Reconstructing a prehistoric topography using legacy point data in a depositional environment

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The AA. focus on a data-based approach, where knowledge on the geological history is used to interpret and exploit legacy data. As part of a landscape reconstruction of a large area, located in the northwestern part of Sandy Flanders, a map of the elevation near 10 000 BC was produced. Starting from a present-day grid digital elevation model (GDEM) that was filtered for human influences, the AA. identified the thickness of accumulated sediments over the Holocene, mapped these and corrected the GDEM. To map the thickness of Holocene sediments they used 72 (OSL and 14C) dated sediment samples, 731 recent profile descriptions and 3288 legacy profile descriptions. Protocols were formulated based on literature and local correlative studies to convert the legacy profile descriptions into estimates of the thickness of Holocene sediments, with an estimate of the precision. The method of Kriging with uncertain data was applied to obtain a map. Future reconstructions could employ both process knowledge and data by combining landscape genesis models with legacy data to map model errors and thus increase the quality of the reconstruction.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2014, vol. 39, n°. 5, p. 632-645, nombre de pages : 14, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley