Development of a Detailed Geomorphological Mapping System and GIS Geodatabase in Sweden

Abstract

This thesis presents a method for detailed landscape presentation. The method incorporates both fieldwork-based comprehensive geomorphological description and digital data handling and thus contributes in filling the gap between traditional geomorphological mapping and modern geomorphological studies performed in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The main part of the thesis relates to development of a new detailed geomorphological mapping system, constructed to be easy to use and yet present a large amount of geomorphological information. The legend of the mapping system has successfully been applied to various types of landscapes, mapped at various scales between 1:5,000 and 1:50,000 without any modifications needed. The information presented in the map is based on simple descriptive criteria and thus the subjectivity is kept low, which enables a broad field of usage. In parallel with the mapping system a GIS-based geomorphological database has been developed. The structure and data presentation of the new mapping system allows for easy transformation of the data to form part of this database. The selected format of the GIS database is the ESRI ArcGIS®, Personal geodatabase. In the development of the geomorphological mapping system four field areas have been mapped in central (Bonäs, Risa and Liden) and northern Sweden (Tarfala). In addition the new legend has been adapted to a field area situated in Vorarlberg, Austria (Upper Gamperdona valley). In relation to the Tarfala field area an added issue of the project has been to give insights in the effects of physical and chemical weathering on various rock types to see if this can be detected in materials and landforms. The results from this study point at that resistance towards weathering vary among rocks even though they are of same rock type.