This thesis is gives a contribution to quantify the soil erosion in historic times. For this purpose, anthropogeomorphological studies have been carried out. Not only the anthropogenic induced landscape development has been considered, but also the influence of the landscape on human decisions and acts.
In an defined segment of land to the west of urban Regensburg, a system of narrow passes is mapped and surveyed.
In a detailed study with conventional methods from pedology and geomorphology, a model of the terrain surface is built, that shows the structure of the landscape before soil erosion began. Comparing the model with the recent surface, that was recorded with a total station survey, a high resolution mass balance is calculated. It can be shown, that even using state-of-the-art technology and high expenditure of time, 30 % of the correlate sediments cannot be recorded anymore.
In another step it was attempted, if the results could be reproduced or improved, using refraction seismology and ground penetrating radar. It could be shown, that the used geophysical methods are suitable even for clayey and loamy colluvial sediments. Whether the vertical resolution was inferior to the results of the conventional methods and did not come up to expectations. In addition gaps of data have to be assumed, which leads to incomplete 2D subsurface information. However the saving of time with the geophysical approach is immense, thus it is recommended to use the refraction seismology and / or ground penetrating radar for investigations of colluvial sediments on large areas.
Besides the detailed study, the whole system of the narrow passes was mapped and digitally recorded, so the loss of soil material of the approx. 360 ha area could be calculated. In the result it is shown that 44545 t of soil were eroded caused by the sinking-process of the roads. Even with high expenditure of time and greatest care, the statistical error summarizes to +/- 29 %.
The radiocarbon dating of the correlate sediments and the colluvia delivered due to lack of sufficient suitable material, only an insufficient resolution of time. Even using the OSL dating method did not produce the date of the process of sedimentation. The reason was the insufficient bleaching of the minerals during transportation hence the ages where too high and of little use.
Finally, the combined results, acquired using methods from the physical geography, with the historical background of the site, proved that the process of erosion could be dated into the time span from the 7th / 9th century to the 15th / 16th century.
The investigated narrow pass system has to be considered as a multifunctional road network, that had various importance in different periods of time. It is safe to say that the narrow passes were not only caused by local traffic, but also national traffic in the direction of Nuernberg. Therefore, the examined narrow pass system is a part of the historical street „Alte Nürnberger Straße“.
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This thesis is gives a contribution to quantify the soil erosion in historic times. For this purpose, anthropogeomorphological studies have been carried out. Not only the anthropogenic induced landscape development has been considered, but also the influence of the landscape on human decisions and acts.
In an defined segment of land to the west of urban Regensburg, a system of narrow passes is mapped and surveyed.
In a detailed study with conventional methods from pedology and geomorphology, a...
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