The Use of Morphometric Indices for Tectonic Activities Assessment Case study: Northern Misho Fault (Northwest of Iran)

In active tectonic regions, topographic features represent ways to quantitatively charactrize the interactions between tectonics and surface processes, providing a basis for modeling landscape evolution. This study examines the tectonic geomorphology of Northern Misho Fault (Northwest of Iran), focusing on the general topographic metrics (SL، Smf، Vf، Fmf، Fd and Eu), drainage patterns (AF and Bs), and river longitudinal profiles. The drainage pattern, topographic analysis and geomorphic properties express the tectonic influence on streams, competing to integrate the northern slope of Misho-Dagh drainage. As a result, oblique and right lateral movements of the northern Misho fault are more than uplift movements, at least in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. This movement in the western Misho is more than that in eastern Misho. Longitudinal profiles of rivers indicate that present landscape of study area, in addition to the northern Misho fault effects, influenced by secondary faults especially in the eastern Misho, so that the morphometric indices such as Vf has been affected by this secondary faults, too. The northern slope of Misho-Dagh represents a landscape adjusting itself to the modern active tectonic setting.