Morphometric Age of the Youngest Uplift Event in the Orava River Drainage Basin (Western Carpathians)

Morfometrický vek najmladšieho zdvihu v povodí Oravy (Západné Karpaty)

Ján Novotný, Roberta Prokešová

In: Geografické informácie (Geographical Information), Ročník (Volume) 28, Číslo (Issue) 1, 2024, p. 4-18, ISSN 1337-9453

DOI: 10.17846/GI.2024.28.1.4-18

Abstract

High-resolution DEMs and GIS technologies enable data extraction that is suitable for a range of quantitative analyses, including morphometric dating of young tectonic processes. This study presents results obtained by DEM-based morphometric dating technique applied in the lithologically and topographically heterogeneous area of the Orava River drainage basin, which is likely affected by the young uplift event(s). The technique quantifies the stage of basin response to the youngest phase of tectonic perturbation using a composite R index, calculated from DEM-based hypsometric indices. In the analysed area, raw (R) and corrected (R*) indices provided two notably different age estimates. While R indices indicate the Early Pliocene age (ca 4.6 Ma) of the youngest uplift acceleration phase, corrected R* indices point to the much younger Late Pleistocene age (~0.1 Ma). Although both ages are possible and generally consistent with the assumed uplift history of the Western Carpathians, the uncertainty of the older estimate is much higher. In contrast, the younger age is more precisely defined and fits better with geological evidence. However, other factors, including lithological variability, river piracy or extra-fluvial processes (e.g. landslides, glacial processes), likely play a role in the catchment response, and future research must address their possible impact on R index values.

Keywords: catchment hypsometry, R index, morphometric dating, Orava River, Western Carpathians

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