Investigation of neotectonics with lineaments and fluvial structures extracted from satellite images

Neotectonics is a sub-discipline studying geological and geomorphological processes that provide movement and deformation of Earth's crust occurring in Pliocene Epoch to present. Neotectonics, or active tectonics in some cases, is an imperative field of study for understanding and predicting geological processes with an essential role in contemporary topography. In this study, the relationship between two morphologic features, extracted lineaments from satellite imagery and digital elevation model from remotely sensed data were studied in order to understand the tectonic regime. Lineament extraction can be defined as revealing the topology between mappable geomorphological linear surface structures. Surface features like valleys, ridges, lithological boundaries, drainage networks and fault zones could be described as lineaments. Lineament extraction for existing structures is one of the common methods used to determine tectonic trends. Fluvial structures can be considered linear structures, defined as an element providing unique information about structural and lithological changes in the region. These changes could be observed as structural discontinuity traces integrated during evolution of these features. Discontinuities, in other words drainage anomalies, can be determined by analyzing drainage systems using remote sensing techniques and spatial analyses. In this study, tendencies of the primary and secondary stress axels of the features were compared based on the assumption that the information about the relationship between the lineaments and drainage systems of the chosen regions is an indicator to interpret the region's neotectonic regime. This comparison was carried out with rose diagrams, which overlaid on remotely sensed imagery. With this information, this study aims at investigating neotectonics by revealing the relationship between lineaments and drainage anomalies extracted with remote sensing and spatial detection techniques.