Loess distribution map for the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin: A new approach using different geoscientific maps and data

Abstract

Geo- and paleo-ecological studies in the Carpathian Basin require a detailed knowledge of the distribution of aeolian sediments. Existing and often cited maps, such as Haase et al. (2007), are in not detailed enough and faulty as a result of the basic input data and due to the used scale. To create a map showing the detailed distribution of loess sediments in the Carpathian Basin at the border of Hungary and Romania several different cross-border spatial data were used. Particularly some problems occurred because of the thematically content of the underlying international geodata, but also due to geodetical basics such as projections and linguistic barriers, respectively. To solve the identified problems some approaches were made, e.g. by following the terms of the EU-INSPIRE-directive. However, the most important approach was the unification of both areas by blending spatial data generated from scanned medium scale paper maps with topographical surface properties using a Geographic Information System. Therefore the geological map of Hungary (scale 1 : 300,000) has been vectorized, statistically analyzed and classified to an actual classification system. Due to the lack of useable geological data for Romania the Romanian pedological map (scale 1 : 500,000) was vectorized. The pedological data (soil type and texture) could be transferred into the German Soil Taxonomy first. In a second step the identified soils were interpreted by type and texture to make conclusions back to their parental substrate, especially loess sediments. Also remote sensing data and a Digital Elevation Model were taken to validate the results or to solve single problems of classification of the generated model considering geomorphological properties, respectively.
Finally the Hungarian and the Romanian data set were combined and transferred into a common loess sediment classification system resulting in a seamless cross-border map showing the loess distribution in the Carpathian Basin at a scale of about 1:500,000.

Resources

Bibliography

Lindner, H., Lehmkuhl, F., Zeeden, C. (2016): Loess distribution map for the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin: A new approach using different geoscientific maps and data. Loess2M - Modelling & Mapping. 26-29.8.2016, Novi Sad, Serbia.