Drainage Network and Lineament Analysis: An Approach for Potwar Plateau (Northern Pakistan)

摘要

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.