Techniques, problems and uses of mega-geomorphological mapping

A plea for a program of global geomorphological mapping based on remote sensing data is presented. It is argued that the program is a necessary step in bringing together the rapidly evolving concepts of plate tectonics with the science of geomorphology. Geomorphologists are urged to bring temporal scales into their subject and to abandon their recent isolation from tectonics and geological history. It is suggested that a start be made with a new geomorphological map of Europe, utilizing the latest space technology

Bottom Morphology and Tectonics of the Southern Ocean

The paper gives the brief characteristics of the main bottom morpho-structures, revealed as the result of geomorphological analysis and according to separate geophysical data taken by expeditions of different countries. Differences in the type of the earth\u27s crust under ocean floor serve as the main taxonomic principle. Thus the shelf on the margin of Antarctica is characterized by purely continental features. To the transition continental-oceanic area belong the continental slopes, the zones of island arcs and the basins of marginal seas. Structure areas of the oceanic crust are represented by gigantic depressions of oceanic basins and arched uplifts of oceanic swells, by linear folded-block elevations of median ridges, by oceanic trenches and their marginal swells. Seven bathymetrical, geomorphological and tectonic maps have been compiled for "The Atlas of the Antarctic"

Morphostructure of the S. Vicente Canyon, Marquês de Pombal Fault and Pereira de Sousa Fault (SW Iberia margin)

The S. Vicent Canyon (SVC), Marquês de Pombal Fault (MPF) and Pereira de Sousa Fault (PSF) are located along the SW Iberian margin. The SVC appears to be controlled by the S. Vicent Fault (SVF), a steep NE-SW striking fault that outcrops along the southeast flank of the canyon. To better understand the SVC, MPF and PSF structures and the Meso-Cenozoic morphostructural evolution of this sector it is important to identify the main tectonic phases from the Mesozoic up to Plio-Quaternary. To attain this objective, the main regional structures were mapped using 2D seismic lines and multibeam swath bathymetry data, allowing the mapping of the northern prolongation of PSF and the identification of faults that do not reach the sea floor

Investigation of natural environment by space means. Geobotany, Geomorphology, soil sciences, agricultural lands, landscape study

Reports given by Soviet specialists at a meeting of Socialist countries on remote sensing of the earth using aerospace methods are presented

Neotectonics of the subandes-Brazilian craton boundary using geomorphological data : the Maranon and Beni basins

Active and abandoned fluvial traces are used together with neotectonic, seismotectonic and subsurface structural data to study the neotectonic evolution of the Peruvian and Bolivian foreland basins. The Maranon Basin to the north and the Beni Basin to the south are located near the ends of the Peru-Bolivia Andean segment. This segment lies above the flat-slab subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the Andes. The surface of these basins shows a complex network of present-day rivers and fossil river traces. A relative chronology of the river traces deduced from morphological criteria allows the identification of successive shifting of fluvial belts up to the present position of the main rivers. As it enters the Ucamara Depression, the Ucayali River is deflected to the northeast. Successive shifts of the deflection point are directed upstream along the upper reaches of the river along the foothills. Simultaneously the Maranon River is deflected to the north, lining up with the straight, NE-trending lower reaches of the Huallaga River. In the central part of the depression the rivers trend northeast-southwest, parallel to the main strike of the basement faults. This regional trend is also parallel to the greatest principal stress observed both to the east and the west of the depression, and to the neotectonic faults on the margin of the Brazilian craton. The Beni Basin is characterized by a counterclockwise shift of the Beni River. Successive shifts of the river involve the northward migration of the deflection point of the Beni River as it enters the basin. A fault connected to the foothill margin controls this downstream movement. Recent erosion of the flood plain surface to the east suggests a tendency of the craton margin to ascend. No coaxial stress resulting from either plate motion or from collapse of the Andean topography seems to control the directional shift of rivers in the basins. (Résumé d'auteur

Morphotectonic interpretation of the 23-02-2015 Albacete earthquake, Spain

On 02-23-2015, an earthquake took place in the Iberian Peninsula megablock. This event is of the intraplate- type (Mw= 4,7 / h= 17 km) where there is a deformed morphotectonic zone. The epicenter and the normal and strike-slip solution focal mechanism were determined in the Albacete block -which has an uplifting tendency inside of the Albacete and Cuenca mesoblocks