Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology

An Instructional Manual for Data Integration

Lambert A. Rivard

Satellite Geology and

Photogeomorphology
An Instructional Manual for Data Integration

123
Lambert A. Rivard
201–300 St-Georges
Saint-Lambert Québec J4P 3P9
Canada
Email: lambert.rivard@sympatico.ca

Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extra.springer.com

ISBN 978-3-642-20607-8 e-ISBN 978-3-642-20608-5

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5
Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011934144

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication
or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965,
in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable
to prosecution under the German Copyright Law.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply,
even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws
and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Cover design: deblik, Berlin

Projektmanagement, typesetting and reproduction of the figures:
Fotosatz-Service Köhler GmbH – Reinhold Schöberl, Würzburg

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

 Preface

Satellite data analysis has now become a mainstream of much geological reconnais-
sance and detailed mapping. There are currently some 30 Earth Observation imaging
satellites acquiring data daily, with ground resolutions ranging from 30 m to 0.5 m,
with concurrent archives growing exponentially.
In the author’s view satellite geology has tended to minimise, or overlook, the
continuing value of archives of pre-satellite conventional vertical stereoscopic map-
ping air photography.
This monograph is a portfolio of 97 data sets designed to demonstrate to students
and workers in the fields of land geoscience and land management the value in pre-
liminary site appraisals or mapping projects of the use of two data sources in a recip-
rocal combined manner – conventional stereo airphotos and 30 m ground resolution
Landsat subscenes.
“For every site, geomorphology is the first thing encountered”. While geotechnical
knowledge is paramount, both quantitative and qualitative knowledge should be re-
garded as important. The initial role of the physical geologist is qualitative, to establish
what geological phenomena exist in a site. “Once that is correctly decided, the sub-
sequent investigations can readily be developed, given the requisite time and finance,
to provide the degree of quantitative knowledge necessary” (Hutchinson, p38).

Québec, March 2011 Lambert A. Rivard

 Contents

Part I Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 The Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1 Advantages and Limitations of Airphotos for Photogeological Analysis, Interpretation
and Terrain Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Airphotos Used in the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Advantages and Limitations of Digital Satellite Imagery for Photogeological Analysis,
Interpretation, and Terrain Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Acquisition of Satellite Images Used in the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Resolution of Geounits in Downloaded Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Classification of Photogeological Geounits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 Definition of Geounits and Variants as Delineation Units for Terrain Mapping . . . . . 3
2.2 Classification of Geounits and Variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Examples of Data Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3.1 Principles of Analysis and Interpretation of Geounits and Variants in Airphotos
and Digital Satellite Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 Examples of Integration of Imageries and Airphotos for Analysis and Interpretation
of Geounits and Variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3 Interpretative Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.4 Examples with Geohazard Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Geological Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Part II The Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Interpretations of Magmatic Rocks and Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Group N Intrusive Magmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Group X Extrusive Magmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Group P Pyroclastic Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Group V Volcanic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Interpretations of Sedimentary Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Group K Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Group H Saline and Phosphatic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Group S Detrital Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Group W Interbedded Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
VIII Contents

Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Interpretations of Metamorphic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Group R Cratonic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Group J Non-Cratonic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Section 4 Geostructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Interpretation of Geostructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Group Diastrophic Rock Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Group Gravity Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Group Fault Line Traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Group General Lineaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Interpretations of Aeolion Deposits and Erosion Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Subgroup Et Inland Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Subgroup Ef Duneless Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Subgroup Er Erosion Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Subgroup Ed Sand Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Section 6 Basinal Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Interpretations of Basinal Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Interpretations of Fluvial System Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Subgroup Fu Upland Margin Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Subgroup Fv Valley Fill Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Subgroup Fw Holocene Deltas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Interpretations of Marine Littoral Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Subgroup Br Bedrock Littorals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Subgroup Bw Wave and Current Formed Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Subgroup Bl Sea Ice Related Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Subgroup Bf Holocene Coral Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Subgroup Bt Tidal Regime Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Subgroup Bc Coastal Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Section 9 Glacial and Paraglacial Geosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Interpretation of Glacial and Paraglacial Geosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Subgroup Gf Glaciofluvial Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Subgroup Gt Paraglacial Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Section 10 Periglacial-Related Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Interpretations of Periglacial-Related Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Subgroup Zm Cryoturbated Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Section 11 Mass Movement Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Interpretations of Mass Movement Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Subgroup Mv Falls and Subsidences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Subgroup Ms Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Subgroup Mf Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
 Part
I
Introduction
2 Part I Introduction
1 The Data
1.1 Advantages and Limitations
of Airphotos for Photogeological
Analysis, Interpretation
and Terrain Mapping
Advantages
The most familiar type of black and white airphoto film
is sensitive to all visible radiation - so-called panchro-
matic film. 1.3 Advantages and Limitations
 The film provides excellent spatial resolution and
has a high information content.
 Stereo cover is the most valuable aid for geological
interpretation.
 Airphotos cost relatively little, and are readily avail-
able from numerous repositories of existing survey
collections.
 Multitemporal record of site changes are frequently
available.
Limitations
 Airphotos cannot readily be processed by computer
unless first digitized.
 Airphotos display some radial displacement that
must be corrected for topographic mapping but not
for geological interpretation.
1.2 Airphotos Used in the Book
The airphotos used in this monograph have been se-
lected from the author’s archives.
They are of three types:
 59 stereo pairs of panchromatic black and white
film. One photo is reproduced in the monograph,
and both pairs are included in the extra material
on the Springer website. They can be printed and
viewed with pocket or mirror stereoscopes.
 All the photo scales listed are nominal scales, i.e. the
scale of a contact print from the air negative as
flown. Reproduction in this monograph may have
reduced the scale slightly.
 19 mounted stereograms.
 17 single photos.
 2 interpretation maps
L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_1, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
 They range in scale from 1: 3,180 to 1: 100,000, and
from 1940 to 1991 in age.
 24 countries are represented in six continents and
five bioclimatic environments:
– polar - 9 examples
– tropical - 10 examples
– arid - 33 examples
– mid-latitude - 32 examples
– alpine - 13 examples
of Digital Satellite Imagery
for Photogeological Analysis,
Interpretation, and Terrain Mapping
For many decades prior to the availability of digital
satellite imageries the practical means of obtaining
sought after “synoptic” views of terrain was by the use
of assembled mosaics of air survey mapping photos
numbering from a dozen to multiple hundreds.
Advantages
 Worldwide coverage gives access to all countries.
 Long term repetitive coverage can provide cloud-
free images of various seasons.
 The synoptic view provides initial appreciation of a
regional geological context.
 Landsat data are free, in the public domain.
 Digital terrain models (DTMs) at 30 m and 15 m
resolution are available for many areas.
 Sub-metric panchromatic resolutions are available
on specific satellites.
 A zoom (monoscopic) of a high resolution image
can, in some instances, reveal details not resolved in
the airphotos.
 The ability to filter, enhance contrast and apply
transformations to maximise geological informa-
tion content (spectrolithologic mapping).
Limitations
 Images are largely monoscopic; expression of mor-
phology is dependent on seasonal sun angle, azimuth
illumination and spectral associations.
 Current entry costs of off-nadir satellite program-
ming and photogrammetric software for stereo cov-
2 Classification of Photogeological Geounits
erage are too high for many projects as are those for
companies which offer such services.
 The cost of obtaining existing higher resolution
DTMs from many national mapping agencies is
usually prohibitive.
 The significant cost and time to acquire and operate
an imagery processing system or purchasing cus-
tom-processed imagery from vendors.
 The 30 m ground resolution of Landsat TMs re-
stricts detection of some small size Geounits.
1.4 Acquisition of Satellite Images
Used in the Book
The Landsat scenes used in this monograph are cour-
tesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. They were located
and downloaded by Carla Hehner-Rivard using USGS
Global Visualization Viewer.
She cropped the selected scenes to the areas spec-
ified, enhanced the images by adjusting colour bal-
ances, brightness and contrast using the tools within
Adobe Photoshop. With the exception of two MSS
scenes, the images were imported from the Thematic
Mapper or Enhanced Thematic Mapper satellites ac-
quired between 1986 and 2010.
The band combinations used are:
 3-2-1 visible, for 70 examples.
 7-4-2 middle infra-red, near infra-red, visible, for 18
examples.
 4-3-2 near infra-red, visible, for 9 examples.
 The area coverage of the images ranges from 170 to
25,000 km2.
1.5 Resolution of Geounits
in Downloaded Images
As indicated in the Table of Section 3.1, the size, shape,
colour, and contrast with background determine the
detectability and recognition of a Geounit in airphotos
and satellite images.
In the 30 m ground resolution of the downloaded
TM images and the limited enhancements mentioned
above, Geounits of photo scales larger than 1:15,000
are not resolved, e.g. Figures 72B, 84B, 94B.
3
Two examples, Figures 79B and 80B, illustrate the
use of the associational principle of a functional rela-
tion of visible features with the presence of invisible
Geounits.
2 Classification of Photogeological
Geounits
2.1 Definition of Geounits
and Variants as Delineation Units
for Terrain Mapping
Geounit - Photogeologically a Geounit, also referred to
in texts simply as a Unit, is a portion of a tract of land
having recognizable boundaries at given photo and im-
agery scales and whose overall homogeneity is a func-
tion of its genesis, composition, geologic structure and
relief type.
Variant – The Variant of a Geounit is a photo-distin-
guishable “facies” resulting from the action or occur-
rence of one or a number of environmental factors:
genesis, topographic site, morphology, age, climatic
environment, and diagenesis.
2.2 Classification of Geounits
and Variants
Rocks and unconsolidated sediments and structures
need to be defined by standard schemes of nomen-
clature in order to assist in communications between
geologists.
The Units and their Variants in this monograph are
related to the author’s teaching classifications of geo-
hazard-related and stable Geounits.
The combined classifications total 280 Units and
277 Variants: 50 Units and 47 Variants are presented in
this monograph. Their relations to these typological cat-
egories are indicated by the heading of each Section.
The combined classifications comprise 26 pages.
Readers wishing to consult the geohazard classification
are referred to Part III of the author’s text on that subject
in the bibliography. The unpublished classification of
“stable” geounits is available from the author on request.
4 Part I Introduction

The examples presented in Part II are organized into
eleven Sections of the classifications as follows:
 Magmatic rocks -16 examples.
 Sedimentary rocks -13 examples.
 Metamorphic rocks -5 examples.
 Geostructures -15 examples.
 Aeolian deposits -6 examples.
 Basinal sediments -3 examples.
 Fluvial sediments -8 examples.
 Marine littoral systems -15 examples.
 Glacial and paraglacial forms -2 examples.
 Periglacial-related forms -3 examples.
 Mass movement materials -11 examples.
3 Examples of Data Integration
3.1 Principles of Analysis
and Interpretation of Geounits
and Variants in Airphotos
and Digital Satellite Imagery
The analysis and interpretation of airphotos and satel-
lite images relies on a number of elements of terrain
surfaces as they appear on hard copy reproductions or
on screen. These are basic principles of classical pho-
togeology.
The following Table defines the basic attributes,
contextual presence indicators of visual detection and
recognition of photogeomorphic geounits which occur
as an interplays of tectonic forces, denudation pro-
cesses and climatic controls (see Section 2.1).

LOCATIONAL Provides regional geological context, existing documentary and cartographic information
of the regional terrain of a study area and anticipation of presence of specific geounits.
SPECTRAL Tonal density - the direct or relative brightness of a surface aids discriminant grouping
of exposed geounits, and can be an indicator of permeability or moisture status of surface
materials.
Colour - hue, saturation and density aid correlation to specific geounits.
Texture - relative relief roughness or smoothness of an image or photo sub-area is
a geounit indicator.
SPATIAL Relief - three-dimensional stereoscopic grouping of slope steepness and orientation to
sun aspect of a geounit. Shadowing relates to the geounit morphology and solar elevati-
on and azimuth. Relief reflects the origin and composition of geounits and the erosional
processes that have and are acting upon them.
Drainage - variable channel densities and patterns are indicative of topographic, litholo-
gical and structural components of geounits.
Geolineaments - the location, spacing, azimuth and group relationships of anomalously
straight continuous or discontinuous traces of drainage channels, vegetation or relief are
indicators of crustal and inter or intra-unit fracture or displacement.
Pattern - spatial repetition or macro-arrangement and distribution of similar phenomena,
e.g. drainages, colours, or a grouping of unlike features (e.g. lineaments and relief or
colours). Similar patterns are frequent indicators of similar geounits; unlike patterns
suggest unlike geounits.
ASSOCIATIONAL Correlations of any two or more criteria that characteristically occur together in functional
relationships lead to a convergence of evidence that can predict the occurrence of a speci-
fic geounit.
3 Examples of Data Integration 5

3.2 Examples of Integration 3.3 Interpretative Texts

of Imageries and Airphotos
for Analysis and Interpretation The Figure sets of each section are preceded by char-
of Geounits and Variants acterizations of their genetic classification context. The
texts interpreting the Figures follow the examples of
each Section.
A basic concept of this monograph presents the twin
Throughout the texts specific geological terms are
sets of Figures in two-page spreads for necessary
italicized and referred to the Figures in which they are
simultaneous viewing. These are examples that are
explained.
intended to demonstrate how the interfacing of stereo
airphotos and satellite images in visual qualitative pho-
togeomorphology studies can yield more geospatial
information than can be derived from either source in- 3.4 Examples with Geohazard Relations
dependently. For example the multi temporal nature of
the two data sets (up to 70 years), provides comparative
Comments on geohazard relations are included for 44
information on such features as fluvial and coastal dy-
of the examples in the monograph that have such rela-
namics and mass movements (Figs. 62, 65, 92). Addi-
tions. Small size Geounits such as Figs. 85, 86 and 94
tionally, early photo sets frequently show exposed ter-
are not detectable on TM images.
rains of rural areas that are obscured in Landsat images
by later industrial or urban developments (Figs. 37, 74,
81).
The airphoto coverage in each satellite image is in-
dicated by a frame.
6 Part I Introduction

Geological Time Scale

The following time scale is a reference for the nomenclature used throughout the text

EON ERA PERIOD EPOCH

PHANEROZOIC Cn CENOZOIC R – Holocene
Q Quaternary
Pl – Pleistocene
Po – Pliocene
Mc – Miocene
T Tertiary Og – Oligocene
E – Eocene
Pe – Paleocene
M MESOZOIC Ku – Upper
K Cretaceous
Kl – Lower
J Jurassic
Tr Triassic
Pz PALEOZOIC Pm Permian
Cbu – Upper
Cb Carboniferous
Cbl – Lower
D Devonian
S Silurian
O Ordovician
C Cambrian
Pc PRECAMBRIAN
Pr PROTEROZOIC
Ar ARCHEAN
(HADEAN)
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
As usual my indefatigable wife Carla has provided in-
valuable expert technical support in all phases of this
monograph’s production. Without her help the book
would not exist.
Bibliography
Andrews JT (1972) Post glacial rebound, The National Atlas of
Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, pp 35–
36
Bates RL, Jackson JA (eds) (1983) Dictionary of Geological
terms. Third edition, Anchor Books, Random House, p 322
Berger Z (1994) Satellite Hydrocarbon Exploration, p 52,
Springer-Verlag
Breed CS et al (1989) Wind erosion forms In: ThomasSG (ed)
Arid Zone Geomorphology, Belhaven Press/Halsted Press,
John Wiley & Sons. pp 296-303
Brooks GR, Evans SG Clague JJ, Floods. In: BrooksGR (ed)
A synthesis of geological hazards in Canada. GSC Bull.548,
pp 101–125
7
DaviesJL (1977) Geographical Variation in Coastal Develop-
ment. Longman, pp 172-173
GornitzV (ed) 2009) Encyclopeadia of Paleoclimatology and
Ancient Environments, Springer Verlag, p 286
Hutchinson JN (2001) Reading the Ground: Morphology and
Geology in Site Appraisal, Quarterly Journal of Engineering
Geology and Hydrogeology, v 34, p 38
Martinez JD, Johnson KS, Neal JT (1998). Sinkholes in evapo-
rite rocks, American Scientist, v86, pp 38-51
Medley EW (2001) Orderly Characterization of Franciscan
Mélange, Felsbau 19 , No 4 pp 20-33
Mollard JD, Janes JR (1983) Airphoto Interpretation and the
Canadian Landscape, Department of Energy Mines and Re-
sources, p 21
Neal JT (1998) Playas and military operations, GAS Reviews in
Engineering geology, vol. XIII: pp 166-168
Prest VK (1983) Canada’s Heritage of Glacial Features, Geo-
logical Survey of Canada Miscellaneous Report 28, pp 39-
43
Rivard LA (2009) Geohazard-associated Geounits, Springer-
Verlag
Waltham T (2002) Foundations of Engineering geology, second
edition, Spon Press, pp 58–59
 Part
II
The Examples
 Section 1
Magmatic Rocks and Structures

The variety of classified magmatic Geounits includes 24 Units and 27 Variants

ordered in five Groups and six Subgroups. The Groups are:
 N - Intrusive magmas are emplacements of magma in pre-existing rocks, (Figs. 1
to 5)
 X - Extrusive magmas are igneous rocks that have been erupted onto the surface
of the Earth (Figs. 6, 7)
 P- Pyroclastic deposits are fragmental aggregates that are explosively ejected
from a volcano, transported through the air and deposited downwind. (Figs. 8, 9)
 V - Volcanic structures are forms built up by repeated subaerial eruptions of basic
(low silica) magmas. (Figs. 10 to 16)
 A - Epiclastic deposits are the result of surface processes of erosion, transportation
and redeposition operating in volcanic terrains.

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 11

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_2, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
12 Part II The Examples

Fig. 1A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 13

Fig. 1B
14 Part II The Examples

Fig. 2A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 15

Fig. 2B
16 Part II The Examples

Fig. 3A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 17

Fig. 3B
18 Part II The Examples

Fig. 4A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 19

Fig. 4B
20 Part II The Examples

Fig. 5A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 21

Fig. 5B
22 Part II The Examples

Fig. 6A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 23

Fig. 6B
24 Part II The Examples

Fig. 7A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 25

Fig. 7B
26 Part II The Examples

Fig. 8A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 27

Fig. 8B
28 Part II The Examples

Fig. 9A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 29

Fig. 9B
30 Part II The Examples

Fig. 10A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 31

Fig. 10B
32 Part II The Examples

Fig. 11A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 33

Fig. 11B
34 Part II The Examples

Fig. 12A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 35

Fig. 12B
36 Part II The Examples

Fig. 13A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 37

Fig. 13B
38 Part II The Examples

Fig. 14A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 39

Fig. 14B
40 Part II The Examples

Fig. 15A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 41

Fig. 15B
42 Part II The Examples

Fig. 16A
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures 43

Fig. 16B
44
Interpretations of Magmatic Rocks
and Structures
Group N Intrusive Magmas
Subgroup Np Primary Emplacement Bodies
Figure 1 dykes (class. Np1.1)
Characterization
Dykes are vertical tabular igneous intrusions that cut
across the mass or bedding of country rock. They are
injected most easily along pre-existing fractures, and
range in thickness from millimetres to tens of meters.
They may be traced for meters to hundreds of kilome-
tres.
Their detection is related to factors explained for
General Lineaments (Figs. 45 to 49).
Dykes that are circular in plan are termed ring
dykes.
Fig. 1A (W104 50 N37 29) contact scale 1: 20,000,
source USGS
Late Oligocene granitic dyke sets 15 to 30 meters high
and 1 to 30 m thick in these stereo photos in southern
Colorado are cutting beds of lower Eocene shales and
sandstones.
Fig. 1B (Bands7-4-2), 05 Nov. 2010, area coverage
3,500 km2
The image shows the dykes to have emanated from
two snow-capped volcano-like structures to the south-
west. These are 4,000 m elevation Mid-Tertiary gra-
nitic stocks of the Sangre de Cristo Uplift on the east-
ern margin of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the
left. They rise 1,800 m above the green forested and
dissected surrounding rocks of the Southern Rockies
piedmont to the southeast. The broad blue ridge area in
the mountains marks snow-covered peaks at 4,300 m
elevation. The brown lineament visible in the center of
the snow ridge is a large normal fault (Fig. 42) separat-
ing Precambrian intrusive rocks on the west from fold-
ed (Fig. 36) sandstones and shales on the east. The
beige terrain on the east is lightly cultivated Creta-
ceous sediments of the High Plains Raton Basin.
Part II The Examples
Figure 2 batholithic plutons in humid climates
(class. Np3.4)
Characterization
Batholithic plutons are large, >100 km², irregular
bodies of intrusive igneous rocks exposed by subaerial
erosion, but frequently covered by forest. A surficial
regolith of unconsolidated material of variable thick-
ness developed by chemical weathering is generally
greater in humid than in mechanical weathering of
more arid climates (Fig. 3).
Exposures < 100 km² are termed stocks.
Fig. 2A (E09 30 N05 54) contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This airphoto pair is in densely forested granite
(quartzitic) of the northwestern Precambrian portion
of the Congo Craton in western Cameroon. Local ter-
rain ranges from 200 to 800 m elevation, with relief
ranging from 100 to 300 m.
Crystalline fracture-control of the brittle rocks is
evident through the dense forest cover. Stereo-detected
mesoscale fracture traces, (Fig. 45) one to three kilo-
metres long, have been drawn on one of the photos.
Fig. 2B (Bands 7-4-2), 12 Dec. 1986, area coverage
1,050 km2
Sets of master joints are visible throughout this image.
The local NW-SE oriented river crossing the photos
may be a fault. Macroscale north-south striking linea-
ments (see mesoscale fracture traces of Fig. 45) in the
higher terrain on the right are probable faults associ-
ated with a possible post-tectonic intrusion. Ribbons
of settlement clearings in this entirely forested area are
visible on the west of center of the scene.
Figure 3 batholithic plutons in arid climates
(class. Np3.5)
Characterization
In contrast with the rounded topography of humid en-
vironment occurrences, weathering of pluton outcrops
in arid environments is dominated by physical pro-
cesses which result in a topography of more rugged
bare surfaces and associated joint systems (Fig. 45).
(This Figure introduces the characteristic photo-
geological advantage of generally good to excellent
exposures of rocks and structures in arid climate.)
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures
Fig. 3A (E04 15 N24 00), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This photo pair is located in Upper Proterozoic crystal-
line rocks of the Hoggar craton (Fig. 30) in the south-
ern Algerian Sahara. It is centered on a typically ir-
regularly fractured (Fig. 45) granitic stock with joint
systems.
The fractures are sand-filled. The outcrop is flanked
left and right by R1 descriptors of foliated metamor-
phic rocks (Fig. 30). The location is shown at the bot-
tom of Fig. 5B.
Fig. 3B (Bands 4-3-2), 17 Sept. 2010, area coverage
1,786 km2
The image shows the photos to be in a local outcrop
zone of the orogenic belt depicted and described in
Fig. 51B. The bordering foliated rocks are gneisses on
the right and peneplaned schists on the left.
The pale terrain of the rest of the image is covered
in sand sheets (Fig. 51).
Figure 4 plutons in Late Alpine glaciated
Environments (class. Np4.2)
Characterization
Occurrences of plutons in high mountains are subject
to the activity of surface glacial erosion processes
(plucking, crushing, shearing, abrasion), and other
mass wasting processes. The resultant dominant
topographic forms are serrated sharp peaks, pinnacles,
basins and U-shaped valleys.
Fig. 4A (E013 N42 52), contact scale 1: 60,000, source
IGN, France
This photo pair in the central French Pyrenées covers
the eastern portion of a deeply glaciated Carboniferous
granite stock intruded into morphologically distinctive
folded Devonian sedimentary rocks. Elevations in the
stock range from 2,000 to 3,000 m a.s.l. The surround-
ing country rock averages 2,000 m elevation.
Small solid arrows in the stock point to rock glaciers
(Fig. 86A) in some of the numerous cirques.
The broad open arrows north of the stock point to
glaciated valleys in the sedimentary rocks with their
associated marginal moraines (along the sides of a gla-
cier, Fig. 42, a valley version of Fig. 83). Valleys on the
east and south do not appear to have been glaciated.
The two lakes in the southwest corner are hydro-
electric power reservoirs at 1,819 and 1,856 m eleva-
tion.
45
Fig. 4B (Bands 3-2-1), 05 Sept. 2007, area coverage
4,500 km2
This image shows the full extent of the photo pluton
delimited by a curved valley westward. Other glaciat-
ed snow-covered plutons are at 2,500 to 3,000 m ele-
vations. The southern occurrences are in Spain.
Timberline here is at 1,500 m so much of the brown-
ish terrain is in alpine tundra vegetation. Lower for-
ested land is dark green.
The north margin of the scene is in folded Creta-
ceous sedimentary rocks of the forested front ranges of
the Pyrenees and the cultivated foothills at elevations
of 400 to 600 m.
Subgroup Nr Residual Masses
Figure 5 granitic plains (class. Nr3)
Characterization
Granitic plains are physically-weathered level or de-
pressional occurrences of intrusions in arid climates
whose surface is mainly covered by colluvial rubble
derived from the disintegration of coarse-grained gran-
ites. The large coefficient of thermal expansion of
quartz and feldspar in the granites in arid climates
causes rapid crumbling of the outcrops.
Fig. 5A (E04 26, N24 25), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This stereo triplet covers 50 km2 of a granitic plain in
southeast Algeria covered by a veneer of colluvial
rubble and sand sheet (Fig. 51).
Small parallel linear outcrops are dykes (Fig. 1). The
R1 area on the right is a segment of a belt of foliated
metamorphic rocks (Fig. 30).
Ed2 is a small sand dune complex (Fig. 54).
Fig. 5B (Bands 3-2-1), 17 July 2010, area coverage
18,125 km2
This large area subscene is centered on a 120 km long
by 25 km wide occurrence of a set of merged stocks
(Fig. 2) flanked by outcrops of dark, foliated metamor-
phic rocks in the Hoggar Craton (Fig. 51). The out-
crops on the east are cut by three prominent northeast
oriented strike-slip faults (Fig. 44).
Locations of Figures 3 and 30 are indicated.
46
Group X Extrusive Magmas
Figure 6 local basalt slope flow (class. X1.1)
Characterization
Basalt is a fluid fine-grained basic (low silica) rock
that issues from a volcano crater or fissure and solidi-
fies by cooling.
A flow of lava down a slope typically extends for
long distances as a relatively narrow stream well be-
yond the steep slopes of stratovolcanos. The flow will
channel into existing gullies and ravines and may
spread out of valley margins.
The morphology of young flows reflects the process
of flow. Superimposed flows and gas pocket depres-
sions combine to produce characteristic rugged flow
surfaces.
Geohazard relations Property damage rather than loss
of life is the principal hazard associated with these
flows during an eruption. If such flows come into con-
tact with ice or snow they can generate debris-mud
flows (Fig. 60).
Fig. 6A (W130 32 N57 51), contact scale 1: 40,000
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
The stereogram show the lower 4 km of a 13 km long,
1 to 2 km wide ropy, braiding basalt slope flow on the
north slope of Edziza shield (flat domical shape) Vol-
cano, 2,590 m in north central British Columbia.
The flow, which postdates the last episode of re-
gional glaciation, descended 1,310 m in elevation
through forested land into the Klastline River valley
from its point of origin in the breached central crater.
Relief on the flow is about 5 m. The light grey tone may
be caused either by lichen or bare rock.
Fig. 6B (Bands 3-2-1), 05 Aug. 1999, area coverage
1,065 km2
This image shows multiple rust-colored flows that
have welled out of vents on the north slope of the vol-
cano. These flows have remained almost unchanged
since they were formed postglacially about 1300 BP.
The dark deposits adjoining the lava stream on its right
are airfall tephra.
The dark green forested area in the Klastline valley
at the north edge of the scene is a set of lavas older than
the photo flow. These lavas flowed from a small 60 m
high vent cone and temporarily dammed the river.
Part II The Examples
The 1.5 km diameter summit crater is filled with a
flat field of stagnant ice. Alpine glaciers and rust-col-
ored glacial morainal ridges mantle the edifice down to
an elevation of 2,100 m.
The forested valley north of Nattlude lake is in gla-
cial till (Fig. 83) and alluvial gravel.
Light green terrain is undivided colluvium (weath-
ered bedrock and glacial deposits) above timberline.
Figure 7 disturbed, dissected basalts (class. X1.3)
Characterization
The variable dissection of Pre-Cenzoic basalt succes-
sions results from their weathering, deformation and/
or metamorphism (Figs. 30 to 34).
Fig. 7A (W65 43 S21 26), contact scale 1: 50,000
Source: Universidad San Andres, Bolivia.
This stereogram in southern Bolivia, shows the rugged
upland topography of dissected Tertiary basalts and
dacites similar to rhyolite in Fig. 10. The line and ar-
row symbol indicates an anticline structure (Fig. 36) in
a ridge of sedimentary rocks. The bright valley (Tupi-
za) numbered 2 is in weaker sediments. Unit 4 is a
second anticlinal structure (Fig. 38).
Fig. 7B (Bands 4-3-2), 20 March 2007, area coverage
1,020 km2
The image shows the photo area to be in a zone of
thrust faults (faults with a dip of 45º or less) and folds
flanked by disturbed and dissected basalt flows on the
right below undissected flows in upper right, and east-
dipping weak sediments on the west.
The location is in the fold and thrust belt of the
southern Cordillera Oriental of the central Andes.
The lavas are associated with Mid-Tertiary sedi-
ments which were deposited on Paleozoic basement
rocks at the same time (synsedimentation) as the fault
lines.
The western edge of the scene is a suite of interbed-
ded highly deformed and eroded Paleozoic sandstones
and shales.
Valley floors are at 2,800 m elevation, uplands reach
4,000 m.
Red areas in the braided river valleys (Fig. 60) are
irrigated farmland.
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures
Group P Pyroclastic Deposits
Figure 8 maar craters (class. Pt2)
Characterization
A maar is a relatively round crater less than 10 km in
diameter produced by phreatomagmatic eruptions (ris-
ing magma interacting with groundwater or surface-
derived water). It is surrounded by low walls of ejecta
with rims dipping gently outward. The craters are of-
ten filled with water in humid climates.
Fig. 8A (W116 04 N38 23), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source USGS
The large crater in the photo is a 1,050 m wide by 130
m deep 40 ka maar surrounded by lava flows and
small, monogenetic steep-sided cinder cones in central
Nevada. The crater is filled with an alluvial fan (Fig.
58) and some white evaporites (Fig. 56).
The broad 600 ka flow northeast of the maar issued
from vents in the cinder cone area and encroached on
an evaporite-filled dry wash.
Fig. 8B (Bands 4-3-2), 19 Sept. 2010, area coverage
2,250 km2
The image shows the maar photos to be in the center of
the dark 40 km long by 10 km wide Lunar Craters
Pleistocene volcanic field (Fig. 16) ranging from 1,600
to 2,200 m in altitude. The field contains 95 cones and
other flows. The white playa in the center is Lunar
Lake. Older tabular grey lava flows are on the left of
the field. The volcanic upland is flanked by alluvial
fans and pediments sloping down to typical regional
dry washes (intermittent stream channels) and evapo-
rite-filled playas (Fig. 56). The area is in the center of
the Basin and Range physiographic province in central
Nevada. Red circles are center pivot irrigation sites.
Figure 9 tuff rings (class. Pt3)
Characterization
A tuff (consolidated pyroclastic material) ring is a hy-
drovolcanic eruption caused when rising magma mixes
with shallow groundwater and explodes violently. The
deposits of the eruption build up inward dipping rim
rings of bedded tuff with steep outer slopes around the
vent. The crater floor which is higher than surrounding
terrain is usually filled with lava.
47
Fig. 9A (W110 05 N 35 29), contact scale 1: 54,000,
source USGS
Four Pliocene tuff rings are circled in red in the center
photo of a stereo triplet in northeast Arizona. The two
bright circled structures on the right are diatremes
(fragment-filled volcanic pipes).
The flat rhyolite (Fig. 10) lava mesa tongue on the
left is 100 m above the Pliocene sandstone of the sur-
rounding ground at elevation 1,800 m.
Fig. 9B (Bands 4-3-2), 09 Oct. 2010, area coverage
3,900 km2
The image shows that the photo triplet is located in the
center of a 2,500 km2 monogenetic volcanic field of 300
scattered late Miocene volcanic centers, including scat-
tered lava mesas, cinder cones and maars. This is the
Hopi Buttes field in the Cretaceous Black Mesa Basin
on the southern Colorado Plateau in northeast Arizona.
The mesas are erosional remnants of volcanos. Scat-
tered light grey areas are gypsiferous (Fig. 23) deposits.
Group V Volcanic Structures
Subgroup Vs Viscous Lava Structures
These Units are composed of acidic lavas such as rhy-
olite that have internal resistance to flow.
Figure 10 autonomous domes (class. Vs1)
Characterization
Autonomous domes occur in isolation as relatively
small-volume, circular, generally convex accumula-
tions of rhyolitic lavas erupted at low rates, resting in-
situ above their source vent. Lateral flow is inhibited
by the lava viscosity and quick cooling following ex-
trusion. Dome diameters vary from a few meters to
several kilometres. Heights vary from a few meters to
greater than 1 kilometre.
Domes grow by repeated injections of lavas which
create internal foliate structures.
48
Fig. 10A (W67 43 S 20 54), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
Five terrain Units associated with this dome have been
delineated on the stereogram:
 Unit 1 is the 2,300 m diameter 450 m high Holocene
to Miocene slightly dissected dome.
 Unit 2 is a one km wide also dissected apron of slop-
ing Miocene to Oligocene tephra.
 Unit 3 occurrences are plains of Miocene to Oli-
gocene tephra.
 Unit 4 are Quaternary alluvial and aeolian depos-
its.
 Unit 5 are saline playa deposits (Fig. 56).
Fig. 10B (Bands 4-3-2), 24 May 1999, area coverage
500 km2
This view, 35 km north of Fig. 15, shows the dome to
be southeast of other dark brown conical elements of
the Uyuni complex of volcanic centers in the southern
Altiplano morphotectonic province. The complex is a
60 km wide volcanic field on the south side of the
Uyuni playa (Fig. 56) consisting of some 20 major and
numerous minor volcanic centers extending at least 70
km southward. The extensive bright playa evaporite
deposits surround the centers.
Figure 11 domes in cones (class. Vs1.1)
Characterization
This dome Variant, commonly named tholoid, occurs
within the craters of Vc1 stratovolcanos (Fig. 14),
shield volcanos (Fig. 6) and calderas (igneous activity
that results in the collapse and near destruction of stra-
to or shield volcanos).
Fig. 11A (E153 16 S28 24), contact scale 1: 38,000,
source Twidale CR, Foale MR, (1969) Landforms Il-
lustrated, Thomas Nelson (Australia), p 71, ill. 22
This quadruplet stereogram in the northern Australian
Tablelands shows the 1,156 m high forested Mt Warn-
ing tholoid with ring dykes (Fig. 1).
Fig. 11B (Bands 3-2-1), 10 Sept. 2010 area coverage
2,090 km2
The image shows the tholoid to be in the 30 km diam-
eter early Miocene Mt Warning caldera which is the
central complex of the 100 km wide ancient Tweed
shield volcano (Fig. 6B). A semicircle of forested
basalt cliffs form the western side of the structure. Ero-
sion has been extensive forming a large cultivated ero-
sion caldera valley around the tholoid.
Part II The Examples
Mt Warning volcano erupted when it moved over
the East Australian Hotspot 23 million years ago.
(Hotspots are magma conduits from the Earth’s upper
mantle.)
Figure 12 flow-dome complexes (class. Vs1.2)
Characterization
This Variant differs from the parent Unit of Fig. 10 by
the presence of coulees (Fig. 13) which flow from the
dome as relatively short lobes or accumulate as corru-
gated aprons around the base of the dome. Flow lobes
lying on a sloping surface are the most extensive.
Fig. 12A (W121 30 N41 36), contact scale 1: 20,000,
source USGS
The stereomodel shows the flow-dome complex of
Glass Mountain on the Modoc volcanic plateau of
northeast California. It consists of two obsidian (volca-
nic glass) flows from the summit dome at 3,395 m. The
flows are probably less than 1000 years old.
Fig. 12B (Bands 3-2-1), 01 Oct. 2010, area coverage
3,900 km2
This image shows the flow-dome complex to be on
the east rim of the Medicine Lake caldera of a related
larger not distinguishable shield volcano. The caldera
is 7 by 12 km in extent, but is entirely buried by the
dark lavas at elevations from 2,200 to 2,300 m which
reach westward as far as another bright flow-dome
Unit. These lavas form a highland rising to 900 m
above the surrounding terrain.
The light grey Units on the south and the darker grey
Unit on the north are very recent basalt flows.
A number of small cinder cones (tephra) are visible
on the north side of the caldera area.
The white saturated areas surrounding the caldera on
the east and north are barren basalts of the Lava Beds
National Monument. Some attempts at irrigated agri-
culture are visible in the light grey area on the left. The
speckle pattern in the lower left is blocks of clear cut-
ting in forest land on Tertiary lavas at lower, 1,600 m
elevation.
Figure 13 coulees (class. Vs2)
Characterization
Coulees are Units that have aspects of both lava domes
of Fig. 10 and lava flows of Fig. 6. They are relatively
short, flat-topped and steep-sided extrusions of viscous
lava concentrated to one side of a vent.
Section 1 Magmatic Rocks and Structures
Fig. 13A (W66 29 S19 51), contact scale 1; 40,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
This stereogram shows the five km long by two km
wide Nuevo Mundo coulee of Holocene dacite (similar
to rhyolite Fig. 10) in the central Andes volcanic zone
of southwest Bolivia. The edifice height is 738 m and
has the characteristic flow ridges on its surface result-
ing from folding during emplacement of surface layers.
The small cone northeast of the lake is the source vent.
Fig 13B (Bands 4-3-2), 02 Aug. 1994, area coverage
2,160 km2
This image shows the coulee to be the southern occur-
rence of a group of four that erupted along a north-
south trending fault on the western margin of the Cor-
dillera Oriental. The coulees and much of the image
area to the east and northeast are partly covered by
white ash and pumice (tephra) from a recent eruption.
The range of glaciated peaks west and southwest of
the photo area are basalts that probably erupted from a
fault parallel to that of the coulees.
The smoother area east of the peaks eroded by
a number of glacial moraines (Fig. 42) is a series of
pyroclastic flows (explosive eruptions of viscous mag-
mas which expel fragments of materials from a con-
duit) that antedate the coulees. Red areas are irrigated
land.
Subgroup Vc Major Conical Structures
Figure 14 stratovolcanos (class. Vc1)
Characterization
The mechanism of emplacement of a stratovolcano be-
gins when a magma, normally less dense than sur-
rounding rock, rises buoyantly toward the surface fol-
lowing a line of weakness. As the magma nears the
surface, the attendant decrease in pressure permits
expansion of dissolved gases which then drive the
eruption vertically, the only direction in which it is free
to expand.
Repeated eruption of tephra (clastic materials of
Group P) and lavas (Fig. 6) complement each other in
building an interbedded conical landform.
These structures can rise from about 400 m to as high
as 5 km above their bases; their diameters can range
from 1 to 60 km. Average slopes range from 15° to
30°.
49
Most stratovolcanos occur near the edges of tec-
tonic plates. In a typical year an average of 50 volcanos
actually erupt.
Geohazard relations The infrequency of volcanic
events within the short time-scale of human history is
one of their most dangerous features. Erupting volca-
nos can generate a variety of primary hazards includ-
ing pyroclastic flows, high concentrations of gas-par-
ticles from glassy pumice to 1 to 5 m diameter blocks
that travel along the ground at velocities ranging from
10 to several hundred meters per second. They bury
and destroy everything in their path; airfall tephra
(clasts 2 to 64 mm in size) endanger life and property
by burial; and lava flows (Fig. 6) damage property.
Secondary hazards are epiclastic (secondary ero-
sion) debris avalanches that are as destructive as pyro-
clastic flows. Dissolved gases and acids released dur-
ing eruptions can be noxious.
Fig. 14A (E152 12 S04 14), contact scale 1: 15,300,
source personal archive
This stereogram of 500 m Mt Tavurvur volcano, a sub-
vent of Rabaul Caldera at the northeastern tip of New
Britain Island in eastern New Guinea was taken in
January 1944. The volcano has been repeatedly active
(15 eruptions) since 540 AD. An eruption in 1937
caused 507 deaths, and one in 1994 (Fig. 14B) forced
the abandonment of the town of Rabaul.
The volcano continues to erupt, depositing ash daily
into the waters of the caldera (Blanche Bay).
Fig. 14B (Bands 7-4-2), 11 Oct. 1994, area coverage
1,225 km2
This image, oriented 40 degrees to northwest, was ac-
quired by the Synthetic Aperture Radar aboard the Space
Shuttle Endeavour a month after the destructive erup-
tion of 19 September. The eruption deposited 75 cm of
ash, appearing as magenta in the image, on the town,
nearby villages, and on the slopes of Vulcan volcano on
the west side of the caldera bay. This situation is similar
to that of the Medicine Lake caldera of Fig. 12B.
Popcorn clouds cover other volcanic vents on the
peninsula.
The lineament on the land projection in the right-
center is an airstrip.
The land on the west consists of Plio-Pleistocene
dissected lava flows rising to 150 m.
50
Figure 15 dissected cones (class. Vc1.1)
Characterization
Because they are high topographic features, stratovol-
canos are very prone to mass wastage and are being
continually degraded.
Erosion features include breached cones, sector
breaches, collapse scars, and gullies.
These result from the action of lava, tephra, debris
flows (Fig. 60), and debris avalanches (extremely fast
slides occurring on steep slopes) of epiclastic (second-
ary) erosion and glaciation.
Fig. 15A (W67 36 S21 14), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Universiadad San Andres, Bolivia
This stereogram shows the Tertiary/Quaternary volcano
Cerro Khala Katin at San Agustin on the Altiplano of
southwest Bolivia. Zone d is the breached cone. Zone y
is a collapse scar.
The area on the left marked Vc1 is an adventive
cone visible on the Landsat image.
Fig. 15B (Bands 4-3-2), 15 Sept. 2000, area coverage
3,024 km2
The image, 35 km south of Fig. 10, shows the Unit in
its location in the Uyuni vent complex described in that
Figure. The cone, at elevation 5,300 m is some 1,500
m high.
The darker smooth appearing deposits are mainly
Holocene lavas. The lava flows extend in two direc-
tions, 8 km on the left and a 12 km tongue northward
from the cone. Holocene Pyroclastic deposits (tephra
of Group P) lie east and northeast of the volcano and
are typically much dissected.
The pale beige deposits in the southwest of the scene
are pyroclastic flows from vents to the west southwest
of the scene. These originate when the density of an
ash-laden column becomes greater than that of the
atmosphere; gravitational collapse occurs, generating
a flow.
Part II The Examples
Figure 16 volcanic fields (class. Vc4)
Characterization
Volcanic fields are areas containing many (10 to 100)
monogenetic eruption centers.
Individual eruption centers form small size struc-
tures, base diameters are generally less than 2,000 m
and heights are 400-450 m. They consist of Vc1 lava
cones, Vs1 domes (Fig. 10), and Vp2 maars (Fig. 8).
The fields range in extent from 1,000 to 8,000
km2.
Fig. 16A (E14 08 N40 50), source USGS
This sketch map covers the 13 km diameter, active,
monitored, Phlegrean Fields multi vent complex cal-
dera at Naples, Italy.
Fig. 16B (Bands 4-3-2), 19 Aug. 2009, area coverage
2,925km2
This image of the sketch map area shows the entire
multi-vent complex which is sited on an uplifted sea-
bed. The red depression is a post-caldera collapse.
The 46 km2 island of Ischia on the left is a related
volcanic complex within a caldera closely encircling
the island below water. Mt Vesuvius is on the right, and
Sorrento Peninsula of Mezoic limestones is in the low-
er right. The white zone in the lower right of the map
area is the developing port of Bagnoli, Naples, with the
larger of its 30 wharves and quays visible just to the
right of the map edge. Red areas are forested.
 Section 2
Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rocks cover approximately 75% of the world’s surface comprising

20 Units and 13 Variants ordered in five Groups and three Subgroups.
The Groups are:
 K – Carbonates are rocks formed of the carbonates of calcium, magnesium, and/or
iron (Figs. 17 to 22).
 H – Saline and phosphatic rocks are composed of halite or any soluble salt – evap-
orites (Fig. 23).
 S – Detrital rocks also termed clastic are rocks which were derived from fragments
of pre-existing rocks (Figs. 24 to 26).
 W – Interbedded sequences are beds lying between or alternating with others of
different character (Figs. 27 to 29).
 D – Duricrusts are indurated horizontal layers of silica, alumina and iron oxide in
varying proportions occurring as resistant caprocks or near the surface in semi-arid
and tropical wet-dry climates.

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 51

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_3, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
52 Part II The Examples

Fig. 17A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 53

Fig. 17B
54 Part II The Examples

Fig. 18A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 55

Fig. 18B
56 Part II The Examples

Fig. 19A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 57

Fig. 19B
58 Part II The Examples

Fig. 20A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 59

Fig. 20B
60 Part II The Examples

Fig. 21A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 61

Fig. 21B
62 Part II The Examples

Fig. 22A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 63

Fig. 22B
64 Part II The Examples

Fig. 23A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 65

Fig. 23B
66 Part II The Examples

Fig. 24A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 67

Fig. 24B
68 Part II The Examples

Fig. 25A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 69

Fig. 25B
70 Part II The Examples

Fig. 26A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 71

Fig. 26B
72 Part II The Examples

Fig. 27A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 73

Fig. 27B
74 Part II The Examples

Fig. 28A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 75

Fig. 28B
76 Part II The Examples

Fig. 29A
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks 77

Fig. 29B
78
Interpretations of Sedimentary Rocks
Group K Carbonates
Carbonate rocks make up 20% of the worldwide sedi-
mentary rock cover. “Limestone is the only common
rock soluble in water. It dissolves in rainwater enriched
by carbon dioxide derived from organic soils so solu-
tion processes and results are on a large scale on lime-
stone plateaus in areas of warm, humid climates. Karst
features are erosional forms produced by the solution
on bare rock surfaces, beneath the soil at rockhead, and
within the rock.’’ T. Waltham 2002.
Geohazard relations Karst terrains are agents of rock
falls, subsidence, and solution.
 Rock falls (Figs. 87, 88, 89) occur in zones of joint
widening at the margins of karst plateaus.
 Subsidences (Figs. 90, 91) are due to the cavernous
nature of limestone.
 Solution (Figs. 17 to 22) groundwater circulating
along joint and bedding planes dissolves the carbon-
ate rock which results in collapse, producing surface
sinkhole depressions also termed dolines.
Part II The Examples
Subgroup Kp Holokarst Residual Terrain
The term Holokarst denotes Geounits where limestone
solution processes dominate the entire area.
Figure 17 pyramid/labyrinth karst terrain
(class. Kp2)
Characterization
The forms of this Unit, which occur in humid tropical
climates, include conical haystack rounded hills or iso-
lated towers up to 150 m high with almost vertical
slopes and canyon-like labyrinths of deep solution
trenches at the intersections of major joint sets.
Fig. 17A (E110 48 S08 10), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source Courtesy of HTh Verstappen, 1977
This infrared stereogram triplet shows six km of the
characteristic pyramid morphology of the Unit terrain in
Upper Miocene carbonates near the Giritontro dry val-
ley (Fig. 20) on the southeast coast of Java, Indonesia.
Fig. 17B (Bands 7-4-2), 21 June 2000, area coverage
3,750 km2
A synoptic view shows systems of regional parallel
east-west striking lineaments along 75 km in this re-
gion that are only visible in two 1.5 kilometer seg-
ments in the lower right of the photo model. These
have been described as bedding, but may also reflect
tectonic outward sliding of the strata from 325 m ele-
vation inland in the image coverage that were deformed
by gravitational flow of the upper crust and its sedi-
mentary cover.
Land cover/land use combinations are of rust cov-
ered kampong areas (hamlets) and green natural forest.
A second entrenched valley 50 km eastward is appar-
ently dry in the image but is not. Some coastal settle-
ments are visible just west of it.
The shore is a low rock cliff (Fig. 67) 30 to 60 m high
bordering the Java Outer Arc Basin with depths of
200 to 1,000 m offshore. The basin is adjacent to the
7,000 m deep Java Trench. The subduction zone of the
Australian Plate boundary is 250 km to the south.
There has been hydrocarbon exploration offshore of
this coast.
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks
Figure 18 pyramid/labyrinth karst terrain
(class. Kp2)
Characterization (see Figure 17)
Fig. 18A (W78 35 N18 25 approx.), contact scale 1:
25,000, source personal archive
This stereo pair covers a 44 km2 area in Eocene lime-
stones of northwest Jamaica.
The physiography of this pyramid karst terrain is
controlled by block faulting, evidenced by the local
fault traces (Fig. 42) cutting the outcrop.
Fig. 18B (Bands 3-2-1), 03 Feb. 2010, area coverage
1,065 km2
This image of the forested 400 km2, 400 to 500 m ele-
vation reaching to 900 m Cockpit Country elevated in
the Miocene shows a system of major north-south
through-going lineaments (macro scale fracture traces
of Fig. 45) suggesting that the region’s pyramid karst
morphology is divided into tectonically-controlled
structural blocks
The area is bounded on the north by a major fault.
Subgroup Kn Holokarst Erosional Terrain
Figure 19 poljes (class. Kn1)
Characterization
Poljes are karst Units of generally elongated, closed
depressions aligned along structural trends, frequently
along axes of folds or along faults. They have a flat
floor generally veneered with alluvium, and surround-
ed by steep walls of limestone. They are caused by lat-
erally directed corrasion (abrasion).
Fig. 19A (E25 28 N35 11), contact scale 1; 30,000,
source Photo Interprétation Éditions ESKA, France
This stereomodel of the Lassithi polje in eastern Crete
shows a 20 km2 polje in Mesozoic carbonates. The
Unit is clearly delimited by topography. The polje
floods regularly at the end of each winter as evidenced
by the rectilinear pattern of field boundaries and drain-
age ditches to supplement the stream drainage in the
northwest corner. Local villages (small black circles)
are located around the margins of the basin.
79
Fig. 19B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 Aug. 2010, area coverage
2,250 km2
This image shows the polje to occur at elevation 815 m
within a 1,100 m high barren limestone horst-like
structure (an uplifted crustal unit bounded by faults).
The mass tourism area of Malia is on the north coast,
the tourist port of Agios Nikolaos is on the east coast.
Figure 20 fluviokarst terrains (class. Kn2)
Characterization
This Unit is formed by the combined action of fluvial
and karst processes in limestone areas. The pattern of
surface stream channels is in evidence as dry valleys
and much of the drainage is underground.
Fig. 20A (E02 18 N43 32), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source IGN, France
This stereomodel at La Brugière in the southeastern
extremity of the Aquitaine Basin in southern France
shows a system of dry valleys on a karst plateau. The
bare appearance of the plateau (partly a military reser-
vation) contrasts with the land use on the hilly weak
sandstone terrain (Fig. 24) south of the delimited me-
andering (Fig. 63) Agout River terraces. Both Units
are Eocene.
Fig. 20B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 Nov. 2006, area coverage
1,215 km2
This image shows the photo area to be in an embay-
ment of Tertiary carbonate and detrital rocks of the
southeast Aquitaine Basin in the forested uplands of
the Montagne Noire, the southern extremity of the
Massif Central (also covered by Fig. 38B 60 km east-
ward). The western margin of the upland is a fault con-
tact.
The limited fluviokarst area is evidently reverting to
forest. The larger towns of Castres to the north of the
photo area and Mazamet to the south are resolved as
rust zones.
80 Part II The Examples

Subgroup Kc Amorphous Carbonates Figure 22 marlstone (class. Kc2)

Characterization
Figure 21 fossil reefs (class. Kc1) Marlstone is an impure argillaceous limestone com-
Characterization posed of a weakly-cohesive admixture of fine-grained
Fossil reefs are lens-shaped masses of coral reefs (Fig. calcite and clay.
73) that have developed in geologically ancient basins The rock erodes into rounded hills in humid temper-
and occur today as resistant outcrops in sedimentary ate regions, and gullied, dissecting slopes in arid and
rocks. They range from small-scale patch structures to humid tropical regions.
formations hundreds of kilometres long and may be up
to several hundred meters thick. Fossil reefs within a Fig. 22A (W044 N41 26), contact scale 1: 33,000,
sequence of sedimentary rocks provide a discontinuity source Courtesy of HTh Verstappen
which may serve as a trap for fossil fuels. This stereogram depicts sub-horizontal Oligocene
marls and sandstone of the Tertiary sedimentary Ebro
Fig. 21A (E05 56 N43 11), contact scale 1: 70,000, basin of arid northeast Spain (300 mm annual rainfall).
source IGN, France The now stabilized dissected terrain of headward ero-
sion of valley slopes results from climatic fluctuations
A 12 km long strike-slip faulted (Fig. 44) outcrop of a
in the Pleistocene. White stripes in the gullies are ter-
Lower Cretaceous fossil reef is delineated on the cen-
raced cultivation.
ter photo of a triplet in southern France. The ridges to
the north are Upper Jurassic dolomites. The partly cul-
tivated depression is a faulted graben (Fig. 29) expos- Fig. 22B (Bands 7-4-2), 11 July 2010, area coverage
ing Upper Triassic shales and marls. 2,700 km2
This scene shows marl terrain as gray and white bare
intensely dissected uncultivable areas. The undissected
Fig. 21B (Bands 7-4-2), 25 July 1999, area coverage
beige area to the southeast is mainly pasture land with
1,770 km2
some grey stripes of shallow dry gullies. Similar marl
The image shows the photo area to be at the eastern dissection occurs to the northeast across the intensely
end of a 55 km long arcuate reef tract delineated from cultivated broad alluvial valley of the Ebro River.
known geology. The Unit morphology is partly detect-
able in the west but is not mappable in the photo area.
The occurrence extends from north of Toulon in the
southeast to Marseille in the west. It forms the north
margin of the regional Beausset synclinal basin (of in-
terbedded sedimentary rocks (Fig. 27). A prominent
bare linear ridge of thrust faulting (Fig. 7B) off the
northwest corner of the photo area is the Chaine de
Baume, a structural continuation of the Pyrenees.
Bright green areas are pine and scrub vegetation. Low-
lands are cultivated.
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks
Group H Saline and Phosphatic Rocks
Figure 23 gypsum (class. H1)
Characterization
Gypsum and salt are layered water soluble chemical
sedimentary rocks, chlorides and sulphates that result
from an aqueous solution that has been concentrated
by evaporation. They are from 150 to 7,500 times more
soluble than limestone (Martinez et al, 1998). Out-
crops of evaporite rocks, other than the diapirs of Fig.
39, are comparatively rare due to their solubility. Mod-
ern evaporites generally occur in warm arid climates,
they include sabkhas (supratidal areas where evapora-
tion rates are high) that occur in coastal lagoons (Fig.
69) and inland playas (Fig. 56).
Geohazard relations As with carbonates, the high sol-
ubility of gypsum enables solution channels and sink-
holes to develop rapidly resulting in catastrophic col-
lapse of any overlying infrastructures.
Fig. 23A (E07 54 N34 22) contact scale 1: 50,000,
source Photo Interprétation Éditions ESKA, France
This stereomodel shows intensely dissected Eocene
gypsum in the crest of a Mid-Cretaceous anticlinal
outcrop (Fig. 36). The site is at Tamerza in arid central
Tunisia. The Kc2 descriptor identifies relatively more
resistant marls on the south limb of the structure.
The most resistant rocks are the marginal S1.2
steeply-dipping and eroded interbedded sandstones
(Fig. 24). The stream cutting through the marls is de-
scribed in Fig. 23B.
Fig. 23B (Bands 3-2-1), 10 July 2010, area coverage
6,400 km2
This image shows that the small photo area is beyond
the apex of the macroscale 35 km broad alluvial fan
(Fig. 59) of the Khanga Oued (river) which drains a
large basin of bare erodible Cretaceous sediments to
the northeast. The Unit is sited between two east-west
trending anticlinal folds of a 150 km long range of
folds that parallel the margin of the Saharan Platform
Boundary Fault. The occurrence is analogous to that of
the structure of Fig. 37, 60 km eastward. The breached
anticlinal fold east of the fan is Upper Cretaceous
limestone exposing dissecting marls of Fig. 22. The
larger blue area on the right margin is the phosphate
mining and transformation complex of Redeyef.
The black spots adjacent to the photo areas are oases
plantations.
81
Group S Detrital Rocks
Figure 24 weak arenacious detrital rocks
(class. S1.2)
Characterization
These sandstones are rocks of low compressive
strength due to generally poor cementation, and have a
low density of mineral packing in contrast to the stably
cemented parent Unit.
Geohazard relations Sheet and gully erosion can pro-
voke rockfalls (Fig. 87) and rock slides (Fig. 92).
Headward fluvial erosion on slopes and scarps can
cause collapse and threaten any local structures.
Fig. 24A (W64 56 S19 05), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
This stereogram at 3,000 m elevation in the arid Cor-
dillera Oriental of the central Andes is delineated to
identify five sedimentary rock Units:
 Unit 1 are characteristically dissected weak S1.2
Tertiary conglomerates.
 Unit 2 are Devonian limestones.
 Unit 3 is a dip slope of Cretaceous limestone.
 Unit 4 are alluvium-filled structural intermont de-
pressions.
 Unit 5 is a 145 ha rock slide.
Broken black lines are possible fault contacts.
Fig. 24B (Bands 3-2-1), 08 Aug. 2006, area coverage
730 km2
The image shows the extension of the outcrop of photo
Unit 1 northward in a succession of folded (Fig. 36)
and faulted (Fig. 43), more resistant Mid Paleozoic
and Cretaceous adjacent arenites and carbonates.
82
Figure 25 weak arenaceous detrital rocks
(class. S1.2)
Characterization (see Figure 24)
Fig. 25A (E05 56 N43 55), contact scale 1:25,000,
source IGN, France
The photo pair covers a 750 ha outcrop area of dis-
sected, oak-forested Miocene conglomerates (coarse-
grained sandstones) in a humid climate at Oraison,
bottom left, in the Pre-Alps of southeastern France.
The outcrop ranges in elevation from 440 m to
615 m.
Cultivated terraces of the Durance River are at 385 m
elevation. They are bordered by a canal, under con-
struction, several meters above the terraces. The white
notches in the gullies of the conglomerates are borrow
pits for the canal construction which is part of the man-
agement of the highly fluctuating Durance River.
Fig. 25B (Bands 7-4-2), 22 June 2002, area coverage
500 km2
The image shows the photo area to be in the center of
the scene which is divided naturally into three sections
by the Durance and the tributary Asse River. (The
black line shows water in the functioning canal by-
passing the flood-prone valley.)
 The northeast section (550–800 m elevation) is
characterized by the forested dissected relief of the
photo Geounit.
 The surface of the southeast section (600 m) is un-
dissected and cultivated portion of the same unit.
 The section west of the Durance is lower, 450 m,
with moderate relief.
All the sections are part of the 1,250 km2 Valensole
Tertiary molasse depo basin (sedimentary sequences
that were eroded from developing mountain chains).
The basin received sediments eroded by rivers from
the southern Pre-Alps. The present morphology re-
flects the subsequent dissection of these weak sedi-
ments.
The linearity of the Durance is controlled by a major
regional fault. The braided channel (Fig. 60) of the
river is on the west side of the valley.
All green areas are woodlands.
Part II The Examples
Figure 26 argillaceous detrital rocks (class. S2.1)
Characterization
Argillaceous rocks are compacted laminated-bedded
clays, silts or muds.
The poor permeabilty of such fine-grained clastics
results in minimum rainfall infiltration, and erosion by
development of surface runoff closely spaced drainage
systems.
Geohazard relations Hazards associated with shales
are essentially related to their low resistance to me-
chanical weathering and erosion. Their variable
strength is related largely to their water content. They
are susceptible to sliding and slumping and generally
provide poor subgrade support for structures due to
high compaction potential.
Fig. 26A (E06 17 N44 47), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source IGN, France
The stereo model in the French Alps delineates a
smooth-appearing six km long ridge of Lower Jurassic
(Liassic) shales at elevation 2,600-2,700 m in noncon-
formable contact (Fig. 48) with Precambrian gneisses.
The characteristic surface runoff erosion of the shales
contrasts strongly with the fractured terrain of the
gneisses. Close examination of the south contact sug-
gested that it may be faulted. Four rock slides (Fig. 92)
associated with this contact have been drawn, as well
as an earth flow (Fig. 96) within the shales.
A debris slide (Fig. 97) and a rock glacier (Fig. 86)
are drawn on the north side of the Unit.
Fig. 26B (Bands 7-4-2), 22 June 2002, area coverage
570 km2
The shales are barely detectable as a dark brown zone in
the upper right of the photo area. The image area is at the
southern margin of the 160 km long crystalline Pelvoux
massif of the French Alps. The red line marks the contact
between the Precambrian massif and Upper Eocene
folded and thrusted shaly sediments which are indistin-
guishable morphologically from the crystalline rocks.
This situation is explained by Verstappen in Fig. 97B.
Rust colored highlands are above timberline; blue is
snow at over 3,000 m elevations.
The river in the photo is the upper source of the
braided (Fig. 60) Drac River which, via a succession
of dams and reservoirs, flows 130 kilometers around
the south and west sides of the Pelvoux Massif to join
the Isère River at Grenoble 65 linear kilometers to the
northwest.
Section 2 Sedimentary Rocks
Group W Interbedded Sequences
Figure 27 interbedded sedimentary rocks
(class. W1)
Characterization
These sequences of sedimentary rocks can occur as
undisturbed flat-lying or disturbed Geounits:
 Flat-lying sequences are strata lying between, or
alternating with, others of different lithology, thick-
ness, and resistance to weathering and erosion. They
result from disruptions in the depositional process.
The resistant strata are in ledge outcrops over or be-
tween the recessive (argillaceous) beds. They common-
ly show banding on aerial photographs. The banding
will coincide with the contours of the land surface.
Geohazard relations The main geohazard associated
with these rock sequences is the risk of landslides (Fig.
92) due to the lack of support of resistant rocks under-
lain by weak strata.
 Disturbed sequences are inclined or folded at vari-
ous magnitudes of deformation and exhibit the same
resistant/recessive outcrops as in flat-lying beds.
Figures 35, 36 and 37 of the Geostructures Section
show and explain how the identification of dips and
strikes of such exposed strata are the basis of map-
ping deformed Geounits.
Fig. 27A (W66 36 S20 57), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
Four terrain types of disturbed interbedded Mid-Ter-
tiary sedimentary rocks occur in the 48 km2 stereo-
gram. These are arrayed in roughly two kilometer wide
segments from southwest to northeast.
 Type 1 is beyond stereo coverage but has a gener-
ally rough appearing surface of micro relief.
 Type 2 has the typical stepped relief of resistant and
weak strata.
 Type 3 is a sequence of clearly interbedded east dip-
ping strata.
 Type 4, beyond stereo cover appears as an evidently
fluvially dissected elevated plain.
The contact between Types 2 and 3 rock units is marked
by a prominent linear 100 m high scarp which is inter-
preted as a probable fault trace (Fig. 42).
83
Fig. 27B (Bands 3-2-1), 20 March 2007, area cover-
age 1,575 km2
This image does not resolve interbedding but displays
the related structures of the photo area. Types 1 and 2
are parts of two obliterating open anticlines (Fig. 36);
a smaller brown Unit and a larger grey Unit just be-
yond the southwest corner of the photo. The area is in
the southern sector of the intermontane Altiplano basin
of the central Andes. The bright area in the scene cen-
ter is an extension of Type 3 in the Fig. 27A.
Figure 28 Interbedded sedimentary rocks
(class. W1)
Characterization (see Figure 27)
Fig. 28A (W01 09 N42 25), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source personal archive
This single photo shows flat-lying strongly interbed-
ded, differentially eroded, Lower Tertiary (Oligocene)
sandstones and marls in northeast Spain at a general
altitude of 900 to 1,000 m. The area is fluvially dis-
sected in narrow valleys with steep slopes.
The dark scrub-covered beds are the sandstones.
The strata at the northeast edge of the photo are dip-
ping south, the rest of the beds are near- horizontal. The
interbedding is most evident in the agricultural west
half of the photo. The east half is in oak forests.
Fig. 28B (Bands 3-2-1), 06 Aug. 1988, area coverage
290 km2
The image shows the photo area to be at the contact of
the northern edge of the Tertiary Ebro Basin (Fig. 22)
with the dark folded sedimentary forested ridges of the
eastern Pyrenees.
The bright dissection of the marls can be seen on the
left.
84 Part II The Examples

Figure 29 epicratonic sediments (class. W1.2)

Characterization
This Variant of interbedded sequences consists of sedi-
mentary rocks of post-Precambrian age that lie non-
conformably (Fig. 48) on the surface of an ancient cra-
ton or shield.

Fig. 29A (W110 45 N62 43), contact scale 1: 70,000,

source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This photo pair covers 16 km of a five to ten km broad
thick sequence of three conformable units of southerly
dipping 2,400 to 1,600 Ma, 280 m high interbedded
sediments (mainly sandstones and carbonates) in the
northeast arm of Great Slave Lake in Canada’s North-
west Territories.
One of the units contains hydrocarbons and sedi-
mentary uranium deposits

Fig. 29B (Bands 3-2-1), 10 Sept. 1979, area coverage

25,000 km2
The image shows the photo area to be in a structural
graben (a depressed block bounded by faults) bordered
by Shield cratons, the arcuate Slave craton on the north
and Churchill craton on the south. The sedimentary
belt is 140 km long.
Yellow arrows indicate the Mc Donald Fault Zone
of the Churchill craton boundary. This area was degla-
ciated 9,500 years ago.
 Section 3
Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rocks are any rocks that have been derived from pre-existing rocks by
mineralogical, chemical, and/or structural changes in response to marked changes in
temperature, pressure, shearing stress, and chemical environment, generally at depth
in the earth’s crust (Dictionary of Geological Terms, AGS).
In contrast to intrusive magmas metamorphic rocks are foliated or massive but
contain no strong joint systems (Fig. 45).
Five Units and eight Variants are ordered in contexts of two Groups:
 R – Cratonic Units that occur in a continental area that has been little deformed
since Precambrian time (Figs. 30 to 32)
 J – Non-cratonic Units that occur in orogenic (mountain chains) belts, around the
boundaries of intrusive igneous rocks, and in other tectonic terrains (Figs. 33, 34).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 85

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
86 Part II The Examples

Fig. 30A
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 87

Fig. 30B
88 Part II The Examples

Fig. 31A
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 89

Fig. 31B
90 Part II The Examples

Fig. 32A
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 91

Fig. 32B
92 Part II The Examples

Fig. 33A
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 93

Fig. 33B
94 Part II The Examples

Fig. 34A
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 95

Fig. 34B
96
Interpretations of Metamorphic Rocks
Group R Cratonic Rocks
Figure 30 cratonic foliated rocks (class. R1)
Characterization
These Units are belts of orogenically metamorphosed
sedimentary or volcanic rocks that show composition-
al banding or planar structures (e.g. gneiss, schist,
migmatite, phyllite). The laminated structure results
from the flattening of the constituent grains of a rock.
There are no strong joint systems. In areas of metased-
iments airphotos indicate bedding rather than folia-
tion.
Fig. 30A (E04 21 N24 56), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This stereo pair shows the characteristic banding of
flexural flow (folding parallel to surfaces of foliation)
of a 10 km wide section of strongly foliated Protero-
zoic schists of the Hoggar craton of southern Algeria.
Delineation on the stereo mate included in the extra
material on the Springer website of this pair identifies
four structurally-associated Geounits: Unit 1 are the
foliated schists; Unit 2 are unfoliated younger weaker
sedimentary rocks (these appear as a light grey band in
the northwest of the printed photo); Unit 3 are foliated
gneisses; Unit 4 are weakly foliated possible migma-
tites (rocks that are transitional between granites and
crystalline schists). The band of coarser-grained
gneisses of Unit 3 has definite but imperfect foliation
compared to the schists.
Fig. 30B (Bands 3-2-1), 17 July 2010, area coverage
1,890 km2
The image shows the photo pair to be at the north end
of the zone of coalesced bright stocks in Fig. 5B and in
the morphotectonic fold belt described in Fig. 51B.
The four photo units are also distinguishable in the im-
age.
Part II The Examples
Figure 31 massive cratonic rocks (class. R2)
Characterization
Rock Units of low level metamorphism such as quartz-
ite, hornfels or marble, are composed of randomly ori-
ented minerals that give the unit a lack of banding, i.e.
massive appearance.
Fig. 31A (E01 48 N11 03 57), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
The stereo pair is located in northwest Benin.
The morphologic and tonality contrasts distinguish
three classes of Lower Precambrian metamorphic
rocks. R1 foliated gneiss, R1 unfoliated schist, and R2
non-foliated quartzites.
Fig. 31B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 Jan. 2007, area coverage
750 km2
The image shows the bright R2 massive quartzites of
the photo area to be near the well-displayed north end
of the 600 km long Atacora morphotectonic fold belt.
The dark schist area is in an upland trough about
100 m lower in the center of the belt which is at about
400 m elevation here.
The relatively featureless area in the northwest
quadrant is part of the Volta Basin of interbedded (Fig.
27) sandstones and shales which cover the greater part
of Ghana.
A prominent strike-slip fault (Fig. 44) crosses the
folds just north of the photo area.
Section 3 Metamorphic Rocks 97

Figure 32 glaciated cratonic foliated rocks Group J Non-Cratonic Rocks

(class. R1.1)
Characterization Figure 33 non-cratonic massive rocks (class. J2)
Areas of foliated rock belts that have been scoured of Characterization
overlying deposits by moderate to heavy areal glacial With the exception of their tectonic setting the rocks of
erosion are as exposed as in arid environments. Minor this Unit are similar to Fig. 31.
structural features may stand out in relief.
Fig. 33A (E09 19 N42 08), contact scale 1: 25,000,
Fig. 32A (W63 39 N57 16), contact scale 1: 100,000, source IGN, France
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada The 1982 photo pair express strongly dissected Creta-
The small scale stereo photo pair covers 660 km2 of ceous schists with narrow ridges and deep gorges cov-
terrain in north Labrador. The western half of the area ered by (maquis) scrub in eastern Corsica. Relief range
is in gneisses and migmatites (Fig. 30) of Archean oro- is from 300 to 650 m. The cleared areas are rough pas-
gens. The terrain on the east is later Mid Proterozoic tures.
plutonic granites (Figs. 2, 3), marked Np3.1. The char-
acteristic relief of the Units is visible monoscopically
Fig. 33B (Bands 3-2-1), 16 Sept. 2003, area coverage
in this region. The only occurrences of surficial depos-
990 km2
its detected in the stereo model are a small 15 km2
This image shows the rugged wooded regional schist
zone of shallow, eroded glacial till labeled Gf3.3 (Fig.
zone (Fig. 30) of the photos and the 10 km wide agri-
82), and a three km long esker ridge (lenses of irregu-
culturally developed Miocene-Pliocene coastal plain
larly stratified sand and gravel deposited by englacial
(Fig. 78).
or subglacial streams) located by red arrows.
The arcuate white line in the center of the photo area
is a fire break cut along a ridge line.
Fig. 32B (Bands 4-3-2), 17 April 2007, area coverage
10,000 km2
The image covers an area of essentially bare bedrock
terrain deglaciated 10,000 years ago.
The western half of the scene clearly displays the
contrasting foliated metamorphic rocks of the photo
area and the granite terrain on the east. A stock-like
(Fig. 2) occurrence of granitic rock, with its character-
istic joint sets, is visible in the lower left corner of the
scene.
The northeast corner of the scene touches Fig. 82 B.
98 Part II The Examples

Figure 34 peneplaned foliated rocks (class. J1.1)

Characterization
Peneplaned rock units are the result of subaerial degra-
dation by erosion and mass wasting during extended
geologic periods of tectonic stability. The surfaces cut
across, and are essentially devoid of control by, under-
lying metamorphic structures.

Fig. 34A (W04 42 N48 03), contact scale 1: 25,000,

source IGN, France
The stereo model shows the 60 m high, fracture-edged
(Fig. 66) cliff bordering the Pointe du Van peninsula
on the coast of western Brittany. This is an uplifted
Eocene peneplane surface cut across Cambrian gneiss-
es. A thin cover of surficial deposits conceals the bed-
rock (see Berger quote in discussion of Geostructures).
The beach is in a bay at the mouth of a depression of
weak Carboniferous schists. The intense local land use
pattern is characterized by the French bocage system
of field enclosure by thick hedgerows.

Fig. 34B (Bands 3-2-1), 08 July 1987, area coverage

500 km2
This faintly veiled image covers 15 km of the 25 km
long le Cap westernmost peninsula in France. The
peninsula is composed of the gneisses of the photo
area on the north and Ordovician granites of pointe du
Raz on the south.
The two areas are separated by the dark linear band
of a two kilometer wide regional fault-associated de-
pression eroded in Carboniferous schists and occupied
by dense, hedged, horticultural land use. The general
rectilinear shape of the peninsula is controlled by faults
on both north and south coasts.
 Section 4
Geostructures

Geostructures are bedrock Geounits that have been deformed or displaced by folding,
faulting, or igneous intrusion processes.
‘‘The ability to recognize and map geological structures from remote sensing data
is dependent primarily on two main factors: the level of bedrock exposure of the
mapped structures and their magnitude of deformation.’’ Z. Berger 1994.
18 Units and 16 Variants are ordered in four Groups:
 Diastrophic Rock Units: are the result of all movements of the crust produced by
tectonic processes (Figs. 35 to 38).
 Gravity Structures: are the result of gravitational forces of dense rocks causing
underlying low density rocks to rise (Figs. 39 to 41).
 Fault Line Traces: are strong linear features in consolidated rocks or coherent
surficial material visible in airphotos or imageries possibly or probably resulting
from movement reflecting tensional stress. Figures 42, 43, and 44 are examples of
known faults.
 General Lineaments: may be straight or irregular. They include linear arrange-
ments of natural geomorphic or radiometric features marking fracture traces (Fig.
45) and interpreter-drawn mapping lines that mark the natural boundary linea-
ments of unconformable rock types (Figs. 46 to 49).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 99

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_5, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
100 Part II The Examples

Fig. 35A
Section 4 Geostructures 101

Fig. 35B
102 Part II The Examples

Fig. 36A
Section 4 Geostructures 103

Fig. 36B
104 Part II The Examples

Fig. 37A
Section 4 Geostructures 105

Fig. 37B
106 Part II The Examples

Fig. 38A
Section 4 Geostructures 107

Fig. 38B
108 Part II The Examples

Fig. 39A
Section 4 Geostructures 109

Fig. 39B
110 Part II The Examples

Fig. 40A
Section 4 Geostructures 111

Fig. 40B
112 Part II The Examples

Fig. 41A
Section 4 Geostructures 113

Fig. 41B
114 Part II The Examples

Fig. 42A
Section 4 Geostructures 115

Fig. 42B
116 Part II The Examples

Fig. 43A
Section 4 Geostructures 117

Fig. 43B
118 Part II The Examples

Fig. 44A
Section 4 Geostructures 119

Fig. 44B
120 Part II The Examples

Fig. 45A
Section 4 Geostructures 121

Fig. 45B
122 Part II The Examples

Fig. 46A
Section 4 Geostructures 123

Fig. 46B
124 Part II The Examples

Fig. 47A
Section 4 Geostructures 125

Fig. 47B
126 Part II The Examples

Fig. 48A
Section 4 Geostructures 127

Fig. 48B
128 Part II The Examples

Fig. 49A
Section 4 Geostructures 129

Fig. 49B
130
Interpretation of Geostructures
Group Diastrophic Rock Units
Figure 35 homoclinal structures (class. 2.2)
Characterization
These Variants consist of a structural condition in
which stratified rocks dip uniformly in one direction.
They are classed as low, <10°, moderate 10–25º, and
steep, >25º.
Photogeologically the stereo expression of dipping
rocks is exaggerated. This property is helpful in struc-
tural interpretation but caution must be exercised be-
cause of the exaggeration. For example the moderately
dipping beds in Fig. 35A with a true dip of 15° appear
to be as much as 45° in the stereo model, i.e. a three
times exaggeration.
Fig. 35A (W66 56 S18 25) contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
The stereogram in arid western Bolivia shows a 7 km
segment of a ridge of clearly interbedded sedimentary
rocks (Fig. 27) with a dip symbol indicating moderate
dipping to the east.
The ridge crest is at elevation. 4,400 m, the foot-
slope fans (U) are at elevation 3,700 m.
The small town of Poopo is on a fan at the mouth of
a creek at the north end of the Unit. The line at M indi-
cates a possible thrust fault (Fig. 7B)
Fig. 35B (Bands 3-2-1), 17 April 2009, area coverage
5,800 km2
The image shows the ridges of the photo area to be the
western ranges of the folded and thrusted Paleozoic
and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Cordillera
Oriental.
The 35 km long red delineated zone contains a num-
ber of morphologically anomalous Units that are as-
sociated with the economically important belt of
polymetallic vein deposits of southwest Bolivia. Two
mines large enough to resolve in the 30 m image are
circled. The northern mine, a tin producer, is at Moro-
cocala; the southern mine, another tin producer is at
Catavi. They are both located in relatively undeformed
rocks. The deposits are intimately related to intrusive
rocks in a variety of host rocks.
The white alluvial fans and playas are prograding
into the Desaguadero River tributary of the closed
Part II The Examples
drainage salt water Lake Poopo in the southwest of the
scene.
The stream gorge and fan at Poopo settlement at the
north edge of the photo model shows the ridge offset of
a strike-slip fault (Fig. 44) along the Poopo creek.
Another possible strike-slip fault is a 25 km long
bright stream course oriented obliquely to the local
ridges at the north end of the scene where it empties
into a fan-delta (Fig. 58).
The beige land on the left of the river is part of the
Altiplano.
Figure 36 fold structures (class. 5)
Characterization
This Unit consists of deformed systems that are sets of
congruent anticlinal and synclinal folds in bedded
rocks that are produced by a same tectonic episode
(Fig. 36A).
Fig. 36A (E03 03 N25 48), contact scale 1: 83,000,
source IGN, France
This stereo pair of airphotos covers 500 km2 (26 km by
19 km) in the central Sahara of southern Algeria.
The model shows an erosional section through elon-
gate parallel gentle open folds in Mid Paleozoic shales
and sandstones that illustrate the geometric properties
of the two basic types of folds.
The axial hinge line of the folds has been drawn
with indication of the direction of the limbs:
 outward from the hinge for the arched up strata of
the four kilometer wide left fold, an anticline, (au-
thor’s Variant class. 5.1). In photogeologic parlance
the structure is in an obliterating stage of erosion,
i.e. erosional processes have eliminated most of the
structural relief.
 inward toward the hinge for the limbs of the de-
pressed strata of the five kilometer wide fold on the
right, a syncline, (author’s Variant class. 5.2). This
structure is in a breached erosion stage, i.e. the
limbs of the structure are still preserved.
Some minor features are superimposed on the struc-
tures; a 10 km long streak of complex dunes (Fig. 54)
crosses the south end of the syncline and a two kilome-
ter long strike slip fault (Fig. 44) displaces part of its
north end.
A six kilometer stretch of a superimposed wadi cuts
through both limbs (small arrows) and crosses the cen-
ter of the anticline.
Section 4 Geostructures
Fig. 36B (Bands 3-2-1), 09 Aug. 2010, area coverage
6,400 km2
The left grey, beige part of this image at elevation 330 m
covers the eastern part of the Ahnet intracratonic basin.
Fold structures in the basin are the result of gentle
Upper Paleozoic compressional deformation. Figure
44 which is 115 km to the southwest shows a synclinal
structure at the south margin of the same Basin. The
bright beige area in the south is the Erg Mehedjibat, a
500 km2 field of 200 to 250 m high star dunes (develop
by interaction of winds from multiple directions) of the
Section 5 Aeolian Subgroup Sand Dunes.
The dark rocks on the east are discussed in Fig. 43B.
They are regionally faulted Lower Paleozoic sedimen-
tary rocks at elevations of 700 to 1,000 m. The light
grey area in the southeast corner is possibly downfault-
ed low-weathered schistose rocks at elevation 500 m of
the Hoggar cratonic massif.
Figure 37 single anticline (class. 5.1)
Characterization
An anticline is a unique fold structure that is convex
upward, whose core contains the stratigraphically old-
er rocks explained in Fig. 36A.
Fig. 37A (E08 26 N34 20), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This stereo photo is in the same tectonic suite as Fig. 23,
60 km westward in central Tunisia.
The photo taken on 20 October 1952 covers the
western 7 km of a 20 km long two km broad anticline
in Upper Cretaceous marly limestones. The structure is
in a breached stage of erosion where the crest has been
completely removed but the limbs are preserved. The
terrain to the north is strongly dissected Lower Tertiary
phosphate rocks (Fig. 23).
Fig. 37B (Bands 3-2-1), 10 July 2010, area coverage
1,400 km2
This image shows the photo anticline to be at the south
border of extensive, mined (white and blue) phosphate
deposits.
The folds in the scene are part of a 150 km long fold
range of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks at the south
margin of the Tunisian Atlas. The town of Mitlawi,
sited on a dark bajada fan (Fig. 59) at the western tip
of the photo fold structure, is the administrative center
of the mining complex. The occurrence is analogous to
that of Fig. 23 which is 60 km westward.
131
The terrain in the north and south of the image con-
sists of low weak Upper Tertiary sandstones (Fig. 24).
The white pit mine at the north edge of the photo
area had not been developed at the time of the airphoto,
58 years earlier.
Figure 38 isoclinal folds (class. 5.4)
Characterization
This Variant of Fig. 36 is a succession of tight, pro-
nounced anticlinal and synclinal folds with limbs that
have parallel dips formed under conditions of intense
lateral compression.
Fig. 38A (E03 01 N43 26), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source IGN, France
This delineated photo pair, 30 km inland from the
Mediterranean coast, is in the Sub-Pyrenean zone of
southern France, 60 km north of the main chain.
The descriptor code numbers indicate four broad
zones of lithology and structure:
 Zone 1 on the southeast is a six km long three km
wide succession of wooded 100 m high ridges of
Lower Jurassic limestones at 200 m elevation that
were deformed in Upper Eocene.
 Zone 2 are cultivated intermont depressions of marl
strata (Fig. 22).
 Zone 3, in the northwest, are Ordovician sedimen-
tary rocks, part of the Montagne Noire southernmost
projection of the crystalline Central Massif.
 Zone 4 is a lowland of Eocene to Holocene sedi-
ments in the valley of the Orb River at the town of
Cessenon (arrow) 60 to 100 m elevation.
Fig. 38B (Bands 7-4-2), 13 Aug. 2001, area coverage
390 km2
The image clearly shows a structure not evident in the
photo areas. They are in isoclinally folded Jurassic
strata of a well-defined 140 km2 thrust block. The
structural Unit is distinguished by an arcuate linear
pattern of green forested limestone ridges and brown
marl depressions.
The black zones adjacent to the meander (Fig. 63)
Orb river on the right are abandoned and flooded bor-
row pits of the river gravels.
The forested mass to the northwest is part of the
Montagne Noire. The area to the southeast is part of the
Mediterranean coast plain just west of Béziers.
132
Group Gravity Structures
Figure 39 evaporite diapirs (class. 11)
Characterization
These diapirs occur in saline and phosphatic rocks
(Fig. 23).
They are a distortion into cylindrical stocks of tabu-
lar saline source basins at depth that have accumulated
throughout Phanerozoic time. They are driven upward
by buoyant forces due to the contrast in density be-
tween the salines and the overlying strata.
At outcrop the diapirs have a generally circular
shape, range from nil to 500 m in height and from one
to 10 km and more in diameter.
Geohazard relations Saline and phosphatic rocks are
weak and subject to dissolution and collapse. Anhy-
drite will readily combine with water to form gypsum,
and in so doing will expand rapidly in volume, in some
cases over 50%.
Fig. 39A (E01 52 N33 39), contact scale 1: 20,000,
source Photo Interprétation Éditions ESKA, France
This stereomodel shows the Kef el Melah diapir of Up-
per Triassic salt and gypsum in northwest Algeria.
The descriptor 11.1 denotes the relatively less solu-
ble caprock. The diapir is 1,800 by 1,100 m in diameter.
Ridges of uplifted and steeply dipping sediments dis-
turbed by the diapir border its southern rim. The out-
cropping of this soluble material is due to its location
in a dry climate where hardly any dissolving takes
place.
Fig. 39B (Bands 3-2-1), 06 July 2010, area coverage
400 km2
The bright blue diapir is seen in this image to lie off the
west flank of a dark breached anticlinal fold (Fig. 36)
in the Djebel Amour ridge of the Saharan Atlas Range.
The range is a low Alpine orogenic chain that stretches
1,000 km from the Moroccan border to Tunisia. The
beige terrain to the northwest is part of a post-tectonic
sedimentary basin, the High Plateaux, between the
Late Eocene and Saharan Atlas orogens.
The river is an unnamed meander (Fig. 63) stream
which dies out to the southeast in the sands and gravels
of the Cretaceous/Tertiary North Sahara sedimentary
Basin.
Part II The Examples
Figure 40 duplex stocks (class. 11.2)
Characterization
This Variant of Fig. 39 consists of stocks that are a
composite of two source layers. The primary diapir
material forms the core of the structure. Peripheral
rings are composed of younger overlying deposits
which have been dragged up during diapir formation.
The combined materials upwell, mushroom out and
overhang as infolded lobes.
Fig. 40A (E53 45 N34 57), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source Geological Society of America Memoir 177,
Fig. 1.42, p 47
This single airphoto of a 7 km diameter Eocene 45 Ma
diapir shows the mottled salt outcrop surrounded by
finely banded cycles of younger salt and gypsum. The
intruded ground is part of the strongly banded trun-
cated (removal of a part of a Geounit by erosion) sur-
face of folded Miocene 15 Ma saline mudstones and
gyprock sediments of an extensive regional playa in
northern Iran.
Small normal faults are at a; b is an anticline; c is a
syncline.
Fig. 40B (Bands 3-2-1), 19 Oct. 2010, area coverage
2,240 km2
This image shows the diapir to be one of 22 in the im-
age area, 10 of which, to the left, have coalesced later-
ally to form a single continuous salt canopy. The group
is in the center of a concentration of 50 diapirs that oc-
cur in a 140 km wide diapir province in the northern
part of the 50,000 km2 Great Kavir evaporite basin,
Iran’s largest playa.
The thicknesses of these structures vary from 600 to
2,000 m. The white zones are playa sediments.
As mentioned in Fig. 40A the entire area of the
scene is a level erosion surface that truncates the strong
banding pattern of 15 Ma folded mudstones with inter-
beds of rock salt.
Figure 41 elongate diapirs (class. 11.4)
Characterization
The form of these Variants is the result of anticlinal,
synclinal (Fig. 36), and normal fault (Fig. 42) struc-
tures by which they are controlled.
Section 4 Geostructures
Fig. 41A (W67 08 S19 26), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
This stereogram shows an elongated 2,300 m long,
900 m wide Mid-Tertiary gypsum diapir elongated by
its location along the strike of a belt of isoclinally fold-
ed (Fig. 38) Cretaceous sediments in southwest Bo-
livia.
The Unit denoted a is the rust colored Unit in Fig.
41B.
F descriptors indicate strike-slip faults (Fig. 44).
Fig. 41B (Bands 7-4-2), 08 July 2001, area coverage
480 km2
This image shows the diapir to be sited at the locus of
a strike-slip fault and other post-orogenic diastrophic
activity in a belt of isoclinal folds (Fig. 38) near the
east margin of the Altiplano.
The belt is the northern termination of a 70 km long
range of Cretaceous sediments folded in Pliocene by
west-thrusting (Fig. 7B) ranges of the Cordillera Ori-
ental 20 km eastward. The beige members may be
sandstones.
The fan shaped unit on the west flank of the folds is
a Pliocene alluvial fan (Fig. 59).
The Recent age fans east of the folds are entrenched
(partly dissected).
The flat area in the east of the image is an Altiplano
surface. Green areas are irrigation in stream valleys.
Group Fault Line Traces
Geohazard relations of Figs. 42, 43, 44. Hazards as-
sociated with faults are related to their activity status,
their occurrence near or in seismic and volcanic zones,
and their groundwater conditions. Faults determined
active are liable to recurrent movement.
Figure 42 dip-slip faults (class. 12)
Characterization
These faults are also termed normal faults in that the
movement is parallel to the near-vertical dip of the
fault plane, typically 45º to 90º.
133
Fig. 42A (W68 36 S16 02), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source Universidad San Andres, Bolivia
The stereogram shows 5 km of a normal fault cutting
Quaternary lateral glacial moraines (Fig. 4A) at 4,100 m
elevation. Prominent moraines of a one km wide gla-
cial valley are in the north (left) of the model.
Fig. 42B (Bands 7-4-2), 25 May 2000, area coverage
1,050 km2
The photo fault is visible in the glaciated foothills of
the Cordillera Oriental. A second, red traced, parallel
fault is visible near the stream 5 km to southwest.
These structures are part of the Lake Titica struc-
tural depression and are related to the tectonic move-
ments mentioned in Fig. 41B.
The image covers part of the eastern boundary of the
Altiplano (Fig. 41), the snow and ice capped Andean
peaks rise to 5,500 m. The glacial moraines cut by the
fault are at the lowest elevation reached by the brown-
colored glacial and fluvioglacial deposition in the re-
gion (Fig. 83).
Green land is cultivation in the lake depression and
mountain gullies, with some brighter sylvicultural de-
velopment westward.
Figure 43 Dip-Slip Faults (class. 12)
Characterization (see Figure 42)
Fig 43A (E03 16 N25 57), contact scale 1: 85,000,
source IGN, France
This group of three parallel normal faults are in S2 de-
noted Ordovician sandstones and S1 Silurian shales in
southeastern Algeria. The faults have been superposed
on ancient faults.
The dendritic pattern of incised drainage channels
on the shales is indicative of one of a series of pluvial
periods that prevailed in this part of the Sahara during
the Tertiary and Quaternary periods.
The R3 unit is part of the basement rock. Fu1 are
bajada fans (Fig. 59).
The west-dipping homoclinal ridge one kilometer
west of the fault set is Mid-Paleozoic shales marking
the eastern edge of the Ahnet Plateau of Fig. 36B.
134
Fig. 43B (Bands 3-2-1), 09 Aug. 2010, area coverage
11,875 km2
The image shows that the faults of the photo area, and
others pointed to on the right, are related to the Pan-
African orogenic cycle of Fig. 51B, 50 km to the
south.
The faults are in the northwest segment of the Ordo-
vician Tassili Plateaux that surround the Hoggar Cra-
ton on the north and east.
The west half of the scene is part of the Ahnet Basin
of Fig. 36B at elevation 330 m.
The yellow area is the field of star dunes described
in Fig. 36B. The grey area in the southeast is craton
basement Proterozoic schists at elevation 500 m.
Figure 44 strike-slip faults (class. 13)
Characterization
In contrast to dip-slip faults Strike-slip faults have a
horizontal displacement of blocks. They do not cause
scarping and rocks do not match across the fault, they
are offset.
Fig. 44A (E01 59 N25 28), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
The stereomodel in central Algeria has a drawn set of
strike-slip faults displacing interbedded (Fig. 27) De-
vonian sediments of a synclinal structure (Fig. 36)
whose axial hinge is drawn. The dark dissected rocks
are shales, the bright rocks are sandstones.
Fig. 44B (Bands 3-2-1), 29 June 2010, area coverage
1,575 km2
The image shows the synclinal structure to be a defor-
mation similar to the other folded rocks of the Ahnet
basin in Fig. 36B, 115 km to the northeast. As in the
photo model the dark beds are shales and the light grey
and white strata are sandstones; beige ground is allu-
vium.
Part II The Examples
Group General Lineaments
Figure 45 mesoscale fracture traces (class. 18)
Characterization
Fracture traces are natural linear features expressed as
alignments of drainage, vegetation, or spectral tonality
and color.
Brittle rocks deform by fracturing in release of
stored stress or cooling contraction in igneous bodies.
The term joint is used where fault displacement evi-
dence is lacking.
In geologic mapping fractures are distinguished as
sets of parallel fractures and systems of intersecting
fractures.
The traces can be further classified by their orienta-
tions, their lengths, and their densities. (A high density
is greater than 24 linear km per km2).
Geohazard relations Surface patterns of joints are a
reliable indication of pattern at depth. They affect the
strength and stability of the rock mass, and the voids
associated with their presence allow increased circula-
tion of groundwater through them. This may be crucial
in drainage of a deep excavation or in leakage through
the sides or floor of a reservoir.
Fig. 45A (W58 33 N51 17), contact scale 1:10,000,
source personal archive
This large scale photo triplet covers 920 hectares. It
displays conjugate sets (related in deformational ori-
gin) of fracture traces in rugged denuded granitic ter-
rain that has been scoured by glacial erosion and de-
glaciated 11,500 years ago. The fractures appear to be
tension joints which control the drainage and contain
the only vegetation in the area. The 500 m to 1 km
wide lake-filled major joints could be local faults, a
determination that can only be established in the field.
Fig. 45B (Bands 7-4-2), 20 Sept. 2001, area coverage
475 km2
Fracture traces larger than those of the photo model
dominate this image in Mid Proterozoic gneisses and
granites of the Grenville Orogen of the Canadian
Shield on the lower Gulf of St Lawrence in eastern
Quebec, Canada.
The braided river (Fig. 60) on the left is the St Au-
gustin and the red arrows in the southwest corner of the
scene point to the village and airstrip of the same
name.
Section 4 Geostructures
Mollard 1983, p 21 commented about similar Gren-
ville terrain 460 km to the southwest that “Even though
glaciers have overridden and eroded these rocks in the
past, frost shattering along the joints in postglacial
time has produced a very sharp and extremely rough
surface”.
Figure 46 stratigraphic unconformable geolinea-
ment (class. 21.1)
Characterization
An unconformable geolineament is the interpreted
drawn line that marks the boundary in a sequence of
strata separating younger from older rocks that are not
in normal succession, due to an intervening period of
erosion or non-deposition.
Fig. 46A (W110 37 N38 39), contact scale 1:20,000,
source USGS
The stereogram shows low dipping grey strata of 700
Ma (million years ago) Mid-Jurassic shales at A flank-
ing strongly parallel-jointed more massive beds of
900 Ma Lower Jurassic sandstones at B. C is an occur-
rence of dissected weak sediments. D is a veneer of
windblown sand.
Fig. 46B (Bands 3-2-1), 30 Sept. 2010, area coverage
2,560 km2
Geolineament contacts have been drawn on this image
between nine photogeologic Units.
The center of the area covered is the south half of the
120 by 65 km San Raphael Swell , a broad asymmetric
dome of the Colorado Plateau in central Utah. The struc-
ture was uplifted in Late Cretaceous and Lower Paleo-
gene (Laramide Orogeny), and stands at 2,000 m eleva-
tion 500 m above surrounding terrain. Units 2 and 3 were
exposed by the uplift. The San Rafael Swell is one of
eight similar uplifts that occur on the Colorado Plateau.
 Unit 1 are bright Lower Jurassic sandstones of the
photo area with dips of 10º to 60° over Units 2 and
3 on the southeast limb of the swell.
 Unit 2 are the large light grey and beige 210 Ma
Triassic red beds (an undivided formation of inter-
bedded strata) in the center of the structure.
 Unit 3 is grey 260 Ma Permian limestone.
 Unit 4 is dark brown Lower Jurassic sandstone and
siltstone.
 Unit 5 is an extensive occurrence of bright Lower
Jurassic limestone on the west flank of the swell.
135
 Unit 6 is beige Lower Jurassic sandstone.
 Unit 7 is the narrow brown band of Mid Jurassic
shale and sandstone of the photo area lying on the
sandstones of Unit 1.
 Unit 8 is a group of recent volcanic vents.
 Unit 9 is an undivided formation of Upper Jurassic
interbedded strata.
The ground in the southeast corner is covered by linear
dunes (Fig. 53). The ground in the light brown south-
east corner is covered by linear dunes.
Figure 47 angular unconformable geolineament
(class. 21.2)
Characterization
An angular unconformable geolineament marks a
drawn boundary in which younger sediments rest upon
the eroded surface of deformed older rocks.
Fig. 47A (W01 06 N41 02), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source personal archive
This stereo triplet photo model in northeast Spain in-
cludes seven numbered Units of Paleozoic and Meso-
zoic folded sedimentary rocks with two unconform-
able contacts.
The first unconformity is between the Devonian
schists and quartzites of Unit 2 and the high ridge of
Mid-Triassic limestones of Unit 3 that are folded into
several small structures – a time gap of 150 Ma.
A second unconformity occurs between the Upper
Triassic marls of Unit 4 and the Upper Cretaceous
marls of Unit 5 a 125 Ma time gap. Both of these Units
are cultivated, but with distinct field patterns.
Unit 6 is a homoclinal southwest-dipping ridge (Fig.
35) of Upper Cretaceous resistant limestone.
Units 1 and 7 at respective corners of the model are
areas of Lower Tertiary sandstones. Local faults are
traced in red.
Fig. 47B (Bands 3-2-1), 24 July 1999, area coverage
1,050 km2
This image in northeast Spain shows the photo area to
be in the folded ranges of the Iberian Mountains. The
mountains are on the east margin of the central Her-
cynian (Upper Paleozoic) Meseta at the south edge of
the bright Ebro Basin in the northeast part of the scene.
They were reactivated by Alpine orogenic movements
of the Pyrenees to the north.
136 Part II The Examples

The pale-blue-colored limestone of photo Unit 6 is
particularly distinctive between the cultivated bands of
Units 5 and 7.
The black area to the south is a zone of reforesta-
tion.
Figure 48 nonconformity (class. 21.3)
Characterization
A nonconformity is a drawn boundary between strati-
fied rocks and unstratified igneous or metamorphic
rocks.
Fig. 48A (E03 34 N44 12), contact scale 1: 75,000,
source IGN, France
This 17 km by 29 km stereo triplet model in central
France illustrates nonconformable contacts that have
been drawn between bare droughty Jurassic carbon-
ates of a plateau, and largely forested Lower Carbonif-
erous metamorphic rocks at 700 m general elevation
Unit J2, Section 3).
The carbonates comprise a sequence of four facies.
Facies F1 is Upper Jurassic karst limestone with a char-
acteristic surface pitted with small solutional dolines
(Fig. 91). Facies 2 is Mid Jurassic. Outlier Facies 3 is
Lower Jurassic. Facies 4 is argillaceous Lower Jurassic
limestone.
The drawn nonconformity contact in the model is
between interbedded Paleo Proterozoic sedimentary
and metamorphic rocks 2,100-1,800 Ma A at 750 m
elevation, and massive, fractured and faulted 3,100-
2,500 Ma Archaean plutonic (Fig. 3) basement rocks B
at elevation 370 m.
The faulted area on the west is in Early Proterozoic
sediments at elevation 400 m.
Other local jointing or faulting (Fig. 45) is indicated
in red.
Fig. 49B (Bands 7-4-2), 09 Sept. 1999, area coverage
1,920 km2
This image at Bear’s Gut on the coast of the southern
end of the Torngat Mountains shows some of the mor-
phologic relief of the photo rock types. The area is 80
km north of Fig. 82. The jointing or faulting photo
fracture traces are not resolved.
The regional morphology is alpine type glaciation
of cirques (rounded steep walled basins in the higher
parts of mountains) and U-shaped valleys that were
deglaciated 11,000 years ago.
Blue peaks and ridges to the south and west, at 1,000
and 1,200 m elevations are snow-covered. The green
areas in the sheltered valleys are alder and willow
shrubs.

Fig. 48B (Bands 3-2-1), 27 Aug. 2003, area coverage

6,300 km2
The image in south central France shows the same
morphologic and spectral contrasts between the two
principal lithotectonic suites of the photo model.
The bare, regional extent 150-190 Ma, plateau area,
locally named causse (in this case Méjean), ranges
from 800 to 1,200 m elevation. Its eastern margin was
fault uplifted in the Tertiary. Black areas on its surface
are reforestation.
The grey, wooded, metamorphic terrain on the east
is part of the 345 Ma, 900 to 300 m elevation Cévennes
metamorphic massif (Fig. 33).

Figure 49 nonconformity (class. 21.3)

Characterization (see Figure 48)

Fig. 49A (W63 07 N58 42), contact scale 1: 40,000,

source Courtesy of National Resources Canada
This stereo triplet photo model covers an area of 135
km2 on the Labrador coast of eastern Canada.
 Section 5
Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms

Aeolian deposits consist of particles in the range of diameters of 0.02 to 2.00 mm.
They have been transported by wind in suspension or traction from regions of sparse
vegetation and a large supply of unconsolidated sediments. Aeolian sand deposits,
excluding coastal dune systems, cover approximately 5% of the global land area of
which 97% occur in large arid zone sand seas (dune fields of regional extent). An
additional 10% is covered by silt loess (Fig. 50). 19 Units and 10 Variants are ordered
in six Subgroups:
 Et – Inland deposits: are unconsolidated, unstratified silt sediments (Fig. 50) that
occur in the continental heartlands of North and South America, Europe, and
Asia.
 Ef – Duneless deposits: these consist of coarse sand which is not readily formed
into dunes (Fig. 51).
 Er – Erosion forms: are wind-sculpted Units in homogeneous materials
(Fig. 52).
 Ed – Sand dunes: are mounds, ridges or hills aerodynamically shaped by aeolian
processes (Figs. 53, 54).
 Eo – Obstacle dunes: these form where sand-laden wind encounters a topograph-
ic barrier.
 Ec – Coastal dunes: are dunes that occur above high-water marks of sandy beaches.

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 137

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_6, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
138 Part II The Examples

Fig. 50A
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms 139

Fig. 50B
140 Part II The Examples

Fig. 51A
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms 141

Fig. 51B
142 Part II The Examples

Fig. 52A
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms 143

Fig. 52B
144 Part II The Examples

Fig. 53A
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms 145

Fig. 53B
146 Part II The Examples

Fig. 54A
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms 147

Fig. 54B
148
Interpretations of Aeolion Deposits and
Erosion Forms
Subgroup Et Inland Deposits
Figure 50 blanket loess (class. Et1.1)
Characterization
Loess is a calcareous windblown silt and clay with a
modal grain size in the range 0.02–0.5 mm.
Deposits have a pronounced vertical structure and
range in thickness from a few centimeters to more than
200 m. The thickest deposit is 335 m on the Loess Pla-
teau of China. The blanket Variant is a deposit thick
enough to mask underlying materials.
Deposits decrease in thickness and increase in fine-
ness and cohesion (clay content) with distance from
their source.
The material can maintain a vertical face due to a
vertical cleavage resulting from tension cracks and in-
corporated plant roots. Deposits are porous and verti-
cally well drained.
Loess has a distinct drainage pattern of dendritic
networks of vertical-sided U-shaped gullies.
Loess in the central Great Plains of the United States
was derived from unglaciated terrains of Tertiary silt-
stones northwest of the main deposits. It is one of the
most extensive surficial deposits in midcontinental
North America.
Geohazard relations Loess is susceptible to erosion by
wind and water. Headward dissection develops from
the drainage of infiltrated water at the footslopes. Ad-
dition of water generally destroys the internal structure
and the material will collapse on saturation. External
loading such as imposed by earthquakes also causes
loss of strength of loess during the period of vibra-
tion.
Fig. 50A (W 99 21 N41 44), contact scale 1: 67,000,
source USGS
This stereogram covers a 100 km2 area at elevation
770 m in central Nebraska in the High Plains of the
central United States.
The extensively dissected Upper Pleistocene,
25,000-13,000 BP, loess has 50 m relief and ranges
in thickness from two to 25 m. Individual gullies are
characteristically U-shaped. The limited area north of
the cultivated river valley is covered by linear dunes
(Fig. 53).
Part II The Examples
Fig. 50 B (Bands 3-2-1), 15 Oct. 2010, area coverage
1,750 km2
The photo model area is seen to be at the west end of a
mass of loess deposits that extend between the agricul-
tural valleys of the North and Middle Loup Rivers. The
U-shaped gullies are visible. Dark brown areas are
wooded gullies.
The morphologically distinct area in the north of the
scene is part of the south margin of the linear dunes of
50,760 km2 Nebraska Sandhills.
Subgroup Ef Duneless Deposits
Figure 51 sand sheets (class. Ef1)
Characterization
Sand sheets exist where grain sizes are too large or
wind velocities too low for dunes to form. They are
accumulations of essentially flat laminae, forming de-
posits with little or no topographic expression. Thick-
nesses are difficult to judge from airphotos or Landsat
images but range from a few centimetres to a few me-
ters.
Geohazard relations Sand sheets encroach on vehicu-
lar roadways and agricultural land. Zones of persistent
encroachment of roads require constant clearing ac-
tivities. Abrasion can undercut structures close to
ground level.
Fig. 51A (E04 44 N23 19), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This single photo composite covers the north half of an
8 km diameter granite plain (Fig. 5) in Algeria with a
sand sheet thinly covering the disintegrated rock. The
plain is the core of a Proterozoic stock-size (Fig. 2)
intrusion into older granites. The stock is surrounded
by a 180 m high resistant outer rim.
Fig. 51B (Bands 3-2-1), 26 July 2010, area coverage
3,900 km2
This image shows the sand sheet and granite stock to
be in a tectonic belt that formed in the western Hoggar
Massif of Fig. 3. The belt is a 600 km long north-south
striking complex at a 1,000 m average elevation. Other
white areas in the scene are sand sheet-covered gran-
ites and metamorphic rocks of different composition.
This area is 100 km south of Fig. 5B.
Section 5 Aeolian Deposits and Erosion Forms
Subgroup Er Erosion Forms
Figure 52 erosion forms (class. Er1)
Characterization
Wind-sculpted Units in fairly homogeneous materials
that produce long narrow ridges 20 to 50 m high sited
between two troughs are termed yardangs. They can
be several kilometers in length and are three or four
time longer than they are wide. (Breed, C.S. et al,
1989).
Fig. 52A (E17 42 N18 42), contact scale 1: 50,000,
source IGN, France
This single airphoto in northern Chad shows dark yar-
dangs oriented westward across a plateau of Lower
Paleozoic sandstones at 450 m elevation. The yardangs
result from deflection of winds well-armed with sand,
from Libya to the northeast which blow strongly south-
west and westward for eight months of the year in a
200 km broad system around the 3,400 m elevation
Precambrian Tibesti Massif 120 km northeast of the
photo.
The dark tones of the ridges are wind polished coat-
ings of wind-borne clay minerals and iron oxides which
obscure the identity of the underlying rock. They are
relatively thin, from 0.005 to 0.5 mm thick.
The system of sand-filled stream channels is fossil
from Tertiary and Quaternary pluvial stages in the Sa-
hara.
Ef1 are sand sheet deposits in a 600 m broad shallow
depression.
Fig. 52 B (Bands 3-2-1), 25 Aug. 2003, scene cover-
age 1,665 km2
The regional streak erosion pattern is well expressed
spectrally in this satellite image.
The yardangs are clearly associated with the slight-
ly elevated outcropping sandstones. The smooth pale
beige areas are slight depressions infilled with Fig. 51
sand sheets. The light grey patches are probably re-
cently exposed sandstone outcrops that do not have
wind-polished coatings.
Environmentally this strong wind system transports
diatomaceous dust deflated from the surface of Meg-
achad Lake in the Bodéle Depression 100 km to the
south across the tropical Atlantic to provide nutrients
to the Amazonian forest.
149
Subgroup Ed Sand Dunes
General characterization
The principal sources of dune sands are from desert
alluvial fans (Fig. 59), dry river valleys, playa basins
(Fig. 56), and weathered desert sandstones (Fig. 43).
Dunes have a wide range of forms and sizes, from a
few centimeters to several kilometers and heights ex-
ceeding 250 m. They are transported close to the ground
by traction and saltation (short leaps and bounces on
the ground) and accumulate by deposition in sites of
reduced wind velocity. They occur as eight Variants.
Linear dunes and dune complexes are figured here.
Three other common Variants are:
 Transverse (ridges transverse to the dominant wind
direction).
 Barchan (crescentic accumulations with wings that
advance downwind faster than the higher center giv-
ing the crescentic form).
 Parabolic (crescentic with a convex nose which ad-
vances downwind leaving paired wings which trail
the center of the dune on either side. In contrast to
the barchan dune these are dune types that develop
asymmetrically by movement of the sand up the
gentle windward slope of the deposit toward the
crest; as sand crosses the crest to the lee side it ava-
lanches down the slipface, which is near the angle
of repose for sand 33º to 35º. As avalanching con-
tinues the dune migrates in the direction of the wind.
Rates of migration average 6 to 10 meters per year
and can exceed 25 m per year.)
Geohazard relations Wind erosion and deposition go
hand in hand. Sand abrasion undercuts structures close
to ground level. The directional drift of active migrat-
ing dunes buries agricultural land, overrides linear fa-
cilities such as roadways, pipelines and airfields, and
clogs irrigation canals.
Figure 53 linear dunes (class. Ed1.1)
Characterization
These dunes, also termed longitudinal, are the most
common desert dune type. They are elongate, sharp-
crested parallel ridges with slipfaces on both sides, and
with the long axis extending in the direction of promi-
nent winds. Individual dunes average 20 m in height
with a basal width five to ten times the height. They
are spaced up to one kilometer apart and can attain
great lengths (more than 160 km) and heights.
150 Part II The Examples

Fig. 53A (E69 34 N25 34), contact scale 1: 35,000, Figure 54 dune complexes (class. Ed2)
source USGS
Characterization
This stereomodel shows a group of northeast oriented
These dunes are a coalescence of two or three different
linear dunes with lakes in interdune depressions. A
dune Units.
broad depression is cultivated and partly flooded.
Fig. 54A (E04 29 N24 15), contact scale 1: 50,000,
Fig. 53B (Bands 7-4-2), 28 Sept. 2001, area coverage
source IGN, France
4,640 km2
This stereo triplet in southern Algeria covers a 16 km
This image shows the photo area to be at the margin of
long complex linear and transverse dune belt.
an extensive area of linear dunes that are of the Thar
The belt is choking a wadi (an intermittently dry
Desert of northwest India and the central Sind Plain of
stream bed) and creating a local ponding area.
the Indus Valley in southern Pakistan.
The dunes in this scene are 2% of the 200,000 km2
Fig. 54B (Bands 3-2-1), 17 July 2010, area coverage
Thar Desert. They are approximately 5 ka in age. The
1,680 km2
dunes are approximately 200,000 km2 in age. The dunes
The image shows the photo area dune belt to be part of
trend north-northeast under the influence of a regional
a sinuous 25 km long deposit completely choking wadi
unimodal wind regime. They average 2 km wide and are
Assouf Mellène to its junction with another wadi.
commonly 20 km long. Surface wind flow in summer
The white areas are granite plains in an area of light
is from the southwest and from northeast in winter. The
grey low-weathering metamorphic basement rocks.
dunes stabilized in Mid to late Holocene.
The eastern third of the scene comprises units of dark
See the same Unit in the north part of Fig. 50B.
grey resistant rocks of an Upper Proterozoic orogenic
The canal-irrigated summer cotton and rice cropland
belt of the Hoggar Massif described in Fig. 5B.
of the relatively low Khipro Plain is one of the most
productive of the areas that were severely flooded dur-
ing the summer monsoon of August 2010.
The grey areas in the valley are patches of surface
salinity wasteland.
 Section 6
Basinal Sediments

Basinal sediments are lakebed deposits of extinct inland bodies of standing water.
They are classified in three Units:
 L1 Glaciolacustrine lakebeds (Fig. 55).
 L2 Arid zone lakebeds (Fig. 56).
 L3 Drained lakebeds (Fig. 57).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 151

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_7, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
152 Part II The Examples

Fig. 55A
Section 6 Basinal Sediments 153

Fig. 55B
154 Part II The Examples

Fig. 56A
Section 6 Basinal Sediments 155

Fig. 56B
156 Part II The Examples

Fig. 57A
Section 6 Basinal Sediments 157

Fig. 57B
158
Interpretations of Basinal Sediments
Figure 55 glaciolacustrine lakebeds (class. L1)
Characterization
These lakes form when meltwater is trapped between
the front of a glacier and a moraine (Fig. 83) or rock
wall. The sediments are layered in varves of yearly
seasonal deposition. A layer of light-colored sand and
silt is deposited in summer; a darker layer of clay is
deposited in quieter winter. Thicknesses range from a
few to several hundred meters.
Fig. 64B shows a 625 km2 area of the 465,000 km2
present extent of 11,500 Ka mega Lake Agassiz
Geohazard relations Glaciolacustrine sediments are
susceptible to a number of processes that constitute
hazards or severe constraints on construction. Bearing
capacities are poor; shear strengths are low and can
decrease with depth. Susceptibility to frost in cold
temperatures can be high. The soils can have high
moisture contents and be difficult to handle and com-
pact.
Fig. 55A (W86 09 N42 34), contact scale 1: 25,000,
source USGS.
This single photo on the eastern shore of Lake Michi-
gan in the Upper Pleistocene glaciated lowlands of the
central USA shows the contrast in tonalities, land use,
and micro relief between the flat, dark agricultural
fields of market gardening crops on the clayey sedi-
ments, and the orchards, vineyards and woodlots on
the brighter, rolling glacial till soils (Fig. 83) labeled
Gt2.
Fig. 55B (Bands 4-3-2), 13 July 2008, area coverage
408 km2
The delineated extension of the lakebed resolves the
land use land cover patterns of the photo and also dark
high-groundwater zones. Adjacent terrain is glacial till
of two continental end moraines (Fig. 83). The pond
pitted Unit east of the lake is hummocky and wooded.
The Unit west of the lake is less rugged and cultivated
as in the photo. Both are at 200 m elevation, the lake
bed is at 190 m. The Lake Border End Moraine was
deposited 13,800 years ago by a readvance southward
of the Lake Michigan ice lobe. The eastern moraine
(Valparaiso) was deposited by the earlier ice lobe re-
treat.
Part II The Examples
Figure 56 arid lakebeds (class. L2)
Characterization
These flattest of all landforms, also termed playas, are
beds of clay encrusted with precipitated salts in Holo-
cene desert lake basins, with no outlet. Pluvial lake-
beds are relict basins formed in response to late Pleis-
tocene, 1.6 million BP, and climatic conditions of en-
hanced rainfall. They occupy the numerous floors of
inland basins with shallow water in a wet season but
drying out later. Occurrences have great variations in
size, ranging from a few to hundreds of square kilome-
ters.
The water in playas is derived from groundwater
and precipitation in the catchment area. The mechani-
cal and chemical deposition of evaporite minerals is
controlled by the hydrology of the basin. These occur
as alternations of relatively insoluble muds and clays
and soluble surface efflorescent crusts of evaporite sa-
lines which do not persist as sedimentary strata.
Geohazard relations Playas may support aircraft land-
ings or be totally impassible to any vehicles. “Giant
desiccation fissures up to 1 m wide and 10 m deep oc-
cur prefentially on hard, dry playa crusts, especially
where long term drought has occurred, or where hu-
mans have lowered groundwater levels over protracted
intervals…(elsewhere) salt ridges form from thermal
expansion of salt and from the capillary rise of brine,
they may be 60 cm high in places and are a clear haz-
ard to traffic of any kind” (Neal 1998).
In general, image tones suggest the condition of a
playa: bright-toned areas will probably be dry crust,
but the material beneath the crust may be wet. Heavy
vehicles can break through such crusts.
Fig. 56A (E51 06, N31 31), contact scale 1: 55,000,
source personal archive
This stereotriplet of photos taken circa 1955 in western
Iran shows a 35 km2 playa at the low north end of
an intermont basin marked Un3. The basins are in-
filled by alluvial successions. Local elevations are
indicated. The cultivation in this basin is irrigated by
streams from groundwater recharged sources in large
bajada (Fig. 59) fans 5 km south of the basin. Mean
annual precipitation in this part of Iran is anomalously
700 mm (average 300 mm).
A dark central zone of the playa is wet, the bright
areas are evaporites. Fu1.3 are coalesced bajada fans
(Fig. 59).
Section 6 Basinal Sediments 159

Fig. 56B (Bands 3-2-1), 04 Aug. 2009, area coverage

5,330 km2
The isolation of such enclosed basins in a wilderness
of barren Mid-Cretaceous/Lower Tertiary limestone
Zagros fold ranges (Fig. 36) is well illustrated in the
scene. Part of a similar basin can be seen 35 km north-
ward on the center edge of the scene. The present site
is at 1,840 m elevation, while surrounding ranges rise
to 3,000 m.

Figure 57 drained lakebeds (class. L3)

Characterization
Some lakes in humid climates have been artificially
drained and the groundwater table lowered to produce
additional areas of productive soils for agricultural
uses. The surfaces are characterized by integrated sys-
tems of buried tiles and open drains.
Geohazard relations (see Figure 55)

Fig. 57A (E23 10 N38 20), contact scale 1: 40,000,

source Photo Interprétation Éditions ESKA, France
This stereomodel covers 47 km2 of the northeast ex-
tremity of the 200 km2 intermont basin Lake Copais in
the Parnassos zone of Greece at Kastron. The Kp1 is-
land in the lower right is 67 m above the lake level.
The 14th-12th century BC Mycenean fortified city of
Gla is in its center.
Kp1 descriptors indicate enclosing karst carbonates
sedimentary rocks.

Fig 57B (Bands 3-2-1), 12 Aug. 2010, area coverage

875 km2
The image emphasizes the limited coverage of the
photo area of this large karstic polje (Fig. 19) at 90 m
elevation. The polje was drained in the period 1867-
1887. Its canal system flows into Lake Hylice on the
right. The surrounding uplands are barren.
 Section 7
Fluvial System Sediments

Fluvial system sediments are depositional Geounits that form a hydrologic continu-
um of 15 Units and 10 Variants from upland margin to valley fill and deltaic depo
sites ordered in five Subgroups. These are part of the geomorphology of the subaeri-
al erosional cycle of land degradation and deposition which responds to changes of
climate, base level and tectonics. Sediment is transferred along stream channels by
the sole force of flowing water. Erosional networks of small rills on slopes above the
upland margin are unclassified.
The Subgroups are:
 Fu – Upland margin Units are fan-shaped deposits that issue from a confined chan-
nel at a marked break in slope (Figs. 58, 59).
 Fv – Valley fill Units are the suspended and bed loads carried and deposited in
river channels (Figs. 60 to 64).
 Fv1/Fv2 – Composite Units are bimodal deposits that combine both high and low
energy sediments.
 Fw – Holocene deltas are accumulations of river sediments actively being depos-
ited where a stream debouches into a receiving basin (Fig. 65).
 Fr – Climatic deltas occur in intracratonic arid basins.

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 161

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_8, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
162 Part II The Examples

Fig. 58A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 163

Fig. 58B
164 Part II The Examples

Fig. 59A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 165

Fig. 59B
166 Part II The Examples

Fig. 60A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 167

Fig. 60B
168 Part II The Examples

Fig. 61A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 169

Fig. 61B
170 Part II The Examples

Fig. 62A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 171

Fig. 62B
172 Part II The Examples

Fig. 63A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 173

Fig. 63B
174 Part II The Examples

Fig. 64A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 175

Fig. 64B
176 Part II The Examples

Fig. 65A
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 177

Fig. 65B
178
Interpretations of Fluvial System
Sediments
Subgroup Fu Upland Margin Units
Figure 58 fan-delta (class. Fu1.2)
Characterization
This Variant of the Unit alluvial fans progrades into
lakes or seas. Fans are beds of unconsolidated coarse
detrital sediments transported and deposited by mainly
swift-flowing streams in gullies and ravines at the base
of tectonically active mountain fronts.
Fan surface slopes are generally less than 10º, and
typically range in size from 1 to 1,000 km2, with the
larger ones attaining a thickness of up to 700 m. Satel-
lite images note occurrences up to 15,000 km2.
Fig. 58A (W72 24 N18 32), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source IGN, France
The four kilometer broad low-dipping fan delta of this
stereo model in Haiti has prograded 1.5 km into the
sea.
The sediment was deposited by a stream flowing
down from 400 m high Tertiary limestone mountain
ranges. A coral reef rim is 500 m off the west lee shore
of the fan’s local ocean currents, with effluent from the
city in suspension in the intervening shallow lagoon.
The presence of the reef paralleling the fan shape is
evidence of the age of this fan. The fan is densely pop-
ulated by the town of Léogane, (population 134,000).
Fig. 58B (Bands 3-2-1), 18 Sept. 2007, area coverage
600 km2
The image shows the fan to be deposited into the bay
of Port au Prince, 10 km west of the city. The white
channel of the tributary river indicates a high bed load
high energy braided stream (Fig. 60) capable of deliv-
ering the sediments to build the delta. The limestone
mountains of the Massif de la Selle to the south are
covered mainly in scrub vegetation.
Part II The Examples
Figure 59 bajada fans (class. Fu1.3)
Characterization
The term bajada refers to alluvial fans in dry mountain
environments that coalesce as an apron along the base
of a mountain front from high rates of flash stream dis-
charges of high sediment loads.
Fig. 59A (E51 03 N31 22), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source personal archive
This stereo pair shows a delineated apron of coalesc-
ing fans in Iran that slopes down 300 m from an apex
at 2,300 m elevation, a length of two km, to a culti-
vated basin at 2,000 m elevation. The high ridges rise
to 3,000 m.
Fig. 59B (Bands 3-2-1), 04 Aug. 2009, area coverage
1,400 km2
In this image the fans are seen to be on the east limb of
a northwest-trending breached anticline (Fig. 36) in
Cretaceous/Tertiary limestones folded 13.9 Ma at the
interplay of the African and Arabian plates. The site is
15 km southwest of the basin appearing in upper right
of Fig. 56.
Geohazard relations of Upland margin Units Fans are
hazardous environments for structures and transport
lines. They are subject to unpredictable flash flooding,
erosion and sedimentation. Road washouts and plug-
ging of culverts result from flash floods.
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments 179

Subgroup Fv. Valley Fill Units Figure 60 braided deposits, high gradient setting
(class. Fv1.1)
This Subgroup consists of two basic floodplain chan- Characterization
nel pattern Units, Fv1 Braided and Fv2 Meandering This Variant is the result of an unstable seasonal or cli-
that incorporate numerous distinct hydrodynamic vari- matic flow regime which builds horizontally bedded
ables. imbricate deposits of coarse gravels and cobbles in in-
The Units are composed of sediments derived from terlaced wide, shallow, multiple low sinuosity chan-
upland sources. They are transported by traction, and nels and elongate bars parallel to flow.
in suspension, to be ultimately deposited in stretches of
a valley as a result of reduction of gradients, water vol- Geohazard relations Braided river floodplains are no-
umes, and velocities. toriously unstable and provide poor foundation condi-
Stream flow sorts sediment particles by density, tions. They present an active depositional environment
grades them by size, and stratifies them in successive with rapid and continuous shifting of the sediment and
the position of channels which are difficult for engi-
beds.
neers to control.
The main characteristics of the two Units are com-
pared as follows:
Fig. 60A (W130 37, N57 03), contact scale 1: 31,680,
source Courtesy of Ministry of Sustainable Resources,
Characteristic FV1 Fv2 Government of British Columbia
This stereomodel covers the mid reach of More Creek
Gradient High Low at elevation 600 m in the Cordillera of northern British
Flow velocity High Low Columbia. Surrounding peaks are at 1,800 m.
(competence) The characteristic braided floodplain is 500 m wide.
The terraces, labeled k, are forested, indicating the bed
Sediment size Large Small
has not flooded for a minimum 20 year period.
Sediment load Large Small The Units labeled Mf3 are old debris flow deposits.
Sediment transport Bed load Suspended load These are masses of cobbles and boulders embedded in
dominant a matrix of fine material, with a quantity of water that
forms a slurry and moves downslope very rapidly. The
larger deposit has constricted and displaced the chan-
nel, which, if it had been larger, would have become a
landslide dam as in Fig. 94. The flows are located in
gullies in Upper Triassic volcanic and sedimentary
rocks.

Fig. 60B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 Sept. 1990, area coverage

1,600 km²
This scene shows More Creek’s alpine setting, carry-
ing the flow of four tributary streams, some rising at
glaciers of 1,600 to 2,000 m elevation. The braided
channel of the lower reach continues below the debris
flow constriction.
180
Figure 61 braided deposits, low gradient setting
(class. Fv1.2)
Characterization
Deposits of this Variant occur in broad valleys in
mountainous regions or piedmont plains. Braided
streams in such sites are determined by climatic condi-
tions that produce high seasonal discharge fluctua-
tions, e.g. low latitude monsoons, high latitude snow
melt, wet-dry seasons in savannah zones and African
Sahelian countries.
Fig. 61A (E73 04 N32 30), contact scale ± 1: 40,000,
source personal archive
This photo pair covers a reach of the Jhellum River in
Pakistan’s west Punjab plain of the upper Indus basin.
The site is in the summer monsoon dry phase of the
western Indian subcontinent. The pattern of stabilized
(vegetated) and active bars is typical of this Variant.
A dark residual high water channel is on the north
bank with a high groundwater site behind the bank. The
arrows indicate bare gravel deposits from flood waters of
relatively small tributaries coming down from the moun-
tains of Fig. 61B, which spread out and invaded the fields
of the plain before reaching the main river. The deposits
appear more extensively on the photo mate included in
the extra material on the Springer website. They are relics
from earlier torrential rains in the mountains.
Fig. 61B (Bands 3-2-1), 18 June 2010, area coverage
500 km2
This scene of a 25 km reach of the Jhellum river shows
it in a bank-full stage, covering the active bars of the
photo.
The image is visibly divided into distinct landscapes
on either side of the river. The beige land on the north-
west consists of non-irrigated, rainfed piedmont soils.
The white and dark zones near the river are high
groundwater and saline evaporites.
The area on the southeast is canal-irrigated cropland
on fertile soils of an old meander floodplain (Fig. 63).
A series of grey alluvial fans are visible along the
north edge of the scene. They are at the base of a moun-
tain front north of the image.
Part II The Examples
Figure 62 braided deposits, low gradient setting
(class. Fv1.2)
Characterization (see Figure 61)
Fig. 62A (W137 14 49 N68 46 57), contact scale 1:
68,000, source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This airphoto model taken in 1954 shows a seasonally
high energy braided river in a northern subarctic re-
gion.
The delineated components of the unit include F, the
bright bare bar and channel complex of the active
floodplain; L are low terraces 0.5 to 10 m above stream
level; H are high terraces which stand 30 to 50 m above
river level.
Fig. 62B (Bands 3-2-1), 18 July 2002, area coverage
3,120 km2
This image acquired near a half century after the air-
photo covers the eastern third of the 200 km long gla-
ciomarine (Fig. 80) Yukon coastal plain.
The plain, underlain by unconsolidated Quaternary
sediments, is of low relief, 0 to 150 m elevation. The
photo area is in a lower reach of Blow River which has
a great seasonal variation in discharge. It rises 80 km
inland at 1,500 m elevation in the western Richardson
Mountains. Its elevation at the south edge of the image
is 80 m. The terraces and braid bars are distinguishable.
A zoom of the image reveals significant changes in
channel bars.
Due to its relatively larger drainage basin the river
has built a delta that has prograded 5 km into Macken-
zie Bay. The grey area on the east is the western edge
of the Mackenzie Delta.
The zone of lakes near the coastline are thermokarst
(thawing of ground ice) basins associated with lacus-
trine sediments that lie behind the 30 m bluffs of the
shoreline. They are inset two to six meters below the
general level of the plain.
The overall green color of the scene reflects the tun-
dra vegetation cover.
The area was deglaciated 18,000 years ago.
Section 7 Fluvial System Sediments
Figure 63 meandering deposits (class. Fv2)
Characterization
This Unit is characterized by a single, highly sinuous
channel with two hydrologic discharge stages bank-
full and overbank which determine the basic channel
pattern:
 Bank-full stage water flow velocities on the out and
in sides of channel bends produce discrete sites of
erosion and deposition by a complementary hydrau-
lic cut-and-fill process. The resulting sinuosity of
the channel is what has given such a stream valley
the appellation meandering.
 Over-bank flood stage produces discharges that
exceed the channel capacity, causing floodwaters to
leave the channel, and part of the suspended sedi-
ment to be deposited initially as levee banks imme-
diately bordering the channel. The fine sediments
are deposited further out onto the adjacent flood-
plain.
Geohazard relations Flooding is the dominant geohaz-
ard of meandering rivers and their valleys.
“Flooding causes loss of life and damages property
and infrastructure (e.g. bridges and pipelines) can be
damaged structurally or be destroyed by fast-flowing
water and/or impacts from debris (ice, trees) carried by
the current. Lateral bank erosion can damage or de-
stroy buildings and infrastructure by undermining
them, even when they are situated above the level of
inundation. Bridge abutments or pier supports may be
scoured and undermined in areas where they constrict
or accelerate the flow. Bridges can also partly dam flow
and be overtopped by water, causing the approaches to
be washed out. Floodwaters can wash out roads, high-
ways and railway lines. Artificial dams may be breached
by overtopping flood flows.” Brooks et al 2001.
Fig. 63A (W139 22 N64 02), contact scale 1: 70,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
The bright wormlike patterns in this stereomodel of
the meandering Klondike River and Bonanza Creek
floodplains are tailings from dredge mining of placer
gold in paleochannels of the streams. These flow into
the braided Yukon River at Dawson just north of the
junction.
The source of the placers is in uplift and erosion of
gold-bearing schists in Late Tertiary time. J3.3 is schist
terrain of Fig. 63B.
181
Fig. 63B (Bands 3-2-1), 20 Sept. 2010, area coverage
4,200 km2
The image shows mining activity extending up to 40
km eastward up the Klondike River plain and terraces,
and 60 km southeastwards up the valleys of tributary
streams.
Country rocks are Paleozoic schists (Fig. 33) at
800 m general elevation. The low relief land to the
northeast is part of the Tintina Trench one of the great
faults in western North America.
The mountain terrain is forested with subalpine
white spruce, and aspen in the beige areas. The image
provides a good depiction of the relief of unglaciated
terrain of the Ogilvie Mountains, with weathered rock
and colluvium as surficial deposits on slopes (compare
Fig. 92B).
Figure 64 meandering deposits (class. Fv2)
Characterization (see Figure 63)
Fig. 64A (W97 14 N49 02), contact scale 1: 15,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
The photos taken 07 May 1950 show extensive flood-
ing of the town of Emerson and surrounding land along
a lower reach of the Red River on the border of Mani-
toba and the state of Minnesota in the Interior Plains.
Arrows indicate the international boundary.
The flood in the Red River basin in 1950 was an
international natural disaster based on the number of
people evacuated and affected by the flood. 2,000 km2
of land was flooded in Manitoba alone. A critical con-
currence of a number of meteorological conditions
contributed to exceptional runoff at the time. The peak
discharge at Emerson on 13 May was 2,670 m3/sec.
Fig. 64B (Bands 3-2-1), 22 April 2010, area coverage
625 km2
This scene shows a 20 km reach of the meandering
Red River flowing through the cereal and mixed farm-
ing plain of glaciolacustrine (Fig. 55) Lake Agassiz.
The river appears bankfull at data acquisition date.
The silty clays of the lake and the younger alluvial de-
posits of the river form an unusually flat plain that is
notorious for flooding in the spring.
182
Subgroup Fw Holocene Deltas
Figure 65 arcuate deltas (class. Fw1)
Characterization
These fan-shaped deltas occur where a large debris
supply from a river debouches into a receiving basin,
ocean, inland sea, or lake. The sizes and shapes of del-
tas vary greatly throughout the world. They consist es-
sentially of distributary plains and distributary chan-
nels where they are unconfined, as on coastal and al-
luvial plains. The deltas develop chiefly by pronounced
progradation of streams with large, relatively coarse
sediment loads.
The Subgroup includes four hydrologic and mor-
phologic Units: arcuate, elongate, estuarine, and cus-
pate.
Geohazard relations Fluvial flooding, tidal flooding,
storm surges (Subgroup coastal plains) are geohazards
common to coastal deltas. Maritime infrastructures lo-
cated on distributary plains and channels are all sub-
ject to these hazards.
Global climate changes and associated sea level rise
are a serious threat to all deltaic environments.
Part II The Examples
Fig. 65A (E12 29 54, N47 51 28), contact scale
1: 20,000, source Selbstverlag der Bundesforschungs-
anstalt für Landeskunde und Raumordnung Bonn-Bad
Godesberg
This three photo sequence of a small 2 km2 but classic
delta documents the progradation of the Tiroler Ache
into the Chiemsee in eastern Bavaria over a 35 year
period.
Fig. 65B (Bands 3-2-1), 10 July 2010, area coverage
300 km2
The image shows the circled delta and 10 km of the
lower reach of the 80 km long Ache River (mountain
stream) flowing into the 80 km2 moraine-enclosed
(Fig. 83) Chiemsee at 516 m elevation.
A zoom shows that the delta front has prograded
500 m in the 50 year period 1960-2010. White areas at
the mouths of distributaries indicate current deposition
of silt and mud.
The Ache River rising at 1,270 m a.s.l. in the wood-
ed Austrian Kitzbuhel Alps at the bottom of the scene
descends 750 m to 518 m at the delta. The average mid-
discharge is 35.5 m3/sec.
The mixed woodlot and agriculture landscape is
typical of the glaciated alpine foreland of end moraines
and glacial till plains in Europe. The land between the
lake and the mountains is a glaciolacustrine plain (Fig.
55) of the larger postglacial Chiemsee. The dark zones
in the plain are wooded wetlands, not woodlots.
 Section 8
Marine Littoral Systems

The coast is a zone of interaction between processes of erosion and deposition in the
sea and on the land. The changes which various coasts are undergoing, long term re-
treat and short term cliff erosion, are dependent on the character of the coasts. A clas-
sification of coastal Geounits involves the disciplines of oceanography and climatol-
ogy in addition to geology.
The coastal geomorphologic system, one of the largest, comprises 23 Units and
nine Variants ordered in eight Subgroups:
 Br – Bedrock littorals are shorelines that are at the landward limit of marine proc-
esses on a rock coast (Figs. 66, 67).
 Bb – Residual shorelines are bluffs, steep banks ramping 5 to 50 m in height in
unconsolidated sediments.
 Bw –Wave and current formed sediments are beaches and offshore sand bars (Figs.
68 to 71).
 Bl – Sea ice related forms are shore and beach materials that are moved by ice
beyond the competence of other processes (Fig. 72).
 Bf – Holocene coral reefs are underwater structures made by marine organisms
that secrete calcium carbonate (Figs. 73 to 75).
 Bt – Tidal regime deposits are tide-borne sediments that are deposited in protected
bodies of coastal waters such as lagoons (Figs. 76, 77).
 Bc – Coastal plains are emerged portions of continental shelves (Figs. 78 to 81).
 Bp – Carbonate platforms are carbonate blankets in warm shallow waters of con-
tinental shelves in low latitudes.

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 183

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_9, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
184 Part II The Examples

Fig. 66A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 185

Fig. 66B
186 Part II The Examples

Fig. 67A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 187

Fig. 67B
188 Part II The Examples

Fig. 68A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 189

Fig. 68B
190 Part II The Examples

Fig. 69A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 191

Fig. 69B
192 Part II The Examples

Fig. 70A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 193

Fig. 70B
194 Part II The Examples

Fig. 71A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 195

Fig. 71B
196 Part II The Examples

Fig. 72A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 197

Fig. 72B
198 Part II The Examples

Fig. 73A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 199

Fig. 73B
200 Part II The Examples

Fig. 74A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 201

Fig. 74B
202 Part II The Examples

Fig. 75A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 203

Fig. 75B
204 Part II The Examples

Fig. 76A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 205

Fig. 76B
206 Part II The Examples

Fig. 77A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 207

Fig. 77B
208 Part II The Examples

Fig. 78A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 209

Fig. 78B
210 Part II The Examples

Fig. 79A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 211

Fig. 79B
212 Part II The Examples

Fig. 80A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 213

Fig. 80B
214 Part II The Examples

Fig. 81A
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 215

Fig. 81B
216
Interpretations of Marine Littoral
Systems
Subgroup Br Bedrock Littorals
Figure 66 high rock cliffs (class. Br2)
Characterization
Lithologically cliffs occur in rock types of high mass
strength. Structurally they result from sustained re-
gional scale tectonic uplift and transitory isostatic re-
bound.
They are the product of the combination of marine
and subaerial processes. Mechanical wave action at the
cliff foot during storms is the primary marine agent of
erosion. This is accomplished by quarrying, abrasion
and corrasion. Freeze-thaw, hydration, oxidation solu-
tion, and salt crystal growth are the principal subaerial
weathering processes. They exploit the internal struc-
tural weaknesses (joints, faults, bedding) of cliffs that
result in high intensity, low frequency mass move-
ments.
Fig. 66A (W119 55 N34 04), contact scale 1: 20,000,
source USGS
The stereogram covers two km of a 145 m high rock
cliff headland in Miocene basalts, marked Br2.
The Br6 Unit is a 15 m tectonic eustatic marine ter-
race (due to sea level changes or tectonic uplift) in Cre-
taceous schists.
Fig. 66B (Bands 3-2-1), 21 March 2000, area cover-
age 700 km2
The image shows 20 km of the 35 km long 250 km2
Santa Cruz island lying 30 km off the mainland coast
of southern California. The island is a composite Unit
formed by the fusion of two terranes which are divided
by a prominent active strike-slip fault (Fig. 44) that
crosses its center.
The island is an extension of the onshore Santa
Monica Mountains of the Transverse Ranges. The
highest peak on the northern terrain is 750 m. The
southern schist terrane is typically highly dissected.
The island is one of a group of five that make up the
Channel Islands National Park. It is covered in scrub
oak and shrubs (chapparal) and some pines.
The land area on the left is the east end of Santa
Rosa island.
Part II The Examples
Figure 67 weak low rock cliffs (class. Br3.1)
Characterization
This Unit Variant consists of rocks of low strength due
to composition, poor cementation, or high density of
fracturing (Figs. 24, 25, 26).
Geohazard relations Rock falls (Fig. 87), rock slides
(Fig. 92), and rock slumps (rotational, backward tilting
slide blocks) are the mass movements to which rock
cliffs are susceptible, as a function of their lithology,
structure, and environmental conditions in which they
occur.
Fig. 67A (W121, N35 28), scale 1: 100,000, source
personal archive
This single color vertical photo shows turbidity in the
offshore waters at Point Estero, California. The point
is 120 m high with a tectonic eustatic marine terrace
(Fig. 66) at its surface. It is bordered north and south
by a lower 20 m terrace.
Fig 67B (Bands 3-2-1), 11 Nov. 2010, area coverage
700 km2
This image shows the photo area centered on a 30 km
segment of the coast of central California from Morro
Bay to Cambria. The turbidity can be faintly seen to
extend along the coast north and east in the same
Geounit. The sediment yield in the area has been cal-
culated as 40–60 thousands of cubic yards per 1.6 km.
The source rocks are of the Late Jurassic and Creta-
ceous Californian Franciscan Mélange – a complex
mixture of hard blocks of rock embedded in soil-like
matrices.
The mountains inland, the Santa Lucia Range of the
Coast Mountains, 150–250 m elevation, are part of the
Franciscan Unit.
Parallel lineaments in the northeast third of the im-
age reflect the San Andreas strike-slip fault (Fig. 44)
system.
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems
Subgroup Bw Wave and Current Formed
Sediments
Figure 68 offshore bar (class. Bw2)
Characterization
Offshore bars are ridges of sand that parallel shorelines
of coasts other than cliffs. They are subtidal and con-
tinuously submerged. They occur singly or as multiple
ridges, and can be continuous or discontinuous for sev-
eral kilometers.
The bars are produced by strong storm waves that
rework the seabed sands.
Occurrences of these bars are indicated by breaking
wave patterns 50 to 300 m offshore parallel to the
coastline.
Geohazard relations These bars are subject to erosion
by storm wave and storm surge activity (an abnormal
rise of several meters in the ocean level produced by
the combination of high water and high winds). These
waves and surges remobilize and redistribute the bar
sediment. As submerged bottom features in areas nor-
mally dominated by dynamic marine conditions, they
are potentially hazardous to surface navigation and
marine engineering activities if uncharted or misposi-
tioned.
Fig. 68A (W75 31 N 35 14), contact scale 1: 10,000,
source US Coast and Geodetic Survey
This single photo at Cape Hatteras North Carolina
taken in 1958, shows 4 km of breaking waves of a bar
off Hatteras Island.
Fig. 68B (Bands 3-2-1), 31 Oct. 2010, area coverage
215 km2
This image, which does not resolve the offshore bar at
Cape Hatteras, shows 10 km of Hatteras Island barrier
beach (Fig. 69) that extends continuously 90 km north-
ward to enclose Pamlico Sound. The image shows that
Hatteras is one of two barrier islands that intersect to
produce the cape. Littoral currents from the north have
extended the cape southward and currents from the
west extended it eastward well beyond its position in
1958. The rip current pattern off the point reflects the
convergence of the currents.
Note the difference in color between Atlantic water
and the suspended and solution loads of the shallow
waters of the Sound which receives the inland waters
of the Tar and Neuse Rivers.
217
Figure 69 near-shore barrier beaches (class. Bw3)
Characterization
A barrier beach is a sand bar parallel to the shore which
has been built by upward shoaling wave action so that
its crest rises above the normal high-water tide level.
The stability conditions of the beaches vary accord-
ing to their alignment relative to the direction of wave
approach, the size of the lagoon that they enclose, and
the availability of littoral sediments.
The barrier encloses a lagoon and its components
(Fig. 76).
Geohazard relations The low height and narrow width
of these bars makes them susceptible to storm surges
and particularly susceptible to sea level rise. They
would be subject to overwashing and breaching during
storms.
Human impacts are also geohazard agents of these
coastal beaches. There is no greater threat to them than
extensive urbanization.
Fig. 69A (W64 56 N47 20), source ReinsonGE (1980),
the Coastline of Canada, GSC Paper 80 -10, fig.3.14, p
33
This site map of Tabusintac Bay marked Bt1 shows the
characteristic depositional environment of barrier
beaches on the northeast coast of New Brunswick,
Canada. The example documents the migration south-
ward of these barriers by strong longshore drift in re-
sponse to short-period wind-generated storm waves
from the northeast.
Fig, 69B (Bands 7-4-2), 06 Sept. 2000, area coverage
1,365 km2
The image shows the map area to be in the center of a
system of barrier beaches and lagoons (Fig. 76) ex-
tending along 70 km of the New Brunswick coast.
They lie along a five to ten km wide agriculturally fa-
vorable plain of glaciomarine sediments (Fig. 79).
These lagoons are at river mouths that were drowned
by rising post-glacial sea levels.
The light blue features on the beach side of the la-
goons are tidal deltas. The scattered orange areas are
zones of the peat industry extraction of sphagnum moss
in bogs.
218
Figure 70 bay barrier beaches (class. Bw3.1)
Characterization
This barrier beach Variant differs from the Unit by ex-
tending between headlands of a bay frequently creat-
ing a lagoon. They may develop by longshore growth
of attached beach spits, or by growth of emergent
beaches offshore.
Fig. 70A (W71 06 N41 30), contact scale 1: 5,000,
source USGS
This large scale color photo shows in the center a 400 m
long 70 m wide, partly sand dune covered, barrier be-
tween two headlands of glacial till of the last continen-
tal glaciation (Fig. 83) on the Buzzard’s Bay coast of
southern Massachusetts, USA.
Fig. 70B (Bands 3-2-1), 30 Aug. 2010, area coverage
5,200km2
A series of 20 bay barrier beaches creating lagoons at
the mouths of drowned small stream valleys, similar to
the indicated photo area at the eastern end, can be
counted along this 70 km length of coast of southern
New England from Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts to
Long Island Sound, Connecticut. The sediment to build
the barriers was derived from headlands of erodible
glacial till.
This coast, with its western extension of Long Is-
land, marks the southern limit of continental glaciation
in eastern North America. Block Island at the bottom of
the scene is glacial till.
Part II The Examples
Figure 71 raised beaches (class. Bw4.1)
Characterization
This beach Variant consists of ridges, behind and above
the current active beach of marine plains (Fig. 78) and
post-glacial isostatic rebound of glaciomarine plains
(Fig. 79).
Sea level rise causes an upward shift in the reach of
coastal processes and would reactivate or drown these
beaches.
Fig. 71A (E138 35 S16 47), contact scale 1: 90,000,
source personal archive
The single photo shows a series of dark, savanna veg-
etation-covered, raised beaches and white saline mud-
flats inland.
Fig. 71B (Bands 3-2-1), 08 Sept. 2010, area coverage
6,000 km2 (land + water)
The image extends the raised beach complex of the
photo area to cover 80 kilometers of the east end of
450 km of similar shoreline on the very flat south coast
of the north Australia Gulf of Carpentaria. This coast
has prograded 30 km since the Middle Holocene by
deposition of low tide muds over subtidal muds during
periods of increased sediment input by the rivers. It is
a rare modern example of an epicontinental sea (a shal-
low sea on top of a continental margin).
The ridges rise up to 6 m above mean sea level and
were deposited by storm surge waves. The Gulf is es-
pecially prone to tropical cyclones because of its warm
shallow waters that have a maximum depth of 70 m.
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems 219

Subgroup Bl Sea Ice Related Forms Fig. 72A (W65 43 37 N66 08 37), contact scale 1:
3,180, source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
Figure 72 sea ice related forms (class. Bl1) These very large scale photos taken at low tide show a
30 m wide 2 m high boulder barricade marked by ar-
Characterization
rows at Pangnirtung settlement on the eastern side of
This is a composite Geounit that constitutes the Sub-
the fjord on Baffin Island’s Cumberland Peninsula.
group. It incorporates the movements and geomorphic
The segment pictured in the photos is 950 m long and
effects of sea ice motion on high latitude coasts. Sea
50 m wide. The intertidal flat marked Bt2.1 (Fig. 77)
ice can move sediments that are beyond the compe-
varies from 175 to 275 m wide. Its surface is strewn
tence of other processes.
with ice-rafted boulders.
Various types of shorelines and beach forms are de-
The settlement was established as a whaling station
veloped during the short Arctic summer when mobile
by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1921, 10 km up the
sea ice and waves strike the coast.
east side of the deep and sheltered waters of the 40 km
 Ice thrust ridges are composed of beach and shore long fjord.
material forced up from the water’s edge by ride-ups
of pack ice across the beach. The process is particu- Fig. 72B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 July 1992, area coverage
larly effective in shallow coastal waters. Sharp- 1,200 km2
crested or rounded ridge heights range from three to The arrow locates the photo area in the fjord. Pangnir-
four meters. tung and Kingnait fjord to the south, are sites where
 Boulder barricades are ridges of boulders derived boulder barricades can develop at low tides during
primarily from glacial deposits. They range from 5 breakup.
to 30 m wide, 0.5 to 3 m high, and are found at the This image, acquired at breakup time, is on the
low water line of tidal flats. They originate from northeast side of macrotidal (6 m) Cumberland Sound.
shoreline erosion by ice and are concentrated where, The fjords are among the more than 30 that were
during breakup, floating ice on the tidal flats stands produced by outlet glaciers from the Penny Ice Cap to
against the persistent ice cover offshore. the north, and other local ice fields on the heavily gla-
 Ice-rafted boulders occur scattered randomly on cierized Cumberland Peninsula. Baffin Island is the
intertidal flats, they are typically one to two meters uplifted eastern rim of the Canadian Shield. The high-
in diameter. They become frozen into the ice at low est point inland is 1,500 m, to the northeast.
tide and are then transported – rafted, in the ice and The fjord area was deglaciated 8,700 years ago.
set down on the tidal flat as the ice melts.
Geohazard relations Sea ice is a major seasonal hazard
to structures in the Arctic. During spring breakup ice
floes composed of blocks 1 to 2 m thick are driven
onshore by wind and waves and can pile up into ridges
by buckling up to 30 m high. They override beaches,
hit fixed objects with considerable force and are de-
structive of near-shore installations. Such overrides
can take place in less than 30 minutes and are difficult
to predict. Shores with boulder barricades are difficult
to approach from the sea. They offer restrictions to
boat landing operations and can only be crossed at
high tide.
220
Subgroup Bf Holocene Coral Reefs
Holocene reefs are the source of the fossil reefs of
sedimentary rocks of Fig. 21.
Figure 73 fringing reef (class. Bf1)
Characterization
Coral reefs are marine ecosystems composed of the
carbonate skeletons of attached calcium-producing
bottom dwelling organisms.
Fringing reefs are attached to present coastlines in
shallow waters of tropical and subtropical regions; they
form platforms that are exposed at low tide. Geomor-
phologically they are controlled by the interplay of
growth and erosion processes that produce components
including, from seaward to inland, a growing, widen-
ing reef front, a reef flat, and a backreef zone.
Fig. 73A (E116 05 S08 53), contact scale 1: 40,000
nominal, source personal archive
This single photo looking south was taken at an angle
of 30º from the vertical by the right side photo of the
discontinued trimetrogon camera system
The photo shows a low tide exposure of seven kilo-
metres of the 80 km of coral reef that fringe the south
coast of Lombok Island, Indonesia. Blongas Bay where,
unaccountably, no reefs are now visible on the satellite
image is on the right (west side). The forested and
partly cleared terrain in the foreground is Miocene vol-
canic rocks at 150 m elevation.
Fig. 73B (Bands 7-4-2), 19 Aug. 2000, area coverage
1,120 km2
The appearance of the thin blue lines of the fringing
reefs in this scene indicates that the image data were
acquired at a higher tide level than that of the airphoto.
The image is centered on the southwest coast of
Lombok Island 30 km east of Bali in the magmatic,
tectonically active, east-west trending Indonesian is-
land arc.
Popcorn clouds are a near-perennial occurrence in
Landsat scene selection in humid tropical latitudes.
Part II The Examples
Figure 74 raised reef (class. Bf1.1)
Characterization
As with raised beaches of Fig. 71 this emergent reef
Variant is the result of tectonic uplift or eustatic lower-
ing of sea level.
Raised reefs characteristically form tabular plat-
forms or stepped terraces. No surface drainage occurs
since rainwater infiltrates the highly permeable coral.
Some reflect stepwise emergence. Among the highest
are sets in eastern New Guinea at S06 04 E147 30,
these sequences reach up to 700 m above sea level.
Fig. 74A (E39 16 46 S06 45), contact scale 1: 15,000,
source personal archive
The photos taken in 1962 show the three km wide
Lower Pleistocene 12 m elevation Msasasi Peninsula
raised coral reef complex of north of Dar es Salaam
Tanzania.
Holocene reefs fringe the peninsula’s shoreline.
Fig. 74B (Bands 7-4-2), 30 June 2000, area coverage
600 km2
The image shows the now urbanized platform of the
Msasasi Platform peninsula as part of a coastal struc-
tural basin to north and south which was affected by a
global Upper Pleistocene glacio-eustatic lowering of
sea levels.
Fringing reefs (Fig. 73) are visible around the pen-
insula, off the island to the north, and southward along
the coast.
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems
Figure 75 barrier reef (class. Bf2)
Characterization
Progressive erosion and subsidence of a fringing reef
coastline leaves a reef parallel to the coastline but sep-
arated from it by a relatively shallow lagoon.
Fig. 75A (W72 58 N18 53), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source IGN, France
This stereo photo pair shows 6 km of barrier reef on
the north coast of Gonave Island in southern Haiti. The
enclosed lagoon contains a grey zone of mangroves
(Fig. 76) backed by a 20 m wide band of salt flats that
fringe fan deltas (Fig. 58). Upslope terrace levels are
clearly evident.
Fig. 75B (Bands 3-2-1), 29 Jan. 2010, area coverage
750 km2 (island area)
This image shows 65 km long Gonave island, 45 km
west of Port au Prince, to be ringed by bright blue bar-
rier reefs round its north east and south coasts, and
fringing reefs on its northwestern coast.
The conjunction of tectonics and a 45 ka cycle of
three carbonate deposits from the Eocene to the present
in the North Deformed belt of the Caribbean litho-
spheric Plate is illustrated by this island which was
tectonically uplifted in the Quaternary along its north
and south microplate margins (reduced-size litho-
spheric plates).
The three ages of limestone are distinguishable on
the island by progressively younger segments from
east to west. The southeast third, which rises to 600 m,
(max 778 m) is composed of Eocene marine limestone.
Fracture traces (Fig. 45) in this limestone are quite dis-
tinct. The center of the island is Miocene limestone.
The western end consists of a mass of raised reefs
(Fig. 74) of Quaternary age rising to 320 m elevation
with visible successive terrace levels.
A regional dry tropical climate combined with a
droughty, porous, local lithology result in a water-
scarce environment. A population of 80,000 lives by
subsistence agriculture and a few fishing villages. The
rust-colored patches between the photo frame and the
south coasts are intensely-cultivated polje-like (Fig 19)
depressions. Numerous other such sites are evident
west of the photo area.
221
Subgroup Bt Tidal Regime Deposits
Figure 76 salt marshes and mangrove swamps
(class. Bt1c)
Characterization
Salt marshes and mangrove swamps are one of five
components of Geounit Bt1 lagoons, bodies of com-
paratively shallow salt water separated from the deeper
sea by a barrier beach (Fig. 69). Lagoons are common
along gently sloping coastal plains around the world.
Salt marshes are dense stands of Halophytic plants
(plants which can grow in saline conditions) which de-
velop in the wave-protected environment of a lagoon.
They are a flora of reed type rushes and cordgrass that
occur as low and high types.
Low marshes correspond to the upper intertidal zone
(Fig. 77) with a muddy substrate.
High marshes are supratidal and are more influ-
enced by terrestrial conditions, with more permeable
sands substrate.
Both types are drained by a typical pattern of intri-
cately meandering creeks.
Sediment carried into a marsh by the rising tide is
trapped by the vegetation and retained as the tide ebbs,
gradually building up the marsh.
Mangroves are tropical and subtropical shrubs and
trees that grow in protected saline and brackish coastal
sites. They are homologous to higher latitude salt marsh
ecosystems.
Fig. 76A (W74 49 47 N39 02 14), contact scale 1:
46,000, source USGS
The single composite photo shows the typical pattern
of meandering creeks (T) of a lagoonal salt marsh. C
and L indicate the cultivated coastal plain (Fig. 78).
Fig. 76B (Bands 7-4-2), 10 July 2001, area coverage
7,000 km2
This synoptic image covers the Atlantic Coastal Plain
(elevations of four to 10 m) of southern New Jersey. Salt
marshes appear grey. The photo area, north of Cape May,
which partly encloses Delaware Bay on the left, is seen
to be within a 90 km segment of a 150 km long marsh-
filled series of barrier beach-enclosed lagoons. The ar-
row points to the eight km long Atlantic City barrier.
These barrier coasts are exposed to the full force of
East Coast hurricanes.
The dominant green color is the heavily forested re-
gional Pine Barrens on agriculturally poor sandy soils.
222
Figure 77 mud/sand intertidal slope (class. Bt2.1)
Characterization
Mud/sand is one of two intertidal slope Variants, the
other being bedrock. Intertidal slopes, also termed flats
develop along gently dipping sea coasts with marked
tidal rhythms where enough sediment is available and
strong wave action is not present. Many large tidal
flats such as in macrotidal areas (> 4m) occur where
they adjoin point sources (riverine) or line sources
(continental shelves) where a large volume of sedi-
ment is available. The sediments are located between
the high and low water lines over a vertical range of
usually 2 to 3 m and up to 10 or 15 m depending on the
tidal range. The twice-daily rise and fall of tide level
causes the intertidal sea bed to be exposed for moder-
ate to long periods, up to as much as 10 hours, (Da-
viesJL (1977).
Fig. 77A (W03 10 N47 42), contact scale 1: 22,000,
source IGN, France
This single photo taken at low tide on the south coast
of Brittany shows an intertidal site of large white mud
flats up to 1,400 m wide in a 10 km long drowned val-
ley with a subtidal channel running through the inlet.
Aquaculture is practiced locally.
Fig. 77B (Bands 3-2-1), 12 May 2001, area coverage
270 km2
This pixelly image shows the blue intertidal area of the
Etel River to be at a higher tide level than the photo
with the mud flats partly submerged.
The site is in typical peneplaned (Fig. 34) low (about
5 m elevation) granite terrain of the 5 m macrotidal
coast of south Brittany 15 km east of the port of
Lorient.
Etel village is on the east bank just upstream from
the river’s mouth, sand beaches and notorious (unre-
solved) offshore bar (Fig. 68) for river navigation.
Part II The Examples
Subgroup Bc Coastal Plains
More than 70% of the world’s population lives on
coastal plains, and 11 of the world’s largest cities are
on coastal estuaries. (Greenpeace International)
These plains occur on emerged portions of conti-
nental shelves. They are underlain by repetitive se-
quences of Cenozoic marine deposits.
This Subgroup includes four Units:
 Bc1 cyclic sediment plains (Fig. 78).
 Bc2 passive margin sediments (on an inactive plate
margin).
 Bc3 glaciomarine plains (Figs. 79, 80).
 Bc4 fluviomarine plains (Fig. 81).
Figure 78 cyclic sediment plains (class. Bc1)
Characterization
The deposits of cyclic plains represent repetitive trans-
gressive-regressive cycles of Pleistocene and Holo-
cene marine and alluvial deposits caused by eustatic or
tectonic changes in sea level. The last eustatic event
was the postglacial Flandrian Transgression which af-
fected coastal plains worldwide from 18,000 to 6,000
BP. Modern sediments are not fixed in time and space
and migrate laterally and vertically. They are relatively
thin with a gentle seaward dip, generally <2º, overly-
ing older substrates.
Geohazard relations Marine plains are susceptible to
storm surges (Fig. 68) and tsunami runups (ocean
waves generated by sudden tectonic displacement of
the seabed associated with large, shallow focus earth-
quakes). The waves break onto the shore as a series
separated by minutes to an hour and runup inland de-
stroying most structures.
Section 8 Marine Littoral Systems
Fig. 78A (E16 47 33 N40 21 23), contact scale 1:
40,000, source Photo Interprétation Editions ESKA,
France
This photo pair at the site of ancient Greek Metaponto
30 km west of the port of Taranto, southern Italy, cov-
ers six km of a nine meter high coastal plain bordered
inland by a 25 m high marine bluff in Pliocene (Po)
carbonate rocks. The delineated land use contrasts be-
tween the relatively poorly drained, irrigated low plain
and the better drained Tertiary rocks are evident. The
reforesting beach ridges (Fig. 71) in lower right are
behind the white current beach. The meandering
(Fig. 63) Basento River crosses the plain on the south.
Fig. 78B (Bands 3-2-1), 27 July 2009, area coverage
750 km2
The image shows the photo area to be in the center of
the narrow Ionian Coastal Plain at the end of the tec-
tonic Bradano Basin on the Gulf of Taranto. The Basin
lies between the Apulia heel of Italy and the southern
Apennines. The marine sediments are poorly mappable
in this resolution.
The Pliocene sediments are brown overlying older
dissected sandstone and marls seen on the west.
Figure 79 glaciomarine plains (class. Bc3)
Characterization
This Unit is distinguished from the cyclic sediment
plains by fine-grained sediments that were deposited
during a 3 ka period marine incursion of glacially
depressed lowlands at the end of the last glaciation
(8-12 ka).
Isostatic readjustment (which ranged from 50 to 250
m in Canada, Andrews 1972) caused progressive shoal-
ing which exposed the sediments.
Geohazard relations Long term loss of salts from the
pore fluids of these clays decreases their cohesive
strength giving them a high sensitivity to disturbance.
They then may lose shear strength and liquefy to
produce retrogressive flows that are destructive of life,
land and property.
223
Fig. 79A (E09 40 N54 18), contact scale 1: 13,000,
source personal archive
This single airphoto shows glaciomarine sediments
crossed by the Kiel Canal at its North Sea entrance.
The site is on the Dithmarscher Marsch of north-
west Germany. The characteristic regular elongate
fields and the related tile drainage of heavy clays are
plainly visible.
Fig. 79B (Bands 3-2-1), 25 April 2007, area coverage,
4,280 km2
The red delieation on this image marks the inland lim-
it of the 15 km wide glaciomarine plain of northwest
Germany. The image covers 40 km of coast and 40 km
of the estuary of the Elbe River on the southeast. The
photo area is indicated by an arrow.
The elongate field pattern of glaciomarine plains is
evident spectrally even in this synoptic image.
The marine clays are about 20 m thick. The field
pattern of vegetables and pastures is the same as that in
eastern Canada of Fig. 80B. The contrasting land uses
in the image are associative indicators of distinct
Geounits.
The agricultural landscape of irregular fields of for-
age crops and scattered woodlots inland at 10 to 30 m
elevation indicates glacial moraine terrain (Fig. 83).
The glaciomarine plains have been reclaimed by
dyking (polderized) from the partial submergence of
the coast during the postglacial Flandrian transgression
– the Elbe estuary was dyked in the 14th century and the
outer coast in the 19th century.
The grey mud and sand intertidal flats (Fig. 77) ex-
tend 10 to 20 km offshore on this coast with an average
tide range of two to four meters.
224 Part II The Examples

Figure 80 glaciomarine plain (class Bc3)
Characterization (see Figure 79)
Fig. 80A (W73 11 N45 35), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source personal archive
The greater part of this stereophoto pair is a glacioma-
rine plain at 15 m elevation in the eastern Canadian
post-glacial Champlain Sea of the upper St Lawrence
Valley.
The flat uniform surface, the regular elongate field
pattern, and the associated necessary system of parallel
buried tile drainage particularly visible in the northeast
quarter, are characteristic elements of the geounit.
The delineated A area at 30 m elevation is a deposit
of 3 to 20 m of deltaic sand overlying the marine clays.
The elongate S area is a low sand ridge at elevation
20 m.
The line paralleling the present Richelieu River is a
scarp at 25 m trimmed in the clays by postmarine flu-
vial action.
The straightness of the river channel is due to its low
bed load, its low width- depth ratio, and its low gradi-
ent, only 18 m in a 170 km length. Its 7 m elevation in
the photo area has it entrenched 8 m into the sedi-
ment.
Figure 81 fluviomarine plains (class. Bc4)
Characterization
Some coastal plains of Holocene marine sediments are
crossed by streams that reflect the downward slope to
the sea.
Fig. 81A (E21 15 N38 25), contact scale 1: 21 000,
source Photo Interprétation Éditions ESKA, France
This stereophoto on the east side of Missolonghi la-
goon on the Gulf of Patras in central Greece shows a
combined association of Bc3 marine sediments with
alluvial fan Fu1 and deltaic, Fw3e, (Fig. 65) sediment
distributaries. The dark areas are water surfaces.
Fig. 81B (Bands 3-2-1), 15 July 2009 area coverage
980 km2
This image shows the agriculturally developed and
dyked fluviomarine plain on the west side of the Mis-
solonghi lagoon. Extensive salt evaporation pans are
on both sides of the lagoon.

Fig. 80B (Bands 3-2-1), 07 Sept. 2002, area coverage

8,000 km2
This image, centered on the islands and city of Mon-
treal, covers 15% of the 55,000 km2 Champlain Sea
glaciomarine plain in southern Quebec and eastern
Ontario. The thickness of the marine deposits varies
greatly due to the conformation of the lower surface
but ranges from 10 to 60 m. As in Fig. 79B, the char-
acteristic field patterns are distinct.
The forested Laurentian Uplands of the Canadian
Shield are in the upper left.
Elongate dark features within the plain are forested
deltaic sands of area A in the photos. The straightness
of the Richelieu River is evident. The three circular
dark areas on the right are forested 400 m elevation
Cretaceous igneous intrusions of the Monteregian
Hills.
The area was deglaciated 12,500 years ago.
 Section 9
Glacial and Paraglacial Geosystems

These geosystems comprise 18 Units and 23 Variants ordered in three Subgroups:

 Gl Ice Bodies occur as polar, sub-polar, and alpine glaciers.
 Gf Glaciofluvial deposits are produced by erosional or depositional processes of
proglacial meltwater streams (Fig. 82).
 Gt Paraglacial deposits are sediments and landforms that are directly conditioned
by glaciation and deglaciation (Fig. 83).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 225

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_10, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
226 Part II The Examples

Fig. 82A
Section 9 Glacial and Paraglacial Geosystems 227

Fig. 82B
228 Part II The Examples

Fig. 83A
Section 9 Glacial and Paraglacial Geosystems 229

Fig. 83B
230
Interpretation of Glacial and Paraglacial
Geosystems
Subgroup Gf Glaciofluvial Deposits
Figure 82 meltwater channels (class. Gf3.3)
Characterization
These channels are elongate depressions in glaciated
terrains, ranging in length from tens of meters to hun-
dreds of kilometres and from tens of meters to several
kilometres wide.
They may be single or multiple, in corridors be-
tween mounds and ridges of glacial till or in bedrock
depressions.
The channels were produced by high paleovelocity
and paleodischarge of glacial meltwater which scoured
the bed of the channel, aided by the eroded sediment
carried in suspension. The channels may be entirely
erosional or partly infilled with fluvial deposits.
Spillways are channels cut by streams overflowing
from proglacial lakes (Fig. 55).
Fig. 82A (W62 35 05 N57 44 10), contact scale 1:
40,000, source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereo pair in north Labrador is delineated to map
an 800 to 1,500 meter wide corridored erosion channel
system. In addition to areas of scoured bedrock and
ponds, it typically contains some residual deposits of
washed glacial till, local outwash sand (deposits, ma-
terials washed out from a glacier by its meltwaters),
and prominant esker ridges (gravel ridges accumulated
in ice-confined englacial meltwater channels).
Fig. 82B (Bands 7-4-2), 30 July 2001, area coverage
360 km2
This image shows the photo delineated extension of
the channel system westward in northern Labrador,
80 km south of Fig. 49. The system can be extended
further southwestward into the northeast corner of
Fig. 32B. A conspicuous eight km long esker is in the
extension.
This area was deglaciated 10,500 years ago.
The green color marks the most northern subarctic
occurrence of tree growth in Labrador. Pink uplands
are tundra.
Part II The Examples
Subgroup Gt Paraglacial Deposits
Figure 83 continental end moraines (class. Gt4.2)
Characterization
Continental end, or terminal, moraines are macro or
megascopic elongate ridges that delimit a former ice
frontal position of Pleistocene continental scale ice
sheets. They are composed of admixtures of nonsorted,
nonstratified debris referred to as till. The debris was
derived by abrasion and entrainment of bedrock mate-
rials in the sole of glaciers as they moved over their
beds, transporting it, and depositing it at their front
when they retreated.
These moraines range in size from a few meters
both high and wide to large masses 200 or 300 meters
high and 10 kilometres or more in width. They form
belts of up to several hundred kilometres in length.
Commonly much ice is entrapped in end moraines.
Melting of the ice gives the moraine a hummocky and
pitted, kettled relief (Fig. 55).
Fig. 83A (W100 53 N73 28), contact scale 1: 60,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereogram on northwest Prince of Wales Island
Nunavut, Canada, covers a 40 km2 segment of an end
moraine. The ridges are typically disrupted by kettle
ponds.
The area was deglaciated 10,000 years ago.
Fig. 83B (Bands 7-4-2), 13 Aug. 1999, area coverage
810 km2
This image shows the photo area to be in the center of
a delineated bright-toned, 250 km2 moraine system on
Mid Paleozoic limestones.
The brightness of this Unit relates to its elevation,
90-130 m, and near-desert surface, a 1-10 % vegetation
cover, compared to the green-spotted till plain to the
south with 30% dwarf shrub cover. The glacial till land
to north and south is at 30–60 m elevation.
A set of parallel esker ridges (Fig. 82A) are well
resolved amid ponds on the south.
 Section 10
Periglacial-Related Forms

The Geounits of this Group are cold climate non-glacial phenomena. The processes
are intimately associated with intense frost action. The Units occur in seasonally un-
frozen unconsolidated deposits and organic materials. Eleven Units and three Vari-
ants are ordered in three Subgroups:
 Zi Ground ice Units are bodies of massive ice and ice in cavities, voids, or other
openings in soil and rock.
 Zm Cryoturbated materials are irregular structures formed in earth materials by
deep frost penetration and freezing and thawing processes (Figs. 84 to 86).
 Zk Thermokarst terrain is irregular topography resulting from differential thaw
settlement or caving of the ground due to melting of ground ice.
(Note: Definitions are from National Research Council of Canada Technical Memo-
randum No. 142, 1988).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 231

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_11, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
232 Part II The Examples

Fig. 84A
Section 10 Periglacial-Related Forms 233

Fig. 84B
234 Part II The Examples

Fig. 85A
Section 10 Periglacial-Related Forms 235

Fig. 85B
236 Part II The Examples

Fig. 86A
Section 10 Periglacial-Related Forms 237

Fig. 86B
238 Part II The Examples

Interpretations of Periglacial-Related Fig. 84A (E10 21 19 N46 38 54), contact scale 1:

Forms 8,000 approx., source personal archive
This 1974 single color infrared photo at elevation
2,540 m in the Alps of eastern Switzerland shows
Subgroup Zm Cryoturbated Materials bright little vegetated gelifluction lobes spreading over
tundra-vegetated glacial till.
Note:
TM images can usefully show the environmental con- Fig. 84B (Bands 3-2-1), 13 Sept. 1999, area coverage
text, not the features, of such limited dimensioned 180 km2
Geounits in glaciated high mountain sites. A yellow arrow indicates the site of the photo lobes in
this local scene which provides the setting for the de-
Figure 84 gelifluction sheets and lobes posits. They occur in a Unit of Triassic sedimentary
(class. Zm1.1) rocks 550 m below adjacent peaks in Permian gneiss
which rise to 3,100 m on the Austrian border.
Characterization The black arrows are on massive old inactive rock
These deposits occur on slopes of seasonally thawed slides (Fig. 93) that cover the entire south slopes of
materials lying over frozen substrate. They are of vari- Permian gneiss.
able thickness and flow downhill at imperceptible The bright arc-shaped area is the 1,500 m elevation
rates.
Mustair Valley, with the meandering (Fig. 63) Rom
Lobes are among the smallest Geounits, the largest
River.
attaining 150 m in length and 25 m in width, but the
activity is one of the most widespread processes of soil
movement in periglacial environments.
The deposits are best developed on finer-grained
materials on slopes varying from 2º to 20º. Displace-
ment rates range from 0.50 to 4 cm yr-1 and tend to be
concentrated into a few weeks of spring. Movement is
laminar in nature and decreases progressively with
depth, usually restricted to the waterlogged uppermost
50 cm of the active layer.
Increase in pore water pressure leads to decrease in
shearing resistance. As the mass moves downhill any
organic material is incorporated into the moving soil
front. Sections usually show multiple buried layers
over which the sheet or lobe has advanced.
Geohazard relations Due to their inherent seasonal in-
stability construction on gelifluction slopes is avoided
wherever possible. A structure resting on such slopes
will either be subjected to persistent earth pressure or
will passively move downslope.
Section 10 Periglacial-Related Forms 239

Figure 85 gelifluction stripes (class. Zm1.2)
Characterization
Stripes develop on slopes ranging from 3-7º by frost
heaving, frost sorting, and differential thawing and
rillwash processes in conjunction with snowmelt water
and rainfall.
The stripes consist of subparallel shallow vegetated
runnels 1 cm to 1.5 m or more wide and up to 120 m
long along which surface runoff is channeled
downslope.
The runnels alternate with lines of less vegetated or
bare ground 1-5 m apart. Movement is confined to the
unvegetated areas.
Geohazard relations If transportation lines are placed
on these striped slopes severe ponding will develop on
the upslope side of the line each spring, with the con-
sequent risk of washouts and thermal effects in the
soil. The sub-parallel drainage runnels are frequently
sufficiently close to make the placement of highway
culverts impractical.
Figure 86 rock glaciers (class. Zm2)
Characterization
Rock glaciers are masses of angular rock debris that
move downslope by deformation of the ice contained
within them.
They are lobate or tongue-shaped bodies 20 to 100
m thick with flow ripples on the surface and cascading
frontal slopes. They can be several kilometres long but
average 200–800 m. They flow downslope 0.1–1 m per
year (fast in geologic terms). They are more sluggish
than normal glaciers but are highly efficient transport
agents of coarse debris.
Rock glaciers move from the base of talus (Fig. 87)
or glacial till in alpine environments, onto the floors of
cirques (bowl-shaped depressions on the sides of
mountains) and down outlet valleys.
Geohazard relations Active rock glaciers are inher-
ently unstable and inactive units potentially so. Even
their slowset velocities are sufficient to destroy most
structures sited on or crossing them.

Fig. 85A (W73 07 N60 47), contact scale 1: 40,000,

source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereomodel on shield plutonic rocks in the north-
ern Quebec Ungava Plateau shows occurrences of
gelifluction stripes on glacial till at elevations ranging
from 460 to 480 m. The stripes are covered by dwarf
birch, willow and alder vegetation.
The surrounding ground, with bedrock close to sur-
face, is at a general elevation of 440 to 460 m. Local
fracture traces (Fig. 45) have been drawn.
This area was deglaciated 7 ka.

Fig. 85B (Bands 7-4-2), 04 July 2009, area coverage

2,015 km2
The spectral patterns in this image reflect occurrences
of different surface materials: green correlates with the
jellification stripe areas on slightly higher ground; pink
is bedrock-close terrain.
240 Part II The Examples

Fig. 86A (E06 39 45 N45 20 30), enlargement scale 1:

14,000, source IGN, France
This single photo shows 12 delineated active rock gla-
ciers flowing from talus sheets at 2,500 m elevation in
the French High Alps. Other glaciers are visible in ste-
reo in Fig. 4A in the Pyrenees.
T are talus sheets. Sites A, B, C are inactive gla-
ciers.
The active rock glaciers and talus sheets (Fig. 87)
are bare and bright. The inactive glaciers are vegetated.
The glaciers are identified by their distinct lobate form
and transverse surface ridges. The talus sheets are indi-
cated by their smooth surface and their location at the
base of cliffs. S is a rock slide distinguished by the
rough morphology of the depositional mass at the base
of a smooth planar slip surface.

Fig. 86B (Bands 3-2-1), 27 Aug. 1988, area coverage

180 km2
This image is at the TM 30 m resolution limit for these
limited size Geounits. The largest rock glacier, no 2, is
just detectable as a light grey stripe about 1 km long.
The other rock glaciers and talus sheets (Fig. 87) are
marginally detectable as other grey areas. Ice fields
and glaciers are white. Green is tundra vegetation on
till. A darker green area of forest on the east slope of
the main valley is partly shadowed.
 Section 11
Mass Movement Materials

Several mechanisms and processes operate to produce mass movement Geounits.

They result from downslope movement of consolidated or unconsolidated materials
under the direct influence of gravity, except those in which the material is carried by
a transporting agent such as ice (Fig. 72), running water (Fig. 64), waves (Fig. 67) or
air (Fig. 51). (Mollard, n.d.)
Movement occurs when the shear stress of gravity exceeds the shear strength of
the material.
The classification by type of movement includes 16 Units and 11 Variants ordered
in five Subgroups:
 Mv Falls and Subsidences Falls are free-fallen blocks of broken rock; Subsid-
ences result from withdrawal of underlying solids by solution or extraction, and
gradual settlement by withdrawal of underground fluids (Figs. 87 to 91).
 Ml Spreads are lateral extensions of masses of cohesive soil or rock.
 Mc Creeps are slow downslope movements of soil or rock.
 Ms Slides are rapid downslope movements of masses of irregular and stacked
bedrock blocks along bedding planes or joints (Figs. 92 to 96).
 Mf Flows, are horizontal sliding Quaternary sediments along planar or shear sur-
faces or weak argillaceous rocks (Fig. 97).

L.A. Rivard, Satellite Geology and Photogeomorphology 241

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20608-5_12, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
242 Part II The Examples

Fig. 87A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 243

Fig. 87B
244 Part II The Examples

Fig. 88A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 245

Fig. 88B
246 Part II The Examples

Fig. 89A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 247

Fig. 89B
248 Part II The Examples

Fig. 90A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 249

Fig. 90B
250 Part II The Examples

Fig. 91A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 251

Fig. 91B
252 Part II The Examples

Fig. 92A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 253

Fig. 92B
254 Part II The Examples

Fig. 93A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 255

Fig. 93B
256 Part II The Examples

Fig. 94A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 257

Fig. 94B
258 Part II The Examples

Fig. 95A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 259

Fig. 95B
260 Part II The Examples

Fig. 96A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 261

Fig. 96B
262 Part II The Examples

Fig. 97A
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials 263

Fig. 97B
264
Interpretations of Mass Movement
Materials
Subgroup Mv Falls and Subsidences
Figure 87 talus sheets (class. Mv1.1)
Characterization
Talus sheets are deposits of coarse, angular rock frag-
ments that accumulate as sloping aprons with an angle
of repose of 32–36º at the base of cliffs or steep
slopes.
Weathering causes joint-bounded blocks of rock to
break off the rock scarps. Some large boulders roll or
bounce beyond the foot of the talus sheet onto adjacent
materials in a zone called a rock shadow.
Fig. 87A (W11 45 11 N16 57 22), contact scale 1:
50,000, source IGN, France
This stereogram in Mauritania shows talus sheets B at
the base of a cliff of horizontal sandstone rock A is
evidenced by the characteristic but locally dense joint
system.
The rock fragments drop 300 m from the cliff
scarp.
Dark grey-toned vegetation on the talus in this dry
region is due to the presence of springs in the sand-
stones
Fig. 87B (Bands 7-4-2), 01 Nov. 2000, area coverage
935 km2
The talus sheets in this images are seen to be 1.5 to 2
km wide grey aprons surrounding isolated buttes. The
rust color of the butte rims are band 7 reflectance of
the densely fractured sandstone cliff margins (possible
slight vegetation presence).
The image shows the photo area 30 km northwest of
Kiffa to be the south part of one of the outlier buttes of
the 470 m elevation Assaba sandstone Plateau which
forms the higher western border of the Aouker Basin of
southwestern Mauritania.
The area on the right is a windward zone of the Ba-
sin which is filled with a sand sea consisting of large
ribs of white crescentic sand dunes oriented transverse
to the northeast winds. Masses of these dunes are piled
against the buttes. The white areas on the lee side of the
outliers are evaporites marginal to darker green and
brown playas (Fig. 56). The evaporite surfaces are
wind-reworked into small dunes.
Part II The Examples
A tongue of dunes can be seen to have crossed from
the sand sea to the playas via a corridor between two
buttes.
Green areas in the southwest of the scene and in the
depressions between the dunes are savanna and grass-
land of the Sahel just at the end of the rainy season.
Figure 88 rock avalanches (class. Mv2)
Characterization
A rock avalanche involves the initial failure, fall and
subsequent disintegration of a large rock mass from a
high mountain slope. It differs from talus rockfall in its
magnitude, velocity of movement, and efficiency of
transport.
Such an event involves volumes of rock that are
typically greater than 100 m3 which can trap enough air
or snow and ice to facilitate very rapid flow.
The mass can discharge into a valley and partly up
the opposite slope in less than a minute. It may also
run-out down-valley up to 10 km from the source
area.
Failure is related to bedding planes, joints, cleavage,
or schistosity planes and caused by head loading or
seismicity.
Geohazard relations Such large masses of rock, once
in motion, are impossible to control and protective
works tend to be futile. In most densely settled moun-
tain regions, where land is intensely used, the hazard
from rare, single, large slope failures is generally ac-
cepted, but in the 20th century it has been estimated
that 50,000 people have been killed by rock avalanch-
es.
Fig. 88A (W132 N64 23), contact scale 1: 40,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereomodel of a site in east-central Yukon Terri-
tory shows a 3 km long by 2 km wide rock avalanche
which occurred, by slippage along steeply dipping
slopes in interbedded sedimentary rocks about 10 ka in
postglacial time.
The debris mass has slid 850 m down from the south
face of the mountain at 1,950 m. The bare scarp face is
500 m long, it crossed the valley at 1,100 m and climbed
150 m up the opposite slope.
The lower part of the mass became a temporary
landslide dam (Fig. 97) by blocking the valley stream,
causing glaciolacustrine sedimentation (Fig. 55) up-
stream till the stream cut its way through the dam.
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials
The red lineament indicates a possible fault near the
slide scarp.
Fig. 88B (Bands 3-2-1), 01 Aug. 1999, area coverage
1,150 km2
The pale grey avalanche mass is detectable at most
scales due to its spectral contrast with the green vege-
tation of stunted spruce and tundra of the valley slopes.
The white upper slopes and ridges are bare rock and
talus, not snow.
The image covers 45 km of northwest trending fold
ranges and west-dipping thrust faults (following
Fig. 7B) of the Cordillera Foreland Belt. They range in
elevation from 900 to more than 2,000 m and are com-
posed of shield derived carbonates and clastics from
the east and cordillera derived clastics developed dur-
ing the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic from the
west.
Figure 89 inactive rock avalanches (class. Mv2.1)
Characterization
This Variant applies to occurrences of low stability
whose unexpected reactivation may be due to human
activity or exceptional natural conditions.
Fig. 89A (E06 20 N45 03), contact scale 1: 20,000,
source IGN, France
This stereomodel in the Central High Alps of France
shows a series of seven numbered, currently inactive
rock avalanches in folded and thrusted Upper Jurassic
interbedded shales marls and limestones. They range
in length from 500 to 1,400 m. The largest, 1,300 m
broad deposit, number 1 fills the valley.
The hamlet of Villars d’Arene, at 1,650 m elevation
is located near the base of the mass, and the regional
roadway is on a constrained location across it.
The areas marked S are recent rock slides (Fig. 92)
with the intervening small area being a zone of gully
erosion. A high risk slope instability warning was is-
sued for this area on 24 June 2011.
Fig. 89B (Bands 3-2-1), 16 Oct. 2003, area coverage
195 km2
The recent rock slides are detectable in this image. The
major rock avalanche Unit 1 of the photo model is just
resolved but may not have been detected if unknown.
The other avalanches are not detectable.
265
The scene is equally divided by the upper Roman-
che valley into sedimentary rocks suites north of the
valley, and on the south by crystalline rocks of the
north margin of one of the Hercynian (Upper Paleo-
zoic) crystalline massifs that lie within the Alps. As is
typical of strong relief in high mountains, these respec-
tive Geounits are not distinguishable spatially, see Ver-
stappen statement in Fig. 94B.
The overall brown slopes and valleys are alpine
summer pastures. White areas are snow-covered slopes
and peaks at elevations above 3,000 m.
Figure 90 subsidence, sudden (class. Mv4)
Characterization
A sudden subsidence is a collapse of overlying materi-
als resulting from seismic and faulting events, pro-
longed withdrawal of underlying solids by solution,
lateral plastic flow, or extraction of mineral deposits.
Fig. 90A (E06 56 N44 06), contact scale 1: 30,000,
source IGN, France
A number of limestone solution sinkholes of varying
dimensions in Upper Jurassic carbonates (Section 2) in
France have been zoned and delineated in this stereo
triplet. Fracture traces evident within the zone are
drawn. The active erosion along the stream north of
the subsidence zone is in mid-Jurassic marly lime-
stone
Fig. 90B (Bands 3-2-1), 16 Oct. 2003, area coverage
390 km2
The image resolution does not permit mapping of the
sinkhole-related Jurassic rocks. These rocks cover the
northern carbonate strata segment of the Barrot Dome,
an upwarped relatively undeformed 200 km2 Unit of
Permian and Triassic sedimentary rocks, in the south-
ern French Alps. The erosion in the marly limestones
is visible.
The high peak north of the photo area is 2,580 m
elevation. Elevations in the photo area range from
1,800 to 2,000 m.
Wooded and shadowed slopes are poorly distin-
guished in this scene.
266
Figure 91 subsidences, sudden (class. Mv4)
Characterization (see Figure 90)
Fig. 91A (W112 20 N59 55), contact scale 1: 54,000
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereomodel in northeast Alberta, Canada is lo-
cated in a 250 m elevation plain of Mid-Devonian car-
bonates between the Kazan Upland of the Canadian
Shield 20 km to the east and the Mesozoic clastic rocks
of the Alberta Plateau 100 km to the west.
The multiple sinkhole (doline) subsidences in the
forested carbonates overlie gypsum and rock salt (Fig.
23) which occur in white outcrops in the glaciolacus-
trine (Fig. 55) Slave River valley at 180 to 200 m eleva-
tion.
Precipitation sinks through fractures to dissolve the
evaporites. The underground solution cavities collapse
to form the sinkholes.
Fig. 91B (Bands 7-4-2), 13 June 2002, area coverage
4,400 km2
A 35 km long area of sinkhole subsidence, the larger of
which are visible, is delineated in this image.
Three bright whitish zones of rock salt are on the
margin of the Slave River valley. The bright green areas
are forest fire regrowths. The lineated beige pattern
west of the photo area is a zone of poorly vegetated
inactive linear sand dunes (Fig. 53) overlying glacial
till.
The Slave River valley is a graben-like depression
(Fig. 29B) filled with Devonian carbonates and glacio-
lacustrine deposits between the eastern edge of the In-
terior Plains and the west margin of the Shield.
The white cross by the river in upper right are the
runways of Fort Smith airport.
Part II The Examples
Subgroup Ms Slides
Figure 92 planar rock slides (class. Ms1)
Characterization
Rock slides may occur in any rock type, they are large-
ly related to slope-exposed bedding planes, joints,
faults, and cleavage or schistosity planes with unfavor-
able orientations to the slope.
Slides are generally initiated by a weather-related
trigger or earthquake in the slope area.
The displaced masses at footslope consist of irregu-
lar and stacked bedrock blocks or coherent sheets of
larger blocks.
Geohazard relations Slide mass deposits block trans-
portation routes and valley drainage, causing upstream
flooding and eventually downstream flooding from
overtopping or breaching of the mass. Some cause
heavy loss of life, and extensive damage to property
and services in densely populated areas.
Fig. 92A (W117 28 N51 26), contact scale 1: 25,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
A 2,000 m long, revegetated, prehistoric rock slide in
folded Precambrian phyllite rocks (foliated metamor-
phic rocks) with the bedding striking north-northwest
and dipping to the east, is delineated on this stereo
photo pair taken 24 July 1978 in Beaver Valley of the
Purcell Mountains of Glacier National Park in south-
eastern British Columbia.
Small arrows point to toppled rock slides (when a
rock mass becomes detached with an outward motion
from an exposed face).
Fig. 92B (Bands 3-2-1), 14 Sept. 2001, area coverage
600 km2
This image shows the photo slide named East Gate
Slide reactivated in January 1997. During the follow-
ing weeks the large intact block slumped down to a
few hundred meters below the headscarp. Later, the
rock mass disintegrated completely and transformed
into both debris flows (Fig. 60) and mud flows.
A not photogeologically recognizable regional
thrust fault (Fig. 7B) the Grizzly Creek Thrust coin-
cides with the headscarp of the slide. This fault is re-
lated to a number of other instabilities further south
beyond the image area.
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials
A barely visible retention dyke has been constructed
at the toe of the old slide to protect the roadway from
mudflows from the slide debris
The valley is a transportation corridor occupied by
rail and the Trans Canada Highway. Relief in the slide
area varies from 825 m at the river floodplain, to 1,880
m at the top of the slide headscarp. Surrounding peaks
rise to 2,200-2,500 m.
The green valleys are conifer forested up to the local
1,800 m timberline. Small brown areas in the south are
wetlands, the same color zones in the north are clear-
cut forests. Other forest activities are visible in the par-
allel valley on lower right.
The highly meandering (Fig. 63) Beaver River
flows northward to its junction with the blue water of
the dammed Columbia River.
Figure 93 inactive rock slides (class. Ms1.1)
Characterization
This Variant of Fig. 92 denotes old rock slides that de-
grade to a state of ultimate stability but many retain
low stability because the shear surface has reduced the
strength to low residual value with little or no cohe-
sion. Reactivation has no peak strength to overcome.
Inactive slides may be more difficult to detect and
map as their traces become less sharply defined and
progressively attenuated through time.
Weathering and revegetation obscure the original
structure.
Fig. 93A (E08 54 N42 03), contact scale 1: 25,000,
source IGN, France
This stereomodel in Corsica shows a 1.5 km by 1 km
revegetated slide at elevation 365 m in a lower slope
site of Upper Paleozoic (Hercynian) deformed rugged
granite mountainous terrain rising to 900 m on the
ridges. A marked fracture trace (Fig. 45) bounds the
north side of the failure.
267
Fig. 93B (Bands 3-2-1), 16 Sept. 2003, area coverage
750 km2
The slide site on this image is detectable by its linear
borders. It is on lower slopes of a region dominated by
northeast striking ridges and valleys of Oligocene
strike-slip (Fig. 44) faults.
The slide is located in granodiorites (coarse-grained)
(Fig. 3) which are less resistant than adjacent dacitic
(finer-grained) granites.
Liscia Bay of west-central Corsica is on the left.
Green valley slopes are Mediterranean maquis of
evergreen shrubs.
Brown and white high grounds are sub-alpine zones
of the high peaks or burned forest fire scars.
The white high point at upper right is at elevation
1,982 m. A similar peak in upper left center is 1,624 m.
The settled valley that transects the scene, begin-
ning at the just included tip of Ajaccio Bay in lower left,
is the Gravona valley, the principal cross-island trans-
port corridor leading to Bastia, the island’s commercial
center on the northeast coast.
Figure 94 landslide dams (class. Ms)
Characterization
Landslide deposits such as debris flows (Fig. 60), rock
avalanches (Fig. 88), rock slides (Fig. 92), retrogres-
sive flows (Fig. 97) dam mountain valleys and create a
lake upstream.
The dams ultimately fail by overtopping and breach-
ing resulting from excessive precipitation, snowmelt,
and earthquakes. The failures produce downstream
floods that are orders of magnitude larger than normal
streamflows.
This is one of three Variants of the Geounit moun-
tain valley natural dams, the others being moraine
dams of marginal or end moraines in high mountain
valleys (Fig. 4A) and glacier dams, valleys blocked by
tributary glaciers.
268
Fig. 94A (W133 40 N59 06), contact scale 1: 70,000,
source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereomodel in northwestern British Columbia
shows a 2,100 m wide and approximately 850 m long
red delineated landslide of blocks of Eocene basalt
damming the 12 km long, 725 m elevation Sloko Lake.
The lake is fed by meltwaters of the 2,300 m elevation
Llewellyn Glacier and icefield 20 km westward. The
slide scarp remains bare but the damming material is
revegetated.
Increased meltwater discharge that would accom-
pany recession of the Llewellyn Glacier due to climate
warming could result in a sudden overtopping of the
dam. A more recent Ms2 debris slide (rapid downslope
movement of weathered material) bordering the dam
slide is delineated in black.
Fig. 94B (Bands 3-2-1), 03 Aug. 1999, area coverage
2,250 km2
Both slides are visible spatially and spectrally in this
synoptic scene.
In contrast to blue Atlin Lake in the northwest, Slo-
ko appears white as in the photos. This milky appear-
ance is attributed to the glacier flour (fine powder from
glacial meltwater) that is in suspension in the lake wa-
ter and is not drained adequately by the dam.
The glaciers and icefields on the west, nourished by
heavy snowfall from Pacific storms, are part of the
Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains that reach
4,000 m on the Alaska border.
The volcanic and sedimentary rocks cannot be dis-
tinguished in this area, “selective erosion due to litho-
logical differences becomes less revealing in areas
where the effects of selective erosion are obliterated.
The situation occurs in rugged, mountainous terrain
where the drainage pattern is largely governed by grav-
ity, regardless of the geological conditions and in areas
where the relief is carved by glacial erosion”. Verstap-
pen HTh (1983), Applied Geomorphology, Elsevier,
p 29.
Part II The Examples
Figure 95 snow avalanches (class. Ms4)
Characterization
Snow avalanches are rapid flows of masses of snow
down a mountain slope. Initiation of flows is the com-
bined result of non-variable terrain factors (topogra-
phy, orientation to wind, vegetation), and variable cli-
matic factors (snowfall, wind, temperature). Most av-
alanches result from thermodynamic instability and
structural collapse of the snow mass. They may be
ground-borne slab or point-release types.
Slab avalanches are broad layers of cohesive snow
that fail along a fracture line across a slope.
Point-release avalanches start in cohesionless snow
and move downslope creating a relatively narrow
trough with a runout zone at the base.
In dry snow conditions avalanches can become air-
borne as powder avalanches.
Many avalanches begin in source areas above the
tree line and traverse forested terrain destructively.
Avalanches recur in the same locations year after
year, and in certain places several times each year. They
can also occur where they have not occurred before.
Dry avalanche motion ranges from 50 to 200 km h–1.
Wet slides are denser and slower, 20 to 100 km h–1.
Geohazard relations Slab avalanches cause most of
the hazards in the form of human fatalities, damage to
property and forests and traffic delays.
Fig. 95A (E06 55 N45 29), contact scale 1: 15,000,
source IGN, France
This is an enlargement of an air survey photo taken in
1954. Open arrows point to arrays of wood or metal
rake-like structures placed in the rupture zones of ava-
lanche sites to protect the access road that rises from
1,800 m at the reservoir to 2,100 m to the Lac de Tignes
winter sport resort under construction in the French
Alps.
Red squares are the sites of snow sheds constructed
later to replace these structures. Such sheds are the
most costly form of avalanche defense.
At the site marked S sylviculture within the arrays
has been employed as an alternative protection
method.
Section 11 Mass Movement Materials
Fig. 95B (Bands 7-4-2), 25 July 1999, area coverage
170 km2
This scene exhibits typical terrain environmental fac-
tors of avalanches – alpine tundra bright green, talus
brown (Fig. 87), bare rock, snow accumulation sources
above timber line. Blue are glaciers and ice fields.
The site is an amphitheater of moraine (Fig. 42),
talus (Fig. 87) and gelifluction (Fig. 84) covered slopes
at 2,500 m elevation bordered by peaks rising to over
3,000 m in the High Alps on the Italian border.
The protected access road to the ski resort is visible
as a wavy black line.
The road’s avalanche protection structures in the
photo have been redesigned and supplemented by four
avalanche galleries (extended sheds). Additional local
types of upslope paravalanche construction to attenu-
ate flow include braking dykes and wall dams that
deviate flow. Other eco-engineering and sylvicultural
measures are under development.
The vacation center town of Val d’Isère in the valley
at 1,840 m is at the yellow arrow in the lower right. On
10 February 1970 an avalanche starting at 3,206 m
above the town descended onto it and killed 39 people.
The mapping of probable avalanche concentration
areas, requiring intensive geomorphological airphoto
interpretation at 1: 25,000 scale is an ongoing project
in most alpine areas.
(The large Tignes Reservoir construction required
the displacement of the entire village of 800 people.
France joined the nuclear age and the 180 m high dam,
the highest in Europe when completed in 1952, was
never used).
269
Figure 96 snow avalanches (class. Ms4)
Characterization (see Figure 95)
Fig. 96A (W128 29 N56 19), contact scale 1: 31,680,
source Ministry of Sustainable Resources, Govern-
ment of British Columbia
This stereomodel in northern British Columbia shows
two indicated short avalanche tracks cut through forest
on the north slope of the Skeena Mountains. Their rup-
ture zones are above timber line at 1,400 m elevation.
They are 200 and 300 m wide and 1,200 m long. Many
larger avalanches descend to valley bottoms.
Avalanches that cut through forest completely de-
stroy mature trees and can also remove organic soils.
Fig. 96B (Bands 3-2-1), 12 Aug. 2001, area coverage
875 km2
White arrows on this image of the upper meandering
(Fig. 63) Nass River valley locate five avalanche tracks
on subalpine pine spruce and fir forested slopes.
Local elevations range from 1,000 m valleys to
1,600 m peaks.
The cirque topography above the 1,400 m timber-
line is the result of one or more of a four-phase succes-
sion of ice sheets that covered the Pacific Cordillera
during the Pleistocene.
270 Part II The Examples

Subgroup Mf Flows Fig. 97 B (Bands 3-2-1), 21 Oct. 2010, area coverage

485 km2
Figure 97 retrogessive flows (class. Mf1) This image shows the flow to be revegetated in speck-
led spruce fir and poplar. The scene covers a 30 km
Characterization
reach of the 90 km long valley of the lower Churchill
These flows are rapid movements that occur mainly in
River.
glaciomarine (Fig. 80) and glaciolacustrine (Fig. 55)
The bright dune fields are bare, a result of the
clay deposits.
droughty sands not forest fires.
The sensitive sediments have an unstable particle
The fluvial terraces and dunes occur in a 10 km wide
structure and a high moisture content. Fluvial under-
graben (Fig. 29B) the Double Mer Graben, whose
cutting, spring snowmelt, vibration, blasting, or shak-
eastern scarp is visible in the scene from upper right to
ing response during earthquakes can trigger liquefac-
lower left. The bedrock of the graben consists of Late
tion of these clays as a spatially continuous movement
Precambrian- Early Cambrian interbedded sedimenta-
that flows out of a failure bowl onto adjacent land or
ry rocks named the Double Mer Formation. These
water.
sediments were a basin fill that accompanied graben
Typically, an initial rotational slump (Fig. 67) leaves
formation.
a backscarp unsupported and progressive instability
The graben is flanked by 300 m elevation Protero-
develops as a retreating headwall.
zoic gneisses (notice foliation) on the northwest and
Geohazard relations Both the retrogressive and flow 400 m elevation diorite (notice massive fracturing) on
phases of these slides can be extremely rapid and very the southeast.
destructive (tens of minutes covering tens of hectares).
In these sensitive clays it is not just the risk of a slope
failure that is of concern, but the enhanced destructive-
ness involved in the area that can be affected by the
retrogressive failures. Any part of a flow mass that re-
mains in a rupture surface is susceptible to further
movement following heavy rains.

Fig. 97A (W61 11 N53 02), contact scale 1: 40,000

source Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
This stereomodel of photos taken in October 1947
shows a 2 km long by 2 km wide slowly revegetating
retrogressive flow on a terrace of the estuarial reach of
lower Churchill River in southern Labrador.
Failure occurred at the groundwater contact of the
pervious fluvial terrace sands with pore pressures on
the underlying impervious glaciomarine clays (Fig. 80).
Stabilized parabolic sand dunes (Section 5, Sub-
group Ed) have reworked the terrace surfaces.
The flow is at 30 m elevation while the surrounding
terrace surfaces range from 50 to 70 m elevation. The
thickness of the sands may be 30 m above the clay
contact.