Correlation between land use and geomorphological features: a proposal of analysis using retrospective mapping

Abstract

Different studies of geomorphological science are dedicated to understanding the effect of human action on the natural dynamics of environments. Following it, this article aims to identify the effect of agriculture and conservation techniques on the dynamics of slope and bottoms of valley processes in a degraded rural area. We selected, for it, the sub-basins of Areia Dourada stream, located in the city of Marabá Paulista (SP), as objects of study, in which we used the principles of retrospective mapping, with the mapping of land use and superficial surface cover and the geomorphological features of 1963, 1979, 1997, 2011 and 2016. For the analysis, along with the mappings and field records, we used the Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (p), together with quantified data, to evaluate the changes of the forms of relief from land use in the five mapped years. As a result, we verified: joint development of the erosive processes in different topographic compartments; feedback system between slope and bottoms of valley processes; the low efficiency of the agricultural terraces, both in the cultivated areas, but especially in the pasture areas, in order to contribute to the erosive dynamics by feeding erosive subsurface processes, while not containing the surface ones.