Abstract
This study seeks to identify the effects of environmental heterogeneity on the interdependence of drainage basin morphometric properties and its implications for applied studies-particularly flood abatement/control. A detailed morphometric analysis of 22 3rd – order streams in the upper Cross River basin was carried out. At least six 3rd order streams were chosen from diverse geologic formations- Precambrian Basement Complex rocks and Asu River Formation in Abakaliki and Ikom-Mamfe Formation. The thirteen measured/derived data on the morphometric parameters were tested for normality and logarithm transformation was carried out. The SPSS soft ware was employed to generate a correlation matrix using the transformed data set. The transformed data matrix was also subjected to principal component analysis. The principal components having eigen-values greater than 1.0 were rotated using the varimax method in order to produce an orthogonal transformation of the components and simplify interpretation. The results indicate that the degree of inter-correlations among the thirteen morphometric variables is weak. Only 32.1% of the 78 possible relationships were significant at 0.05 level. We do know that an increase in the interdependence of the morphometric properties of drainage basins is indicative of a lessening of environmental constraints [lithology] on the stochastic processes that generate stream networks. The result of Principal Component Analysis shows that the four factor model account for 83.90% of the variation in the original data. For example factor1[index of drainage dissection] explains36.55% of the variation in the data and is inversely related to basin size. The infrequent occurrence of flooding in the basin is caused by rain-swollen tributaries discharged into main channel at different periods.KEYWORDS: Factor analysis, Lithology, Nigeria, Basement complex, Eigen Value, Morphometry
Highlights
The literature is replete with studies on the relationships between the morphometric properties of drainage basin Gregory and Walling, 1973, Doornkamp and King, 1971, Ebisemiju,1976,1985,1987; Morisawa,1968; Ukpong, 2005 and Udosen, 2008)
The study area is underlain by a wide range of diverse geological formations ranging from the ancient metamorphic rocks- the Precambrian Basement Complex from Ogoja to Obudu to the sedimentary rocks of Asu River Formation, e.g the Mamfe rift in Ikom and the Abakaliki Anticlinorium of the Asu River Formation in Ebonyi state axis of the study area
In Nigeria it flows westwards, through Ajasso, Ikom, Ofumatan and Obubra before it changes direction southwards, through Itu, where it receives the waters of Enyong Creek, and Nwaniba where it receives Ikpa river basin at Edik Ikpa and to Oron
Summary
The literature is replete with studies on the relationships between the morphometric properties of drainage basin Gregory and Walling, 1973, Doornkamp and King, 1971, Ebisemiju,1976,1985,1987; Morisawa,1968; Ukpong, 2005 and Udosen, 2008). Empirical studies in the Scotland District in the Caribbean Island of Barbados revealed that the erosional degradation of relief and topographical position are important constraints on the organization and interaction amongst the morphometric attributes of drainage basins (Ebisemiju, 1986). This serves as springboard for further investigations in this aspect by other researchers. The present research is an attempt to establish relationships between the morphometric properties of Cross River system in relation to the geology
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