Morphometric Analysis of Orammiriukwa River Catchment in Imo State, Nigeria

Authors: Ibeje AO, Osuagwu JC, Onosakponome OR

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

To ascertain the geomorphological characteristics of watersheds in developing countries is difficult due to lack of equipment. The method of morphometric analysis in which computations involving the dimensions of catchment landforms reveal the geology, hydrology and geomorphology of the watershed is proposed in this study. This approach was applied to Orammiriukwa river system in Imo State, Nigeria. Dimensions of catchment landforms were measured from atlas map of the river using planimeter. Linear and areal aspects of morphometric paramters were computed. The results of the study indicate that there is no strong geological control in the development of the drainage area. The form factor of 0.754 showed that the river system is highly elongated and flood is difficult to manage. With the length of overland flow of 4.558km, low drainage intensity of 0.34, low infiltration number of 0.000352, the basin indicates very less permeable sub-soil, high susceptibility to flooding and gully erosion due to high runoff in the watershed. The results are consistent with the observed hydrological activities in the area as revealed by previous studies. The findings of this study have strengthened the understanding of the hydrologeological and geomorphological characteristics of the Orammiriukwa river system through simple geometric computations. This approach can be extended to other watersheds where assess to equipment is difficult.

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