Seven Good Reasons for Integrating Terrestrial and Marine Spatial Datasets in Changing Environments

Abstract

A comprehensive understanding of environmental changes taking place in coastal regions relies on accurate integration of both terrestrial and submerged geo-environmental datasets. However, this practice is hardly implemented because of the high (or even prohibitive) survey costs required for submerged areas and the frequent low accessibility of shallow areas. In addition, geoscientists are used to working on land or at sea independently, making the integration even more challenging. Undoubtedly new methods and techniques of offshore investigation adopted over the last 50 years and the latest advances in computer vision have played a crucial role in allowing a seamless combination of terrestrial and marine data. Although efforts towards an innovative integration of geo-environmental data from above to underwater are still in their infancy, we have identified seven topics for which this integration could be of tremendous benefit for environmental research: (1) geomorphological mapping; (2) Late-Quaternary changes of coastal landscapes; (3) geoarchaeology; (4) geoheritage and geodiversity; (5) geohazards; (6) marine and landscape ecology; and (7) coastal planning and management. Our review indicates that the realization of seamless DTMs appears to be the basic condition to operate a comprehensive integration of marine and terrestrial data sets, so far exhaustively achieved in very few case studies. Technology and interdisciplinarity will be therefore critical for the development of a holistic approach to understand our changing environments and design appropriate management measures accordingly.

Geomorphology of Canyon Outlets in Zrmanja River Estuary and Its Effect on the Holocene Flooding of Semi-enclosed Basins (the Novigrad and Karin Seas, Eastern Adriatic)

“…Knowledge of the geomorphology of the aforementioned karst features is the most important for the relative sea-level reconstruction. When merged with additional investigations of the sediments deposited in the studied basins, which include sediment cores and high-resolution acoustic methods, these results will provide new insights into the timing of the rapid Holocene relative sea-level rise in the eastern Adriatic coast, as well as in other Mediterranean coastal areas [60].…”

Submarine Geomorphology of the Southwestern Sardinian Continental Shelf (Mediterranean Sea): Insights into the Last Glacial Maximum Sea-Level Changes and Related Environments

“…Sea-level variations connected to climatic oscillations [1] cause changes in the landscape of coastal areas and continental shelves [2]. The comparative geomorphological analysis of emerged and submerged areas is particularly effective for revealing the landand seascape changes [3,4]. Landscape evolutionary phases can be reconstructed considering morphostructural and morphostratigraphic settings and using geomorphological, seismic, sedimentological, palaeontological, and isotopic data.…”

Landscapes and Landforms of Terrestrial and Marine Areas: A Way Forward

“…In the last decade, the interest to jointly analyze landscapes and landforms of emerged and submerged areas has been expanding [1]. A major contribution in this direction has been provided by technological improvements and the development of innovative methods for collecting and analyzing geospatial data in the so-called "white ribbon."…”

“…Different fields of geosciences have recently benefited from integrating land-and-sea spatial datasets (cf. [1]), mainly as a result of the following:…”