Composition and morphotectonic interpretation of the Kiellajohka drainage basin, Finnish Lapland

Authors

  • Veijo Kaitanen Department of Geography, University of Turku

Abstract

The study area comprises 495 km2 and consists of 256 first order, 66 second order, 11 third order and 2 fourth order river basins. One important objective has been to determine whether it is possible to arrive at any conclusions concerning the development of relief by analysing the topological, geometrical and symmetrical features of the basins, and to see if possible local block movements are reflected in these features.

The greatest difficulty in a task like this is that no initial relief from which further development proceeds can be constructed with any degree of certainty. Therefore the study is most nearly a discussion introducing view‑points which differ somewhat from earlier ones for solving the problem. Also, the applicability of several new quantitative methods to analysis of relief evolution is tested.

The relations especially between certain geometrical properties of the river basins seem to agree with the general laws based on results obtained in other basins. This indicates that the climato‑genetic interpretation, according to which the effect on relief of erosion factors other than fluvial ones has, in general, been weak, is correct.

Statistically reliable rank correlations in the distribution of real symmetric features and symmetric features provided by the model used are extremely rare within the separate blocks in the area studied. On the other hand, the postulated pattern of crustal movements both in space and time is ‑ both clearly uniform and logically understandable in the light of some geometrical and hypsometrical facts revealed in the relief. The inheritance principle, which has been accepted as a general indication of the relief evolution, presupposes that the follow‑up effects of block movements on such sensitive features as the symmetrical characteristics of river basins cannot be manifested in their full strength.
Section
Research Papers

Published

1975-01-01

How to Cite

Kaitanen, V. (1975). Composition and morphotectonic interpretation of the Kiellajohka drainage basin, Finnish Lapland. Fennia - International Journal of Geography, 140(1). Retrieved from https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/9234