Investigating the Role of Faults in the Establishment and Survival of Settlements using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). The Case of Sahneh County in Iran

Accessibility of water resources is often one of the prerequisites for a residency to be established and survive over time. As water transfer from remote areas was almost impossible until few centuries ago, water supply was more important in the past, when life would have been fully interrupted and settlements evacuated in case of drought. On the one hand, many studies indicate that faults play a major role in the location of springs outflow; on the other hand, the fault structure specifies the rivers' path in many cases. This study aimed to investigate the role of fault in the establishment and survival of human settlements in Sahneh County, Iran. Firstly, the correlation between the springs-rivers distribution and the location of faults in the area was calculated. Then, a correlation analysis was run between the springs with fault origin and rivers influenced by tectonic structures, on the one hand, and the distribution of settlements in the area on the other hand. The results show that 72.5% of the springs are located in the fault zone; Darband and Dinavar rivers also follow tectonic structures. The final results indicate that the faults have had primary contribution to the formation of 26.1% of the settlements.