Using Digital Elevation Model and Remotely Sensed Data in Determining the Geomorphological and Morphometric Features: Gaziköy-Saros Region, Northwestern

Abstract

The Gaziköy–Saros region is located in the western part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), Turkey, which is one of the major active strike-slip faults recognized in the world. The morphological characteristics of this region were shaped by the nature of the fault. By means of combination techniques of remotely sensed and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data a 3-D (three-dimensional) model can be generated. Afterwards, the produced 3-D model of the study region can be effectively used in examining the aforesaid features and various other associated analyses. In this study,  the DEM data is obtained by  digitizing 1/25,000 scaled maps and Landsat 5 TM data. A novel method is used to define the region’s geomorphology through merged digital elevation model (DEM) and remotely sensed data. The morphometric analyses of our study identified five erosion surfaces and indicated that the active faults contributed to the morphological development of the study area. Moreover, another hypothesis derived from our study is that the formation of the elevated areas was caused by fault compressional force components and formation’s linear features were produced by the strike-slips.