Abstract
This paper discusses the relationships between relief energy and types and intensity of erosional processes in an active folding zone in the northeastern margin of the Niigata plain. It is recognized that there is a positive correlation among relief energy, magnitude of erosional processes and intensity of denudation in areas that have relief energy less than 150 m and are underlain by the upper Miocene mudstones. This relationship suggests that the intense areal denudation in the higher relief zone provides an upper limit of relief energy in the areas of less resistant rocks.
In the study area, where denudation is not yet in the equilibrium with uplifting, the relief energy will reflect the amount of uplift. Large amount of uplift is expected to produce large relief energy, and mountainous landscape characterized by large-scale landslide and lack of crest-flats in the southern part of the surveyed area. In contrast with the southern part, in the northern part of the surveyed area, where the amount of uplift is smaller than the southern part, the hilly landscape characterized by the broad crest-flats and numerous gullies are formed in the low relief area.
