«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «NAUKI O ZEMLE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «EARTH SCIENCES»
ISSN 2073-3402 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Earth Sciences». 2025. Vol 54

Typification of the Relief of the Upper Angara Region Using Curvature Maps (Using the Example of the Irkut, Kitoy and Belaya River Basins)

Author(s)

M. Yu. Opekunova1,2, A. V. Bardash1

V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, Irkutsk, Russian Federation

Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Irkutsk, Russian Federation

Abstract
The results of a morphometric terrain analysis within the lower reaches of the left tributaries of the Angara River are presented. For the analysis, spatial differentiation of the values of profile, tangential, total and minimal surface curvatures was used. It was revealed that maps of curvatures of various types to varying degrees reflect the geological and geomorphic structure of the territory, the distribution of relief types, the distribution of erosion and accumulation zones at different topological levels. The possibility of using maps to highlight the boundaries of floodplain-terrace complexes, as well as mid-low mountain and flat relief types is shown. For Kitoy River, based on the map of minimal curvature, the relief was typified, which made it possible to obtain curvature values for different types of relief, including fluvial. A comparative analysis of surface curvatures within the valleys of the Belaya, Irkut, and Kitoy Rivers showed close average negative values of profile, total and minimal curvatures, characteristics of flat and concave micro-relief forms. Within the floodplain-terrace complexes of the main rivers considered, surfaces with curvature values above average, close to zero, predominate, which indicates the direction of accumulative processes and water retention during floods and flooding of the territory.
About the Authors

Opekunova Marina Yurievna, Candidate of Sciences (Geography), Senior Research Scientist, Laboratory of Geomorphology V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation Senior Researcher, Siberian School of Geosciences Irkutsk National Research Technical University 83, Lermontov st., Irkutsk, 664074, Russian Federation e-mail: opek@mail.ru

Bardash Alexander Vladimirovich, Candidate of Sciences (Geography), Research Scientist, Laboratory of Geomorphology V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation e-mail: olek22@mail.ru

For citation
Opekunova M.Yu., Bardash A.V. Typification of the Relief of the Upper Angara Region Using Curvature Maps (Using the Example of the Irkut, Kitoy and Belaya River Basins). The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Earth Sciences, 2025, vol. 54, pp. 57-71. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3402.2025.54.57 (in Russian)
Keywords
Upper Angara region, river valleys, surface curvature, erosion-accumulation processes.
UDC
551.4.012 (571.53)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3402.2025.54.57
References
  1. Atlas Irkutskoi oblasti: Ekologicheskie usloviya razvitiya [Atlas of Irkutsk Region: Ecological Development Conditions]. Eds. V.V. Vorobyev, A.N. Antipov, V.F. Khabarov. Irkutsk, Institute of Geography SB RAS Publ., Moscow, Roskartografiya Publ., 2004, 90 p. (in Russian) 
  2. Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Masshtab 1: 1 000 000 (3-e pokolenie). Seriya Angaro-Eniseiskaya. List N-48 – Irkutsk. Ob"yasnitelnaya zapiska [State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1: 1,000,000 (3rd generation). Angara-Yenisei Series. Sheet N-48 – Irkutsk. Explanatory Note]. St. Petersburg, Kartfabrika VSEGEI Publ., 2009, 574 p. (in Russian)
  3. Kozyreva E.A., Babicheva V.A., Mazaeva O.A. Transformatsiya geologicheskoi sredy v zone vliyaniya vodokhranilishch Angarskogo kaskada GES [Transformation of the Geological Environment in the Influence Zone of the Angara Cascade of HPP Reservoirs]. Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya Nauki o Zemle [The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Earth Sciences], 2018, vol. 25, pp. 66-87. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3402.2018.25.66 (in Russian) 
  4. Logachev N. A., Lomonosova T. K., Klimanova V. M. Kainozoiskie otlozheniya Irkutskogo amfiteatra [Cenozoic Deposits of the Irkutsk Amphitheater]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1964, 195 p. (in Russian) 
  5. Ovchinnikov G.I., Pavlov S.K., Trzhitsinskii Yu.B. Izmenenie geologicheskoi sredy v zone vliyaniya Angaro-Eniseiskikh vodokhranilishch [Change of the Geological Environment in the Influence Zone of the Angara-Yenisei Reservoirs]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1999, 254 p. (in Russian) 
  6. Opekunova M.Yu., Bardash A.V. Morfometricheskii analiz rel'efa basseina r. Ii (Irkutskaya oblast) [Morphometric Analysis of the Relief of the Iya River Basin (Irkutsk Region)]. Geografiya i prirodnye resursy [Geography and Natural Resources], 2022, no. 1, pp. 102-109. https://doi.org/10.15372/GIPR20220111 (in Russian) 
  7. Pogorelov A.V., Dumit Zh.A. Relief basseina r. Kubani: Morfologicheskii analiz [Relief of the Kuban River Basin: Morphological Analysis]. Moscow, GEOS Publ., 2009, 207 p. (in Russian) 
  8. Kharchenko S.V. Novye zadachi morfometrii rel'efa i avtomatizirovannye morfologicheskie klassifikatsii v geomorfologii [New Tasks of Relief Morphometry and Automated Morphological Classifications in Geomorphology]. Geomorfologiya [Geomorphology], 2020, no. 1, pp. 3-21. https://doi.org/10.31857/S043542812001006X (in Russian) 
  9. Ermolaev O.P., Mal’tsev K.A., Mukharamova S.S., Kharchenko S.V., Vedeneeva E.A. Cartographic Model of River Basins of European Russia. Geography and Natural Resources, 2017, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 131-138. 
  10. Opekunova M.Yu., Kichigina N.V., Rybchenko A.A., Silaev A.V. Channel deformations and hazardous processes of the left-bank tributaries of the Angara River (Eastern Siberia). Water, 2023, vol. 15, no. 2, art. 291. 
  11. Florinsky I.V. Solving Three Problems of Exploration and Engineering Geology by Digital Terrain Analysis. International Journal of Ecology & Development, 2007, vol. 8, no. F07, pp. 52-65. 
  12. Kedich A., Kharchenko S., Tsyplenkov A., Golosov V. Lateral moraine failure in the valley of the djankuat catchment (central caucasus) and subsequent morphodynamics. Geomorphology, 2023, vol. 441, art. 108896. 
  13. Melsse D.W., Tegegne M.A., Mekonnen Y.A., Bihon Y.T. Morphometric analysis for understanding river basin hydrology: a case of Gelda watershed, Tana Sub-Basin, Ethiopia. Applied Water Science, 2025, vol. 15, art. 171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-025-02526-x
  14. Bhatt S.C., Singh Rubal, Ansari M.A., Bhatt S. Quantitative Morphometric and Morphotectonic Analysis of Pahuj Catchment Basin, Central India. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 2020, vol. 96, pp. 513-520. 
  15. Shary P. A., Sharaya L. S., Mitusov A. V. Fundamental quantitative methods of land surface analysis. Geoderma, 2002, vol. 107, no. 1-2, pp. 1-32. 
  16. Conrad O., Bechtel B., Bock M., Dietrich H., Fischer E., Gerlitz L., Wehberg J., Wichmann V., Böhner J. System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) v. 2.1.4. Geoscientific Model Development, 2015, vol. 8, pp. 1991–2007. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1991-2015
  17. Bazhenova O.I., Bardash A.V., Makarov S.A. et al. The Functioning of Erosion-channel Systems of the River Basins of the South of Eastern Siberia. Geosciences, 2020, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 176- 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10050176
  18. Wood J. D. The Geomorphological Characterization of Digital Elevation Models. Ph. D. Thesis. Leicester, University of Leicester, 1996, 193 p. 
  19. Zevenbergen L.W., Thorne C.R. Quantitive analisis of land surface topography. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 1987, vol. 12, pp. 47-56.

Full text (russian)