Neotectonic analysis of northern Lake Teletskoe using digital elevation modeling

A digital elevation model (DEM) is applied to neotectonic analysis of the northern mountain surroundings of Lake Teletskoe. The neotectonics of the region and the vertical offset of block movements are analyzed through detection of peneplain remnants, digital elevation modeling, and interpretation of aerial and satellite imagery. Lineaments expressed in the surface topography and/or distinguished on aerial and satellite images fall into three groups. The first two groups are different kinds of normal faults, and the other lineaments, without any geomorphically expressed vertical component, have been interpreted as eroded structures of the pre-Cenozoic basement. Structures of the three types often belong to a single lineament which may indicate reactivated and stable segments of old basement faults. The revealed neotectonic blocks rarely exceed a few kilometers across. Most of normal faults cut the sides of the Teletsk and the adjacent Kamga and Koldor grabens, where the neotectonic vertical offset reaches its maximum of 400-1200 m (against <100-300 m in other grabens). Tectonic control of the surface topography in the region is evident from long V-shaped river valleys that follow zones of weakness. Some valleys are incised as deep as 600-800 m, with a total topographic gradient of 1600 m. A recent water-level fall in Lake Teletskoe is another cause of intense erosion besides tectonics.