Morphometric Parameters of the Calabar River Basin: Implication for Hydrologic Processes

Abstract

The study examined the morphometric parameters of the Calabar River Basin with emphasis on its implication for hydrologic processes. Data for this study were obtained from topographic map which were subject to field confirmation. The result revealed that the basin area was 1 514km2. There were 223 streams with a total stream length of 516.34km. The textural dissection was considered to be low as drainage density, stream frequency and drainage intensity values were 0.34km-1, 0.15km-1 and 0.05 respectively. The basin was found to be strongly elongated with circularity ratio of 0.34 and elongation ratio of 0.64. The average bifurcation ratio was 2.83. The very low value of drainage intensity implies that drainage density and stream frequency have very little effect on the extent to which the surface has been lowered by agents of denudation. These low values of drainage density, stream frequency and drainage intensity also imply that surface runoff is not quickly removed from the basin, making it susceptible to flooding, gully erosion and landslides, particularly in the lower part of the basin. It is therefore recommended that human activities that could impact negatively on stream network in the basin should be discouraged.