Towards a comprehensive overview of glaciation at the Alps-Dinarides junction: compilation of a GIS database and creation of a web map viewer

On a global scale, inventories and databases are gaining value and there is a demand for openly accessible and reusable data. Here presented GIS database of glacial geomorphological evidence is a compilation of all available glacial and other relevant data in the South-Eastern Alps and the Northern Dinaric Mountains in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia. The database contains the following elements: glacial landforms (e.g., moraines, cirques, erratic fields, kame terraces), non-glacial landforms relevant for the interpretation of the glacial environment (e.g., alluvial fans, alluvial terraces, rock glaciers, protalus ramparts, talus cones), outcrop locations, geochronological data, and data on geophysical exploration. The accompanying attribute tables contains some basic information for each feature, such as type and description of a landform, assumed age, reference, etc. In the first step of database creation, the data were digitised, georeferenced (if not already done by the authors themselves) and cited accordingly. In the second step, the input data were revised in the field and topographically adjusted using a high-resolution lidar-based digital elevation model. The GIS database of glacial geomorphological data was used to develop the web map viewer, which also displays empirically reconstructed ice limits for different time spans during the last glacial cycle (130-0 ka). The data stored in the GIS database is available as ESRI shapefile format. Both the GIS database and the map viewer are open access. Disseminating the results of past and ongoing studies on glacial geomorphological evidence in the Alps-Dinarides junction will improve the availability and accessibility of data, build on previous findings and potentially prevent unnecessary repetition of work already done. Improved accessibility of data also offers greater potential for further research in large-scale studies in the area.

 

This work was funded by the Past climate change and glaciation at the Alps-Dinarides junction project (J1-2479) supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.