Quantitative Analysis of Tectonic and Lithology Effects on Longitudinal Profile of Ghale- Chay River

System of Rivers is greatly influenced by active tectonics and rate this effect can be measured by their deviation rate and recent characteristics of tectonic activities. Longitudinal profile of rivers is affected by lithology, renewal processes of erosion which is caused by tectonics and level of groundwater. Changes in flow, bed load and resistance of lithology, tributaries and tectonic movements are important in the development of profiles and interpretation of general form of longitudinal profile. The longitudinal profile gives valuable information about evolution and environment changes of a river over time. Studying longitudinal profile of the rivers are important in many applied aspect such as flood control, quality and efficiency of reservoirs, watershed, etc. The present study is an analysis of lithology and tectonics in longitudinal profile river of Ghale chay in the western slopes of the Sahand Mountain (Ghale chay basin). Morphometric measurements were used for the aims of the current study. The following indexes are used in this paper; Stream length-gradient index (SL), (SL/K), Concavity index, hypsometric curve analysis and hypsometric integral. Generally, index measurement indicates assessments showed that tectonically the region is relatively active and in various parts the amount of activity is different, that is, all indexes are more active in downstream basin than other parts. Moreover, by using SL and Concavity index and geologic formations throughout profile of the river, it was found that the effect of lithology on longitudinal profile of the river was moderate.