The study investigates correlations between the recent
tectonic evolution of the external South-Eastern Carpathians and the
characteristics of the hypsometric curves, derived for various HortonStrahler basin orders. The analysis focuses on an area of about 8000
km2
, delineated by the Trotuş Fault in the north, the southern limit of
the Buzău River catchment, Braşov and Focşani Basins in the west,
respectively, east, known to conserve the youngest topography in the
Romanian Carpathians. Considering the effects of the Quaternary uplift,
these limits include the less elevated region of Subcarpathians. Spatial
distribution of the hypsometrical integrals (HI) values was evaluated
taking into account basin order, main lithological features and distance
from major structural lines as well as some local indices of spatial
autocorrelation. The results show that HI reflects both the specificity of
regional tectonic evolution and denudation. However this is better
sustained for the higher order basins (>3).
Keywords:
hypsometric integral, SE Carpathians, spatial analysis, neotectonics