Assessment of active seismotectonic for Shivah Lalayi basin, Iraq, using remote sensing and GIS techniques

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences Vol. 14; no. 18
• Main Authors: Sivakumar, Ramamoorthy, Ghosh, Snehasish, Qader, Waleed Mohammed, Sridhar, Subramanian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.09.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytic hierarchy process; Belts; Drainage; Drainage patterns; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth science; Earth Sciences; Earthquakes; Foothills; Geographical information systems; Geology; Geomorphology; Mountains; Original Paper; Parameters; Quaternary; Remote sensing; River basins; Rivers; Seismic activity; Seismology; Slopes; Tectonics; Tertiary; Topography; Iraq; Remote sensing and GIS; Active seismotectonics; Analytical hierarchical process (AHP); Morphotectonic parameters
• ISSN: 1866-7511; 1866-7538
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-021-08128-6

The Zagros fold-thrust belt is seismically active which produces large earthquakes in recent times. In the present study, the Shivah Lalayi basin has been selected which is the part of the Greater Zab river basin and covers the segment of the Zagros fold-thrust belt in the northern part of Iraq. Researchers have extensively worked between 2000 and 2018 in the regional context by analyzing various geological and seismological parameters. With the incorporation of the morphotectonic parameters, an active tectonic study can be further enhanced at micro-level in this tectonic active region. The drainage network map has been prepared and sub-basins have been delineated using ALOS PRISAM DEM (AW3D30) and SENTINEL-2A data. Various morphotectonic parameters have been analyzed and geospatial databases have been prepared at the sub-basin level. The active tectonic index has been estimated based on analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and integrated with geology, tectonic features, structural evidence, stream profile anomaly, drainage pattern, seismological data, etc. to identify the active seismotectonic zone. The result shows that the highly active seismotectonic zone is observed in B01, B04, B05, B06, B08, B09, and B12 sub-basins where the regions correspond with various morphotectonic evidences namely bifurcated drainage, tectonic tilt, geostructural weakness, stream migration, relief steepness, uplifted topography and anomalous topography accompanying with past seismic activity. The intensely strong and strong active tectonic zone covers almost 80 to 100% area of active seismotectonic zone whereas Tertiary and Quaternary geological formations are dominant. The study infers that the folded mountains as well as foothills sub-basin region are seismotectonically active where geostructural features and active tectonics are influencing strongly on the geomorphic evolution.