Urban geomorphology of the Vistula River valley in Warsaw

Abstract

Using ALS LIDAR DEM and OpenStreetMap data we visualise in ArcGIS the geomorphic features of a large, lowland river which flows through the area impacted by urbanisation of a big city – the capital of Poland. We present on one map the main geomorphological surfaces and their exact boundaries: valley edge, terrace front and floodplain juxtaposed with buildings and the main transportation corridors. We identify convex aeolian and fluvial landforms: dunes, levees, sandy lobes including crevasse splays, ridges between swales, sandy bars, islands; and concave erosional landforms: floodplain channels, crevasse channels, oxbow lakes, palaeo-meanders, tributary channels, and chute channels. We draw implications for flood management, geo-archaeology geo-heritage conservation. We search for traces of extreme flood events in the Holocene, also on the higher terraces which the river developed by its deposition in the Pleistocene.

Keywords

• geovisualisation
• geosite
• floodway
• morainic plateau
• landscape
• riverscape