Abstract
Complex geology and tectonics of the SW Cameroon Atlantic Coast are responsible for the present-day landscapes of the Edea – Eseka Region (EER). The EER is tectonically active and shows differential tectonic uplift, contrasting relief, variations in erosion rates, in river incision, and in channel gradient. Drainage system divides are dynamic features of a landscape that migrate over time during the development of river networks. To study the neotectonic variability in this region, we investigate the drainage river system and the topographic expression of active regional tectonics across the EER. From the Digital elevation model (DEM, 30 m pixel resolution) using Geographic Information System (GIS) interpretive techniques, we extracted eleven morphometric parameters of thirty-two main drainage basins which were combined with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The inter-relationships between these indices grouped into four categories such as watershed geometry, relief characteristics, drainage texture analysis and regional tilting/uplift; can determine the influence of regional tectonic activity in the shape development of drainage basins. The results of the landscape analysis reveal significant variations of the morphometric parameters within the study area indicate a strong tectonic control. From the AHP values, the area is subdivided into high (∼ 25%), moderate (∼ 43.75%), and low (∼ 31.25%) regional tectonic classes. The spatial distribution of different AHP classes shows a gradational pattern from coast to hinterland, suggesting a gradual decrease (from west to east) in the neotectonic activity in the EER drainage basin systems. The moderate-to-high neotectonic activity (∼ 68.75%), demonstrates the complexity of the EER unstable tectonic character due to lithospheric mantle dynamism/asthenospheric upwelling as well as the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) activity.
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