The Relationship between Lineament Patterns and Mass Movements in the Municipality of Vitória (Espírito Santo, Southeast Brazil)

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze and relate lineament patterns to the occurrence of mass movements in the municipality of Vitória (Espírito Santo, Brazil). The methodology used consists of cabinet and field analyses. In a cabinet, Lineament Maps were made from the manual extraction technique, using ArcGIS 10.5 tools, on a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with different artificial lighting (scale 1:110000) and Digital Orthophotos (scale 1:25000) and orientation rosettes generated. In the field, the geological structures were identified and analyzed from the lineaments identified in the cabinet, and their orientations were measured (Brunton compass). These data were integrated and analyzed from the Municipal Civil Defense mass movements records, referring to the period between 2006 and 2020. It was possible to verify the orientation patterns of dominant geological structures in the area (NNW-SSE and NW-SE, followed by NE-SW), including all measured fractures. At the regional scale, more mass movements occurred near NNW-SSE, NW-SE, and NE-SW orientation lineaments. At the local scale, these processes occurred more frequently in the vicinity of NNW-SSE, NNE-SSW, and NE-SW orientation lineaments. Data analysis demonstrates the important relationship between lineaments and occurrences of mass movements with regional geological structures and neotectonic events of the Espírito Santo in altered rocks of the Precambrian basement and Cenozoic deposits. The data revealed an association between the density of geological structures and the occurrence of mass movements since the increase in density is directly proportional to these processes, except for the Very High -density class, which presented little area representation.