Principles of the relief and geomorphodynamics processes mapping

The cartography methods formation history of the relief structure and geomorphodynamics processes mapping in the USSR and Russia is briefly stated. From the middle of the 1950s the geomorphological map began to function as one of additional opportunities in territory geological structure studying and in minerals search. In this regard cartographic methods of relief morphological features mapping began to develop: "elementary surfaces of restriction", "elementary sides of a relief", "genetically uniform surfaces", and so forth. In geomorphology the morphodynamics concept starts developing, according to which in Russia and abroad there are works devoted to the principles and methods development of drawing up maps of morphodynamics. The first unified legend for the geomorphological map was developed by Z.A. Svarichevskaya, which assumed that mapping of geomorphological structures is connected with the orientation of the latest tectonic movements and relief features. Subsequently, in accruing degree the preference is given in geomorphology to mapping of relief formation exogenous factors, and the relief is considered as a set of elementary surfaces. The most significant are geomorphological maps bearing information on speeds of relief forms transformation, volumes of spatial redistribution of rock weathering products by various agents of denudation, about speeds of geomorphological borders change, and so forth. Geomorphodynamics is a scientific direction in geomorphology, studying the regularities of spatial redistribution of rock weathering products and the relief morphological change it causes. Geomorphodynamics processes mapping is a component of this direction. Relief forms dynamics is completely defined by spatial redistribution of substance in the crust and the asthenosphere, rock weathering products on the earth surface and in the hyper genesis zone as a whole. Lithogene substance streams on the surface are quantitatively characterised by its expense: the thickness of rock weathering products layer deleted in a unit of time from a unit of an area; the volume of the substance passing in a unit of time through the known area of a cross section; the volume of the substance accumulated in a unit of time in the known surface area, and so forth. In the fullest option theoretical provisions of mapping methodology provide an assessment of streams and their relief formation activity through energy consumption. The ways of geomorphological processes intensity mapping on the map are isolines (for example, lines of equal values of denudation and erosion), colour, shades, and hatching.

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