GIS Approach for Expressing Structural Landforms: Forms, Elements, and Relationships

Abstract

A structural landform is defined by its surface morphology, controlled by tectonics, lithology (arrangement and resistance), and folded structures, and demonstrated by the characteristics and relationships between geological and geomorphic elements. It is very important to use geographic information system (GIS) technology to accurately describe and express elements of structural landforms and their relationships. In this study, a GIS approach for expressing structural landforms, based on “forms–elements–relationships”, was developed. The contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) Combined with the surface morphological characteristics, the structural landforms were abstracted into geological and geomorphic elements, and the characteristics and relationships of these elements were analyzed. (2) The elements of structural landforms and their relationships were abstracted into spatial objects and topological relationships. The spatial objects of the structural landform were designed based on the types and characteristics of structural landform elements. The topological relationships were developed based on the definition of the structural landform morphotype. (3) The structural landform markup language (SLML) method of “forms–elements–relationships” was created. (4) Two typical structural landforms, namely, Qixia Mountain and Gaoli Mountain, were used as examples to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the GIS approach for expressing structural landforms. This paper describes and expresses the “forms–elements–relationships” of structural landforms from the perspective of GIS, which is expected to promote the joint development of structural geomorphology and GIS.