Multiple remote sensing techniques as a tool for reconstructing late Quaternary drainage in the Amazon lowland

Morphologies related to paleochannels are widespread through large areas of the Brazilian Amazonia. Despite the relevance for reconstructing the evolution of the largest fluvial system on Earth, detailed mapping of most of these features is still unavailable. The lack of works emphasizing Amazonian...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth surface processes and landforms 2010-08, Vol.35 (10), p.1234-1239
Main Author: Rossetti, Dilce de Fátima
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clouds
Dynamics
Evolution
latest Quaternary
Lowlands
Mapping
Marajó Island
Morphology
paleochannel
Remote sensing
Rivers
tectonics
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Summary:Morphologies related to paleochannels are widespread through large areas of the Brazilian Amazonia. Despite the relevance for reconstructing the evolution of the largest fluvial system on Earth, detailed mapping of most of these features is still unavailable. The lack of works emphasizing Amazonian paleochannels represents an enormous bias toward the understanding of both migrating dynamics of Amazonian rivers through time and processes (e.g. tectonics, climate, sea‐level fluctuation) that might have promoted channel abandonment. A few previous studies have demonstrated the successful application of digital elevation model (DEM) collected during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) for mapping morphologies related to paleochannels still preserved under forested lowland Amazonian areas. The present study applies different remote sensing techniques, including JERS‐1 90m, SAR/SIPAM‐6m, Landsat, and ASTER, to successfully unravel a myriad of paleochannels in Marajó Island (Amazon mouth), which were previously undetected using solely SRTM data. The results presented in this work are promising for mapping paleodrainage in other forested areas of the Amazonas basin. Considering the several problems involved on data acquisition aiming to approach the evolution of Amazonian rivers in space and time (e.g. large dimension, lack of natural geological exposures, difficult access, dense forest cover, and high cloud volume), a proper mapping of Amazonas paleodrainage using different remote sensing techniques is crucial to visualize potential paleochannel morphologies and patterns that are of high relevance for reconstructing the Amazonian fluvial dynamics through time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0197-9337
1096-9837
1096-9837
DOI:10.1002/esp.1996