高雄荖濃溪流域間為台灣地質分區上一大重要界限，為梨山-荖濃構造線通過之處，亦即潮州斷層所在。此斷層以濁口溪為界，北段由鳥居敬造（1933）命名為土壟灣斷層；南段由Tomita（1955）命名為潮州斷層，此斷層南北延伸約89 公里，並由經濟部中央地質調查所定義為第二類活動斷層。
本研究以高雄六龜至茂林間為研究區域，此區域地質構造複雜，區域內有多條斷層通過，並且由於地形陡峭、不易抵達，且岩性相近、露頭狀況不佳，造成前人對於此區域構造解釋不一，直至2009 年莫拉克颱風重創南台灣，在區域內造成多處大規模崩塌，因而出現許多新鮮且連續的露頭。
本研究使用中央地質調查所提供的空載光達高精度數值高程模型，套疊上航空照片進行研究區域內的室內構造線形判釋，爾後透過野外工作查核結果，並沿線測繪路線地質圖，得知斷層分布之位置、野外產狀及其特性，再根據擦痕資料的統計結果以了解斷層的運動型態，最後以全區域的五萬分之一地質圖解釋研究區域的地質構造分布。
本研究延續陳羿輝（2015）所劃定之美瓏山斷層帶位置與延伸進行區域地質構造之調查。根據構造線形判釋結果顯示，此區域構造線形方向以南北向為主，且構造線通過之處有多處崖面、崩塌地發育。而後透過野外工作複勘，以4 條路線地質圖與地質剖面圖呈現，研究區域內美瓏山斷層約為一位態(N10˚E,45˚E)、斷層變形帶寬度約1000 公尺，位於潮州層內板岩帶且具左移性質的逆衝斷層。

As an important geological boundary in Taiwan, Laonong River Watershed is where the Lishan-Laonong structural lineation passes through and Chaochou Fault is located.
Zhuokou River is regarded as a discriminating boundary of Chaochou Fault:
Due to fault crossing, but also the precipitous terrain, difficult-to-reach, lithological similarity and poor outcropping characteristics resulted in different interpretations towards the geological structure of this region. Up until the strike of Typhoon Morakot in 2009, a number of fresh and continuous outcrops were uncovered from the collapsed large-scale landslides in this region.
My study area was understood indoor based on CGS’s high-resolution airborne LiDAR-derived DEM overlapped with aerial imagery. The results were assessed by field surveys and used to draw a geological map in order to know the distribution, occurrence and characteristics of faults in the region. Later, the statistics for slickensides were gathered to understand the fault movement. Finally, the distribution of geological structure of this region was interpreted using a geological map at the 1:50,000 scale.
The lineation interpretation results, which were assessed by field survey and then presented in a geological map and profile of 4 routes, indicate that the region has a north-south-stretching lineation that passes through a number of scarps and dynamically developing collapses. Furthermore, according to the study results, we believe that Meilungshan Fault is a left-reverse fault with an attitude of N10˚E/45˚E and a deformation zone of about 1,000 m-wide in the slate of Chaochou FM.

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