in the Red River region, Yunnan Province, China , 2004 .

[15]  A. Howard.  A detachment-limited model of drainage basin evolution , 1994 .

[16]  R. J. Lillie,et al.  Development of the Himalayan frontal thrust zone: Salt Range, Pakistan , 1988 .

[17]  N. Wells,et al.  The transition from Tethys to the Himalaya as recorded in northwest Pakistan , 1996 .

[18]  D. Montgomery,et al.  Distribution of bedrock and alluvial channels in forested mountain drainage basins , 1996, Nature.

[19]  Monalisa,et al.  Seismic Hazard Assessment of the NW Himalayan Fold-and-Thrust Belt, Pakistan, Using Probabilistic Approach , 2007 .

[20]  John F. O'Callaghan,et al.  The extraction of drainage networks from digital elevation data , 1984, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[21]  M. Qasim Jan,et al.  Geology and tectonics of Pakistan , 1997 .