Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS
Alluvial and fluvial fans are the most widespread depositional landform bordering the margins of highland regions and actively subsiding continental basins, across a broad spectrum of tectonic and climatic settings. They are significant to the local morphodynamics of mountain regions and also to the evolution of sediment-routing systems, affecting the propagation and preservation of stratigraphic signals of environmental change over vast areas.
The volume presents case studies discussing the geology and geomorphology of alluvial and fluvial fans from both active systems and ancient ones preserved in the stratigraphic record. It brings together case studies from a range of continents, climatic and tectonic settings, some introducing innovative monitoring and analysis techniques, and it provides an overview of current debates in the field.
This volume will be of particular interest to geologists, geomorphologists, sedimentologists and the general reader with an interest in Earth science.
Use of morphometric variables and self-organizing maps to identify clusters of alluvial fans and catchments in the north Peloponnese, Greece
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Published:January 01, 2018
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CiteCitation
Efthimios Karymbalis, Maria Ferentinou, Philip T. Giles, 2018. "Use of morphometric variables and self-organizing maps to identify clusters of alluvial fans and catchments in the north Peloponnese, Greece", Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives, D. Ventra, L. E. Clarke
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Abstract
We applied a computational method to aid in clustering 41 alluvial fans along the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. The morphology of the fans and their catchments was quantitatively expressed through 12 morphometric parameters estimated using geographical information system techniques and the relationships among the geomorphometric features of the fans and their catchments were examined. Self-organizing maps were used to investigate the clustering tendency of fans based on morphometric variables describing both the fans and their corresponding catchments. The results of unsupervised classification through the self-organizing maps method revealed correlations among the morphometric parameters and five groups of alluvial fans were identified. These groups had a clear physical explanation, showed a preferred geographical distribution and reflected the processes related to the development of the fans. The geographical distribution of the fan catchment groups was partially controlled by variations in the relative tectonic uplift rate, which was the main control on the accommodation space for the development and accretion of the fans. The smaller fans were located in the central part of the study area, where the uplift rates were higher, whereas larger fluvial-dominated fan deltas formed to the east and west of the central group, where the uplift rates were lower.
- accommodation zones
- aggradation
- algorithms
- alluvial fans
- artificial intelligence
- classification
- cluster analysis
- controls
- correlation
- data acquisition
- data processing
- deltas
- drainage basins
- East Mediterranean
- equations
- Europe
- factors
- fan deltas
- faults
- fluvial features
- geographic information systems
- geomorphology
- Greece
- Gulf of Corinth
- information systems
- Ionian Sea
- landform evolution
- mapping
- maps
- Mediterranean Sea
- morphometry
- neural networks
- Peloponnesus Greece
- principal components analysis
- processes
- progradation
- quantitative analysis
- quantitative geomorphology
- rates
- regression analysis
- sediment supply
- sedimentation
- self-organization
- shore features
- Southern Europe
- spatial distribution
- statistical analysis
- structural controls
- subsidence
- tectonics
- uplifts
- visualization