'I a, "- 'a Z. Aia '-'INn boesE PL tes t'- bacK coOt1 IJJJ)4;.Jk [E11i.V toil Sheff Mark Gizo(of bjeopkç4cs /JbrtaAL\ , a1CDJot Pt 1111 llII Ill I1I II II U U ilfi 1111 I1HI 30150 016433671 An Integrated Approach to Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction Using GIS Marianne L. Broadgate Thesis submitted for a degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Edinburgh February 1997 Acknowledgements I should like to thank my supervisors for their help and encouragement with the work and this thesis. Professor Geoffrey Boulton gave me the opportunity to undertake a PhD and Professor Richard Healey provided the pointers and encouragement I needed to formulate the thesis. For these things I am especially grateful. I should also like to thank those hardy souls and dear friends who saw me through the process. Particularly I wish to thank Nick Hulton and Steve Dowers in the Geography Department, and Ian Chisholm in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, for their help and advice with the computing work. Also thanks to Pieter Dongelmans and Mikko Punkari for allowing me to use their 'data and for useful discussions. Richard Healey, Ian Alexander, Christine and DanieL Bishop, Richard Aspinall, Monica Wachowicz, Karen Dobbie, Milcko Punkari and David Petley read some of the chapters very thoroughly. I am indebted to them for their honesty and useful suggestions. I would also like to thank Alistair Law, David Miller and Richard Aspinail for being such supportive work colleagues, and for providing useful discussions and good advice on particular parts of the thesis. Marianne Wamser kindly proof read one of the worst chapters, and David Miller was also a first-class last-minute-reference mole. To my sisters Wendy and Kirsty, and to Ian, a million thanks for your hard work, patience and long-suffering whilst helping me at various stages. To my friends everywhere whom I have neglected, and my colleagues at Sunderland University and the Macaulay Institute, I wish to extend my thanks for their support and lenience whilst I tried to hold down a job and moonlight on this tome! Encouragement and support have been given in over-generous quantities by my parents and Ian, and much of the credit for the appearance of this volume goes to them. Finally to Lindsay and Sue in London, Chris in Australia, and Elaine, Ann, Suzie and Rachel in Aberdeen, a huge thank you for your valiant efforts in keeping insanity at bay and giving me moral support, and a social life between work stints. ill ABSTRACT The last interglaciaL/glacial cycle is the key period for understanding the nature of long-term environmental change, and the complex interplay between the atmosphere, oceans, glaciers, the lithosphere and vegetation. It is the cycle for which most information is available, and the only one for which there is any hope of reconstructing a detailed history. Major obstacles to utilising the available data are the volume of complex, disparately located information, the difficulty of relating earlier observations to new models, and the increasingly global nature of investigations. There is a fundamental and pressing need for a way of optimising the co-ordination of research, and the organisation and analysis of data. Information Technology (IT) in general, and Geographical Information Systems (615) Science, in particular, offer a powerful means by which this can be achieved. Despite recent advances in palaeoenvironmental research methodologies, significant improvements may be realised through better data management and a more rigorous approach to spatial data analysis. Geographic Information Science research offers methods and techniques for handling large volumes of complex, multi-source, spatial data which require an understanding of spatial theory and scientific organisational structures. Research in this area combines computer science, social science, geography, geodesy, cartography and cognitive psychology to address these issues. Analyses of the data and methodologies employed in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction reveal particular areas where 615 might increase scientific understanding. Glacial geomorphological and sea level data sets provide very different palaeoenvironmental reconstruction challenges through which the issues of current practices, and the benefits of 615 techniques, can be explored. 615 data analysis and management methods considerably improved the potential for using this data in reconstruction of the NW European palaeoenvironment during the last glacial cycle. A spatial framework was developed, which facilitated data integration and quantitative analysis for regional datasets. The accuracy and speed with which this was achieved using 615 has hitherto been impossible using manual methods. However, several issues have emerged which highlight the limitations inherent in current palaeoenvironmental practices, and the shortfalls in 615 knowledge and technological development. This suggests that a change in the current research paradigm is needed. An object oriented approach to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction addressed limitations imposed by the current research paradigm and has been developed into the PaleoEnvironmental Reconstruction and Information System (PERIS) model. Changes in research practices are required to improve palaeoenvironmental research methods. These changes would support the PERIS model and are discussed in terms of a palaeoenvironmental infrastructural research strategy. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT Page CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Palaeoenvironments and global change 1 1.2 The information explosion and global science 2 1.3 Emergence of GIS as an integrative, management and analysis tool 3 1.4 Changes in scientific conduct 5 1.5 Thesis aims 6 1.6 Thesis structure 7 CHAPTER 2 GENERIC PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS 2.1 Approach 9 2.2 Objectives of Palaeoenvironmental Research 9 2.3 Methods and Data 10 2.3.1 A Data Hierarchy 13 2.3.2 Level I and 2 Data 14 2.3.3 Level 3 Data 17 2.3.4 Key characteristics of data and methods 19 2.4 Inadequacies in current practices 23 2.4.1 Data recording and processing practices 26 2.4.2 Data archiving practices 28 2.4.3 Scientific infrastnictural limitations 29 2.5 Discussion of palaeoenvironmental requirements 31 CHAPTER 3 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) ISSUES 3.1 Introduction 34 3.2 (IllS potential for palaeoenvironmental research 34 3.3 Data Capture 35 3.4 Data storage 38 3.5 GIS functionality and spatial analysis 40 V 3.6 Data integration 42 3.7 Data Management 44 3.8 Information networks 47 3.9 Addressing palaeoenvironmental requirements 49 CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDY 1- GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY 4.1 Introduction 53 4.2 Glacial Reconstruction 54 4.2.1 Levels 1 and 2 Data 56 4.2.1.1 Field Information 56 4.2.1.2 Remote Sensing 59 4.2.1.3 Dating 61 4.2.2 Level 3 Data 62 4.2.3 Related Information 64 4.2.4 Reconstruction Requirements 67 4.3 A GIS-based Case Study 70 4.3.1 Background to Case Study 70 4.3.1.1 Satellite Imagery Data 72 4.3.1.2 National Map Data 72 4.3.1.3 Glacial Data Model 72 4.3.2 Data Capture and Transformation 75 4.3.2.1 Satellite Imagery 76 4.3.2.2 National Maps 76 4.3.2.3 Uncertainty Issues 77 4.3.3 Data Integration and Analysis 77 4.3.4 Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions 81 4.3.5 Further Work 90 4.4 Discussion 92 4.4.1 (315 Contribution 92 4.4.2 Data Related Issues 95 4.4.3 System Issues 96 4.5 Conclusions 98 CHAPTER 5 CASE STUDY 2- SEA LEVEL CHANGE 5.1 Introduction 101 5.2 Sea Level Reconstruction 102 5.2.1 Levels 1 and 2 Data 105 Vi 5.2.2 Level 3 Data 108 5.2.3 Related Information 114 5.2.4 Reconstruction Requirements 116 5.3 A GIS-based Case Study 117 5.3.1 Background to Case Study 118 5.3.2 Sea Level Data Model 119 5.3.3 Data Capture and Transformation 124 5.3.4 Data Integration and Analysis 126 5.3.5 Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction 126 5.3.6 Further Work 134 5.4 Discussion 136 5.4.1 GIS Contribution 136 5.4.2 Data Issues 137 5.4.3 System Issues 138 5.5 Conclusions 139 CHAPTER 6 A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 6.1 Introduction 142 6.2 Changing Paradigms 142 6.3 Object Oriented Concepts 144 6.4 Object Oriented Reconstruction 146 6.5 The PERIS Model 149 6.6 Reconstruction using PERIS 152 6.7 PERIS Infrastructure 157 6.8 Current Information Infrastructure Development 161 6.9 A Palaeoenvironmental Information Strategy 164 6:10 Conclusions 168 CHAPTER 7 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 7.1 Introduction 171 7.2 Demonstrable GIS Benefits 171 7.3 Further developments are urgently required 173 7.4 The PERIS Model 174 REFERENCES 176 Vii APPENDICES APPENDIX I GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK 204 APPENDIX II SYSTEM PROGRAMMES: GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY 212 APPENDIX HI SYSTEM PROGRAMMES: SEA LEVEL 250 APPENDIX IV PUBLICATION 265 Wachowicz, M. and Broadgate, M.L., 1993. A significant Challenge: Prediction of environmental changes using a temporal GIS. Proceedings AGI 93. LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND MAPS CHAPTER 2 Figure 2.1 Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction 12 Table 2.2 Level 1 Proxy Data 15 Table 2.3 Level 2 Data with Level 1 Links 16 Figure 2.4 Availability of techniques in the data spectrum 18 Figure 2.5 Characteristics of Major Data Sources 21 Figure 2.6 Intersecting Sources and Skills Domains 22 Table 2.7 Related Data 24 Table 2.8 Traditional Practices, Issues and Improvements 25 CHAPTER 4 Table 4.1 Classification of glacial (a) and glacialfluvial (b) landforms 57 Table 4.2 Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography-based investigations 69 Figure 4.3 Requirements of glacial geomorphological data 71 Figure 4.4a Satellite Image Integration for Finland MSS and TM 73 Figure 4.4b