Terrain analysis for development studies: Typical mountainous area along the Eastern Mediterranean coast-lebanon

The limited areal extent of small countries means that reliance has to be placed on mountainous terrain in developing more land needed for continuous growth. These terrains, especially along the Eastern Mediterranean, usually have rugged morphologies which makes their evaluation difficult. The Australian P.U.C.E. system for terrain assessment and classification proved to be an optimal approach for engineering-geology related studies for the above task in the Aley-Chouf area. Basic land properties having an impact on land development are singled out. They constitute mainly the geological formations, relief, drainage, land forms, soils and the vegetation cover. The land divisions used are Province, Pattern and Unit which cover ten rock formations of varying lithologies, water character and stability features. The area is divided into 7 provinces, 26 terrain patterns and 152 units. These land divisions imply finding similar engineering geological problems and applying similar solutions when planning to develop the area, or some other equivalent areas.