Effect of tectonic activity on Kersi fan in Sinjar anticline northwest Iraq using GIS techniques
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of tectonic activity on Kersi fan in Sinjar anticline northwest Iraq using GIS techniques Manal S. H. Al-Kubaisi & Laith K. Ibraheem
Received: 8 February 2014 / Accepted: 14 May 2014 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2014
Abstract Kersi alluvial fan on the northern limb of Sinjar anticline is a complex body consists of two segments the eastern and the western ones. Each consists of several fan and fan-like bodies. The rate of movements on the major thrusts F2 and F3 control the formation, growth and later modifications in all of the fans on the northern limb of Sinjar. The interaction between these major thrusts controls the feeding river courses and the abandonment of some developed fans. The transfer of movement in the footwall direction from F2 to F3 prevents the formation of proper alluvial fans next to these thrusts and pushes the suitable area for fan formation and preservation further toward adjacent syncline on the north. Movements on some blind, slightly inverted faults resulted in flexures in the upper stratigraphic horizons and formation of knick points which helped into the formation of alluvial fanlike bodies in downstream area. Keywords Sinjar anticline . Kersi alluvial fan . Morphotectonic . Knick point . Thrust fault . Subsurface structural terraces
greatly in size; typically, they range from axial lengths of tens of meters to tens of kilometers (Bull 2009). Alluvial fans commonly occur in regions of active deformation and therefore often used as a proxy for tectonic activity. Whereas on a Quaternary timescale, alluvial fan evolution is strongly controlled by climate changes (Wells et al. 1987; Harvey 1990) and, in some cases, by base-level changes (Harvey 2002) on a longer timescale, alluvial fan depositional successions are controlled by tectonically and climatically driven environmental changes as well as processes acting in the catchment area (De Celles et al. 1991). The study of Kersi alluvial fan in Sinjar anticline northwest Iraq is based on visual interpretation of the Enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image which is linked to digital interpretation by geographic information system (GIS) program after making geo-referencing to them. Drainage network was created from 30 m [digital evaluation model (DEM)] to match the shape of the fan with its related discharge streams.
Study area Introduction Alluvial fans are a conspicuous conical landform commonly developed where a channel emerges from a mountainous catchment to an adjoining valley plain at the break of slope (Blair and McPherson 2009). Fans are common in arid and semi-arid areas but also occur in all climatic zones. They range M. S. H. Al-Kubaisi (*) Geology Department, Baghdad University, Baghdad City, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] L. K. Ibraheem Atmospheric Sciences Department, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad City, Iraq
Sinjar anticline is located in the northwest of Iraq in Nineveh governorate, about 120 km west of Mosul City. The highest point on the structure is at +1,460 m, whereas the averag
