Results of analysis of digital elevation models used site selection for paleoseismological investigations at the Rurrand Fault

Abstract

Topographic and morphologic models based on detailed Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of the Rur Graben, in particular a 33 km section of the Rurrand Fault, proved to be essential in preliminary investigations for the site selection of a trench for detailed paleoseismological investigations. The entire DEM in the 33 km Jülich-Düren area displayed as a color-shaded terrain map clearly illustrates the main features of the eastern border fault of the Rur Graben. As investigations concentrated on the 8 × 6 km Stetternich-Hambach section of the Rurrand fault, the use of contoured topographic, gray-shaded terrain and terrain slope maps helped delineate the main features of the surface fault expression. On the basis of topographic profiles constructed from the DEM, no fault scarp could be identified; however, the detailed surveying results from two geophysical profiles correlated well with the topographic data.