Análise das classes de declividade do Chapadão do Diamante (Serra da Canastra) e sua relação com Padrões de Compartimentação do Relevo e Gecoberturas

Abstract

The slope of a slope can be defined as the degree of inclination that it has in relation to a horizontal plane, being that steeper slopes have a greater slope, and consequently greater risks of erosive processes are accentuated. The slope map has been used in an almost mandatory way, in recent decades, in studies associated with Earth Sciences, Regional, Urban and Agrarian Planning, in conjunction with other graphical representations of variables such as: slope orientation, direct insolation, wind direction and speed, among others, thus enabling, with its correlations, a better understanding and an equation of the problems verified in the examined space. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze if the existing slope classes in a Relief Unit can be evaluated according to groupings intrinsic to the area and if these groupings are related to the Relief Shape Patterns and to the Geocoverages, the study being applied to the Chapadão do Diamante (ChD) which is the toponymy used to characterize the top area of the Serra da Canastra in its eastern portion and which has an area of approximately 333 km², located in the southwest of Minas Gerais. In this work to delimit the slope classes it was necessary to find the slope averages for each class of relief pattern and geocoverty, using the Zonal Statistics tool. Thus, with the analysis of the average slope of each relief pattern class and each geocover class, two slope classifications were delimited and used, in which one is based on the average slope of the relief patterns, and the other, which is based on the average slope of the geocoverages. Finally, an analysis of the distribution of slope classes by relief pattern and by geocover class was performed. Through this study, two slope maps and a series of tables and graphs showing the slope distribution analysis were generated. In the distribution analysis it was possible to see some relationships with the relief patterns and the slope classes, such as, for example, the Strongly Dissected Relief Associated with Hills occupied by predominantly high slopes. Regarding the geocoverages, it was also possible to see that there are relationships with the slope classes, for example, the undifferentiated colluvial materials have predominantly high slopes.