As part of a semidetailed pedologic survey, the physiographic analysis of the area comprising the La Unión, La Victoria, Toro and Obando municipalities (Valle del Cauca Department, Colombia) was conducted. The aim of this work was the evaluation of the use of the physiographic analysis and its classification according to the CIAF System. The area includes two physiographic provinces: the Depresión Cauca-Patía (Cauca-Patía Graben) and the Cordillera Occidental (Western Range). Aggradation processes predominate in the former while degradation ones prevail in the latter. In the plains, the elements which enabled the reconnaissance of the landscape units were as follows: drainage channels, land use, drainage conditions and pedogenic processes, which, in some units, manifested through colour changes observed by means of photointerpretation. In these areas, the relief was of minor importance because terrain variations are of little significance. In the mountain region, the elements which enabled the differentiation of the landscape units were as follows: landscape (relief and compound slopes), natural vegetation, rocks, drainage pattern, parent material and denudation. It is concluded that the applied method and the adopted physiographic classification were instrumental in the understanding of the processes originating these landscapes.
photointerpretation; physiographic analysis; semidetailed pedologic survey; CIAF system
