DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin
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Aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management in River Basins Influenced by Mining Activities in Lower Lusatia
Full text linkIn Lower Lusatia, eastern Germany, the changing impacts of lignite coal mining and potential climate change have put the naturally low water yield conditions under pressure. Water resources balances describe the hydrological situation in the region and the need for action due to changing boundary conditions. Extended transfer of flood water from neighbouring catchments is considered inevitable for sustainable regional development and the establishment of a quantitatively and qualitatively selfregulated water system. Using the river basin management system WBalMo®, potential water transfer scenarios to compensate for water deficits resulting from regional and global change are analysed
Landscape Classification using Principal Component Analysis and Fuzzy Classification: Archaeological Sites and their Natural Surroundings in Central Mongolia
Full text linkThe middle and upper Orkhon Valley in Central Mongolia (47.5°N, 102.5°E) hosts a multitude of diverse archaeological features. Most of them – including the well-known ancient cities of Karakorum and Karabalgasun – have only rarely been described in their geographical setups. The aim of this study is to describe, classify and analyse their surrounding landscapes and consequently characterise these sites geographically. This analysis is based on freely available raster datasets that offer information about topography, surface reflectance and derivatives. Principal component analysis is applied as a dimensional reduction technique. Subsequently, a fuzzy-logic approach leads to a classification scheme in which archaeological features are embedded and therefore distinguishable. A distinct difference in preferences regarding to choose a site location can be made and confirmed by semiautomatic analysis, comparing burial and ritual places and settlements. Walled enclosures and settlements are connected to planar steppe regions, whereas burial and ritual places are embedded in mountainous and hilly environments
Analysis of Past and Present Landscapes Surrounding the Necropolis of Dahshur
Full text linkThe landscape evolution of the area surrounding the necropolis of Dahshur (Egypt) is analysed on the basis of geomorphological investigations and the integration of late Holocene sediment characteristics. Knowledge of the ancient landscape and palaeoenvironmental conditions allows a better understanding of spatial relationships between monuments and landscape. From altogether 41 sondages conducted mainly by archaeologists of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), we selected eight sondages along three transects and one single sondage. Furthermore, the results of geomorphometrical analysis will be presented. The chosen sondages are characteristic of the typical landscape units of the study area: floodplain of the river Nile, limestone escarpment of the Western Desert and the desert margins east of the escarpment scarp. The geomorphology and channel geometry were also analysed. The results show that different processes influenced the relief of the study area. From the late Old Kingdom onwards, aeolian dynamics levelled the landscape mainly in the channel beds and in the desert margin east of the escarpment scarp. Human activities such asmining in the period of the Old Kingdom also shaped the relief. Depressions situated in a semicircularform around the Bent Pyramid are interpreted as quarries and give evidence of this activity