Morphostructural Mapping of Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

Please click here to download the map associated with this article.

The methods used to prepare the morphostructural map of Paraná were based upon morphostructure and morphosculpture concepts to classify the landforms. Information from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was used to prepare a Digital Elevation Model from which boundaries between different textural units were mapped and geomorphological units identified. The 1:250,000 scale adopted allowed the use of a three level classification of Morphostructural Units, Morphosculptural Units and Morphosculptural Sub-Units. At the 1st level the following morphostructural units were identified: the Atlantic Orogenic Belt, the Sedimentary Basin of Paraná and the Cenozoic Sedimentary Basins and Tectonic Depressions. At the 2nd level the following morphosculptural units were identified: the Serra do Mar (Sea Mountain Range), Isolated Hills and the First Plateau of Paraná, the Second and Third Plateaus, and the Coastal, Fluviomarine and Fluvial Plains. At the 3rd level fifty morphosculptural sub-units were mapped. This work meet the demand that exists for a systematic geomorphological base that will supply information for the State's planning system, as well as for geological, ecological-economic and hydrological resources studies, among others.