The study of drainage patterns distortion in the Iraqi western desert using remote sensing data

The aim of this study is determining distortion in drainage pattern using remote sensing data, many unique types of drainage patterns were distinguished, and the patterns were analyzed with different scales using different satellite images. Drainage patterns may develop as simultaneous processes (i.e., during drainage formation) or after drainage development, and often after a long period of development, depending on the geology of the studied region. Subsequent processes alter the pattern of flow networks. In some cases, the influence of these variables, especially complex factors, causes flow direction pattern distortions. Distortion was determined in the drainage systems, as it differed from a sudden change in the direction of the drainage to the occurrence of local meandering and compressed meander. The common type of drainage distortion is the local meander, this type of anomaly refers to active tectonic processes. Identifying these anomalies and understanding their mechanism helps geologists, geologists and hydrologists to explain many topographic and hydrological phenomena. A previously unknown type of anomaly was detected, and it was named the M-shape pattern. The anomalies in the drainage patterns reflected the effect of the geological and geomorphological structure, as there was a clear effect of faults in this region, specifically the northwest-southeast orientation of faults that have their origins in the Najd movement. Distortions in drainage systems have helped to define geological structures which have been hard to identify clearly from geological maps and fieldwork.