Abstract Distinguishing between mountain fronts of various origins is an issue of considerable scientific and practical importance. Whereas morphometry is often applied to fault-generated fronts and a range of indices has been proposed to assess their activity, comparative studies of fault-generated and fault-line escarpments seem very rare. In this paper we analyse two mountain fronts delimiting the Sowie Mountains block (SW Poland, Central Europe) from the opposite sides. One is evidently a fault-generated escarpment, whereas the other one coincides with a distinct lithological boundary, although along an old Variscan fault, and appears to be a fault-line escarpment. These two fronts are characterized in terms of sinuosity, spacing ratio, slope characteristics, altitude variability using geostatistical approach, longitudinal stream profiles, drainage basin characteristics and the presence of mid-slope flats within the elevated block. Clustering and statistical hypothesis testing were used to recognize patterns of spatial similarities and differences. The main findings emerging from this study are as follows. The two mountain fronts are different in terms of morphological characteristics, but only some indices and parameters have discriminating value, mainly SL index, drainage basin typology, altitude variability in the frontal zone. Some parameters, such as drainage basin asymmetry and the altitude position of water divide flats, change non-systematically and their interpretation remains ambiguous. Their variability probably reflects local controls. Overall, the results strongly indicate that geomorphic histories of the mountain fronts and overarching controls of their long-term evolution were different. Morphometric properties and landform features, if considered in isolation and without statistical treatment, appear to be ambiguous in interpretation. This applies particularly to drainage basin properties. However, drainage basin clustering using a k-means algorithm helped to discriminate between the fronts and may be recommended for similar studies elsewhere.

中文翻译：

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构造与岩石控制的山峰——地貌测量和地质统计学方法（中欧索维山）

摘要 区分不同来源的山峰是一个具有重要科学和实践意义的问题。虽然形态测量法经常应用于断层生成的锋面，并且已经提出了一系列指标来评估它们的活动，但对断层生成和断层线悬崖的比较研究似乎非常罕见。在本文中，我们分析了从相对两侧划定索维山脉区块（波兰西南、中欧）的两个山峰。一个显然是断层产生的悬崖，而另一个与明显的岩性边界重合，虽然沿着一个古老的瓦里斯坎断层，似乎是一条断层线悬崖。这两个锋面的特征在于曲折度、间距比、坡度特征、使用地统计方法的高度变异性、纵向流剖面、流域特征和高架块内中坡平地的存在。聚类和统计假设检验用于识别空间相似性和差异的模式。本研究的主要发现如下。两山锋的形态特征不同，但只有部分指标和参数具有判别价值，主要是SL指数、流域类型、锋区海拔变异等。一些参数，如流域不对称性和分水坪的海拔位置，是非系统性变化的，它们的解释仍然不明确。它们的可变性可能反映了本地控制。全面的，结果有力地表明，山峰的地貌历史及其长期演化的总体控制是不同的。形态特征和地形特征，如果单独考虑并且没有统计处理，在解释上似乎是模棱两可的。这尤其适用于流域盆地特性。然而，使用 k 均值算法的流域聚类有助于区分前沿，并可能被推荐用于其他地方的类似研究。