Compartimentação das unidades de relevo e formas de uso da terra em um setor da escarpa oriental do Planalto da Borborema

Abstract

The present study proposes a subdivision of relief units in a sector of the eastern Brazilian Northeast, based on the geomorphological compartments as a key elements for the structuring of the regional landscapes. The geomorphological mapping proposal in meso-scale of the International Geographical Union (IGU) (Demek, 1972) was used, which allowed an integrated analysis of the landscape encompassing the geoforms, hypsometry, lithostratigraphic data and physical aspects of the drainage network. For the mapping of land use and land cover, the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) class II and III levels were used. The relief units were distributed based on the anchoring on two morphostructures (the Borborema Highlands and their Piedmont). Regarding the model, five relief units were identified, while for the land use categories, five class levels were defined. The results point to a synergic relationship between the morphological units, the predominant types of land use and occupation and the resulting surface morphodynamics.