An Investigation on the Use of Geomorphologic Maps in Locating Sites Suitable for Flood Spreading in Meymeh Region

Iran is located in one of the dry land regions of the word, where water is a limiting factor for lasting
life. A major part of human activities, such as development of renewable natural resources, agriculture,
and industry, as well as urban development is concentrated on quaternary deposits. Flood spreading
can be considered as ideal for optimal use and utilization of quaternary deposits. It causes economic
development through flood mitigation and erosion control. Factor, such as slope, geology,
geomorphology, hydrology, infiltration rate, cover as well as envirorunental impacts of the projects
should be considered in the process of selecting appropriate areas for artificial recharge through flood
spreading. Such data are not available for most plains of Iran and their preparation is time consuming
and expensive. In this research relationship between geomorphology and suitability of an area for
flood spreading has been investigated. For this propose, geomorphology map of the study area in
Meymeh plain was prepared through aerial photo interpretation satellite image processing, and
topography maps using Ahmadi method (1378). To ascertain the capability of the geomorphology
maps in site selection for flood spreading. the produced maps were compared with the appropriation
maps of the area for flood spreading. These are map that have been prepared by investigating several
thematic layers using DSS and GIS. The results indicate that Epandage plain geomorphological unit is
highly in match with appropriate sites for flood spreading. The research emphasizes the capability of
geomorphological maps to be used in site selection for flood spreading. Due to simple icily of the
method for producing such maps, the method can be used widely in areas with insufficient available
data.