Geomorphological analysis and scenario modelling in the Noboa - Pajan Area, Manabi Province, Ecuador

Landscapes are the result of geomorphic processes, yet also control these geomorphic processes. Therefore, combining geomorphological terrain analysis and geomorphological modelling tools are important to understand landscape dynamics. This is demonstrated for a study area in Manabi province, Ecuador. After geomorphological analyses with the aid of a Digital Elevation Model, two different scenarios simulate the impact of soil redistribution. The first scenario models simple run-off based erosion and the second scenario models the mass-movement by shallow landslides. Both scenarios demonstrate different impacts of their dominant processes, both in quantity as well as spatial location. Consequently, geomorphological landscape features, such as the stratification and nature of the parent material, determine the impact and location of these landscape dynamics. A further analysis of the results revealed a common interpolation error in the DEM. Remarkably not all simulated scenario processes showed the same impact of this aforementioned error.