Investigations on the Origin of a River Canyon using GIS

要旨

This study aims to investigate the development of Zerqa Ma'in Canyon as one of the major canyons draining into the Dead Sea. While others attributed its development to tectonic faulting, field evidences presented in this study proved it as a feature of incision and cutting activities practiced by Zerqa Ma'in River following the recession of Lisan Lake, the precursor of the Dead Sea. Stream terraces, grooves, stream islands, relict sedimentation bars and ridges, incised meanders, assimilated stratification along the canyon banks, longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles, and the hanging valleys hosted in the study canyon sustain the role of stream incision suggested in this study. Arc View GIS 3.2 and other softwares were used to input the spatial data and attributes which were collected from various sources, including topographic maps, aerial photos, field surveying and GPS, to analyze the data.