Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are well suited for characterizing the geomorphological features of a landscape. Different geomorphic types, including marine terraces, fluvial terraces, landslides, fans and sand dunes are distributed on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. We employed a DEM to examine the geomorphological characteristics of ancient dunes and old fans on the Noto Peninsula. Using a previous classification of geomorphic surfaces, we then performed a boring survey to characterize the facies of sediments. Since geomorphic analysis based on current topographic data is highly influenced by the anthropogenic development of landforms, we generated the DEM using aerial photographs that had been taken of the area prior to development in the region. Analysis of the slopes and eigenvalue ratios of the ancient dunes in the 1 m-DEM revealed that they were steeper and smaller than those of the old fans, respectively. Indeed, slopes and eigenvalue ratios appear to be well suited for use as indexes for distinguishing between ancient dunes and old fans.
