Declassified intelligence satellite imagery as a tool to reconstruct past landforms and surface processes: The submerged riverscape of the Tigris River below the Mosul Dam Lake, Iraq

Luca Forti; Guido S. Mariani; Filippo Brandolini; Andrea Pezzotta; Andrea Zerboni

doi:10.1002/esp.5389

journal article Open Access May 13, 2022

Declassified intelligence satellite imagery as a tool to reconstruct past landforms and surface processes: The submerged riverscape of the Tigris River below the Mosul Dam Lake, Iraq

Luca Forti

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Vol. 47 No. 10 pp. 2483-2499 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/esp.5389

Abstract

AbstractLocated along the Tigris River in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Mosul Dam Reservoir is the second biggest dam of the Near East and represents an important water storage for local human activities. The dam was built between 1981 and 1988 north of the village of Eski Mosul, submerging the course of the Tigris River for c. 100 km. The analysis of historical images derived from declassified Corona satellite imagery acquired between December 1967 and August 1968 reveals the pristine pattern of the Tigris River, including the seasonal changes of its riverbed, shifting across the hydrological year from meandering to anastomosing patterns. Geomorphological mapping based on Corona images allowed us to estimate the seasonal modification of fluvial elements such as the floodplain and point, middle and longitudinal bars. The comparison with Landsat data collected since the 1990s showed the first phases of the basin filling and the control on the present‐day aspect of the lake inherited from the setting of the Tigris channel belt and, more in general, the litho‐structural control over the evolution of the local hydrographic network; we also document the influence of the original Tigris River course on its recent insertion into the lake. Our work allowed reconstruction of the ancient fluvial landscape below the Mosul Dam Lake and the evolution of its riverscape controlled by litho‐structural factors and seasonal variations of the river discharge. Finally, this contribution highlights the relevance of declassified intelligence satellite imagery in interpreting natural geomorphic processes and landforms, today altered by human agency.

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Details

Published: May 13, 2022
Vol/Issue: 47(10)
Pages: 2483-2499
License: View

Authors

L

Luca Forti

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy; Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Pisa Italy

G

Guido S. Mariani

Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche Università degli Studi di Cagliari Cagliari Italy

F

Filippo Brandolini

McCord Centre for Landscape – School of History, Classics and Archaeology Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne UK

A

Andrea Pezzotta

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy

A

Andrea Zerboni

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy

Funding

Ministry of Education Award: WP4

Università degli Studi di Milano

Università degli Studi di Udine

Cite This Article

Luca Forti, Guido S. Mariani, Filippo Brandolini, et al. (2022). Declassified intelligence satellite imagery as a tool to reconstruct past landforms and surface processes: The submerged riverscape of the Tigris River below the Mosul Dam Lake, Iraq. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 47(10), 2483-2499. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5389

Declassified intelligence satellite imagery as a tool to reconstruct past landforms and surface processes: The submerged riverscape of the Tigris River below the Mosul Dam Lake, Iraq

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