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Morphotectonic and Morphodynamic investigations revealed by isobase surfaces analysis and derived differential mapping using GIS, Teboursouk area, northern Tunisia

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Abstract

Teboursouk area within the northern Tunisian Atlas presents a complex and heterogeneous geological framework leading to various geomorphic landforms among them there are numerous Triassic salt extrusions having an evident impact on the topographic configuration, shaping and dynamics. Landforms characterization of the study area, by morphostructural and morphodynamic mapping, was carried out using the isobase approach which is mainly based on the construction of topographic base-level surface from each channel order. GIS environment and spatial data analysis tools have been used to perform this procedure using 10 m-grid DEM and digitized drainage network at a semi-detailed scale (1: 50 000). The analysis included the creation of isobase maps of 2nd, 3rd and 4th-order channels. Grid calculations allowed the construction of (1) a combined surface from 2nd and 3rd order and (2) a differential map which represents the topographic residual between present day surface (original DEM) and isobase of 4th order. In fact, qualitative analysis of different isobase surfaces shows a good delimitation of most morphostructures and highlights a model of an atypical morphostructure concerning the Triassic extrusion of Jebel ech Cheid (JEC). Isoline anomalies and disturbances have indicated that major morphotectonic lineaments, interpreted as fractures, trend NE-SW to NNE-SSW adapting to the regional strike-slip fault system in response to NW-SE late Alpine transpressive tectonics. Several isoline inflexions were, however, well correlated with observed tectonic fractures and some of them are considered to be closely related to basement as the 4th-order analysis demonstrates. In contrast, neotectonic features, active landforms and lineaments were quantitatively described and localized based on the differential mapping approach.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank anonymous reviewers for detailed and constructive comments and valuable suggestions that have greatly improved the final version of the content of the manuscript.

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  1. Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092, El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia

    Tarek Slama & Mohamed Moncef Turki

  2. Laboratoire de Géomatique Appliquée ENSG-IGN, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-vallée, 77454, Marne-la-Vallée, Cedex 2, France

    Benoit Deffontaines

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  1. Tarek Slama
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Slama, T., Deffontaines, B. & Turki, M.M. Morphotectonic and Morphodynamic investigations revealed by isobase surfaces analysis and derived differential mapping using GIS, Teboursouk area, northern Tunisia. Earth Sci Inform 8, 759–773 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-015-0208-4

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