Underwater landscapes of Swiss lakes - the last frontier of geomorphologic exploration
Event details
| Date | 08.12.2015 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Dr Flavio Anselmetti, Quaternary Geology and Paleoclimatology, Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
Switzerland has long tradition in developing and acquiring highest-quality maps of the earth's surface. The submerged part of the Swiss territory, however, received less attention than the subaerial counterparts. Consequently, the currently available bathymetric data of the lakes are of limited quality and low resolution, mostly due to limitations of the traditional techniques such as single soundings or single-beam echo sounders. Within a recent development, state-of-the-art acoustic hydrographic survey systems (multibeam echosounder, swath bathymetry systems) were applied in Swiss lakes allowing a significant improvement of the horizontal resolution of subaquatic digital terrain models to values comparable or even better than high-resolution laserscan terrestrial data. Such equipment was used for the first time in Switzerland in the framework of a pilot project that started in 2007. In the meanwhile, many lakes have been surveyed using these new technologies, and more are to come.
This presentation introduces the methods, goals, applications and limitations of this technology, exploring and visualizing so far hidden morphologies and lake bottom processes. These novel data are the basis for subsequent investigations of the lake sediments and for other applications in coastal engineering and construction, natural hazard analysis (mass movements, earthquakes, tsunamis), environmental analysis, and natural resource prospecting. Combining bathymetric data with Lidar data above the water line and from shallow waters permits analysis of a seamless landscape, i.e. without relevant processes stopping at the shore line. Periodic repetitions of the surveys will allow monitoring and quantifying alterations of the lake floors related to natural processes as well as to human impact.
Short biography:
Flavio Anselmetti has a diploma in geology and geophysics of the University of Basel (Switzerland) and a PhD in Geology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Techonology ETH Zürich (Switzerland). He conducted his PhD thesis at ETH Zürich and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami, Florida, USA. He investigated marine carbonate sediments, their petrophysical properties and their seismic response. After five years in Miami, during which he also conducted consulting for the petroleum industry, he returned to the ETH Zürich and became assistant professor. In 2007, Anselmetti moved to the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) in Dübendorf, where he was leader of the Sedimentology group. In 2012, Anselmetti moved to the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he became full professor for Quaternary geology and paleoclimatology. He focuses his research on marine and lacustrine sediments and their role as paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic archives. His research includes studies on natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, paleoclimatology and human-environment interaction
Switzerland has long tradition in developing and acquiring highest-quality maps of the earth's surface. The submerged part of the Swiss territory, however, received less attention than the subaerial counterparts. Consequently, the currently available bathymetric data of the lakes are of limited quality and low resolution, mostly due to limitations of the traditional techniques such as single soundings or single-beam echo sounders. Within a recent development, state-of-the-art acoustic hydrographic survey systems (multibeam echosounder, swath bathymetry systems) were applied in Swiss lakes allowing a significant improvement of the horizontal resolution of subaquatic digital terrain models to values comparable or even better than high-resolution laserscan terrestrial data. Such equipment was used for the first time in Switzerland in the framework of a pilot project that started in 2007. In the meanwhile, many lakes have been surveyed using these new technologies, and more are to come.
This presentation introduces the methods, goals, applications and limitations of this technology, exploring and visualizing so far hidden morphologies and lake bottom processes. These novel data are the basis for subsequent investigations of the lake sediments and for other applications in coastal engineering and construction, natural hazard analysis (mass movements, earthquakes, tsunamis), environmental analysis, and natural resource prospecting. Combining bathymetric data with Lidar data above the water line and from shallow waters permits analysis of a seamless landscape, i.e. without relevant processes stopping at the shore line. Periodic repetitions of the surveys will allow monitoring and quantifying alterations of the lake floors related to natural processes as well as to human impact.
Short biography:
Flavio Anselmetti has a diploma in geology and geophysics of the University of Basel (Switzerland) and a PhD in Geology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Techonology ETH Zürich (Switzerland). He conducted his PhD thesis at ETH Zürich and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami, Florida, USA. He investigated marine carbonate sediments, their petrophysical properties and their seismic response. After five years in Miami, during which he also conducted consulting for the petroleum industry, he returned to the ETH Zürich and became assistant professor. In 2007, Anselmetti moved to the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) in Dübendorf, where he was leader of the Sedimentology group. In 2012, Anselmetti moved to the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he became full professor for Quaternary geology and paleoclimatology. He focuses his research on marine and lacustrine sediments and their role as paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic archives. His research includes studies on natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, paleoclimatology and human-environment interaction
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- EESS - IIE
Contact
- Prof. A. Johny Wüest, APHYS