Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Aerodynamics from Cursorial Running to Aerial Gliding for Avian Flight Evolution
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La côte du Père Adam
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Les Iguanodons avant Bernissart
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Les Iguanodons de Bernissart: de la mine au musée
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La guerre des os: qui a découvert les Iguanodons de Bernissart?
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Les autres trésors de Bernissart
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Portrait de famille
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Geological Services towards a Sustainable Use and Management of the Subsurface: A Geoethical Imperative
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The conceptual model for an abandoned coal mine reservoir
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Faunal remains from Early Bronze Age al-Lāhūn (Jordan) and a comparison to contemporaneous assemblages in the southern Levant
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Morphometry and DNA barcoding reveal cryptic diversity in the genus Enteromius (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from the Congo basin, Africa
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A survey of the bushmeat trade of the straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum Kerr, 1792) at Maele Island (Kisangani city, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
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Etat de l’art des connaissances scientifiques pour le plan d’aménagement et de gestion 2024-2034 : Parc National de la Kibira
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Plan de recherche pour le Plan d’Aménagement et de Gestion 2024- 2034 : Parc National de la Rusizi
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Etat de l’art des connaissances scientifiques pour le plan d’aménagement et de gestion 2024-2034 : Parc National de la Rusizi
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Report 2022
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Report 2023
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Plan Pluri-annual Programme 2024-20289
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Modelling anthropogenic deposits in 3D geological models
- While geological models traditionally focus on the natural status of the underground, the shallow subsurface has been significantly altered by human activities over centuries. Particularly in urban contexts, ground has been raised, reworked, filled-in or disturbed in other ways. The rationale behind these alterations is as varied as the characteristics of the associated anthropogenic deposits: large-scale structures such as residential and industrial areas built on extensive sheets of filling materials or reclaimed lands are intertwined with smaller-scale features related, for example, to road and railway infrastructures, dikes or landfills. Their composition is equally diverse, ranging from displaced natural materials, such as crushed rocks, gravel, sand or clay, to artificial substances like recycled steel slags, concrete or rubble, or mixtures of these. Gaining knowledge on the presence and characteristics of such deposits is highly relevant, as their physical and chemical behaviour may differ significantly from those of natural deposits. The significance of anthropogenic deposits is increasingly recognized in urban geology. Resolving the geometry and properties of the urban shallow subsurface is essential for anticipating associated risks, for example dealing with pollution, ground stability or distorted water infiltration patterns. Anthropogenic deposits are, however, often scantily archived in permit documentation or represented on (geological) maps. Within the GSEU (Geological Service for Europe) project, the GSB is contributing to the task to develop a common, international vocabulary to describe all aspects of anthropogenic deposits, allowing standardised representation and characterisation in geological models. In parallel, VITO is developing shallow subsurface urban models for the Flemish government (VPO) within the VLAKO-framework, such as the published model of the Antwerp harbour and city. As the anthropogene inherently is part of these models, we are always aiming to better incorporate these deposits into the models. However, modelling the anthropogene presents unique challenges due to its high-resolution variability, scarcity of input data, and dynamic nature. It requires an approach that differs radically from traditional geological modelling techniques, in which depositional concepts related to the sedimentational or structural environment can be incorporated. In this presentation we will outline how we integrate various 1D, 2D and 3D sources to identify and characterize anthropogenic deposits and incorporate these insights in a 3D geological model of the anthropogene. This methodology is applied to the urban periphery of Brussels, where a new 3D geological model is being developed to support infrastructure projects and urban planning with special focus on the ring road (R0) of Brussels. Secondly, we will evaluate current lithological standards, vocabulary and stratigraphic approaches to characterize anthropogenic deposits. We will discuss their applicability in Flanders with practical examples from the periphery of Brussels. Ultimately, improving the representation of the anthropogene in geological models will significantly enhance their utility for urban planning, environmental management, and the sustainable utilization of the subsurface in urban areas.
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Towards a Lithotectonic Framework for Belgium
- Nearly every geological subdiscipline relies to some degree on regional geological knowledge. In the introductory section of most geological papers it is standard practice to provide regional geological background information. Stratigraphic terminology is often well defined while other disciplinary concepts rely, at least to some degree, on generally agreed definitions or hierarchical schemes, such as paleontological, structural or magmatic terminology. This, however, is much less the case for the regional geological building blocks. Their names are usually composed of a combination of a geographical locality and a geological term. A few examples from Belgium are Brabant Massif, Campine Basin, Stavelot-Venn Inlier, and Malmedy Graben. Most of these have in common that, although their importance is well recognised, their definitions are vague and sometimes even conflicting, in that their meaning may differ between contexts and authors. Even if their meaning has drifted or become less exact, as a result of their frequent historical use, they commonly remain in use today. This issue is not exclusive to Belgium, but seems to be an altogether historic and worldwide phenomenon. Recently within Europe there is a growing awareness of this issue, resulting in important but rather isolated efforts to better structure and define regional information (Hintersberger et al. 2017; Németh 2021; Le Bayon et al. 2022) which have been brought together through pan-European cooperation (GSEU – Horizon Europe 101075609). The central element that seems to encompass most geologic features, is the lithotectonic unit (a distinct unit based on its partly separate geological history; URI: http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/GeologicUnitTypeValue/lithotectonicUnit). Grabens, basins and inliers are examples of lithotectonic units. In order to define and describe these units more accurately, lithotectonic limits are introduced. These are planar features, such as faults and unconformities, that correspond to the geologic events that formed the lithotectonic unit (Piessens et al. 2024). All information is organised and linked in vocabularies (thesauri) that together not only adequately define each concept, but also determine the relations between them, placing them in space and geological time (Plašienka 1999). This outlines the core methodology, around which 2D and 3D multi-scale visualisations are built, annotations can be added, existing ontologies can be linked (such as the ICS Geological Time Scale Ontology; Cox and Richard, 2005) and newly developed extensions such as the Modified Wilson Cycle (Németh 2021). As such, the work at Belgian level is closely linked to the ongoing international developments. Making use of the ongoing developments at European level, Belgium was the first country to set up a lithotectonic working group that became operational in 2023. Its first goal is to provide a lithotectonic framework that describes a starting set of main geological units and limits in Belgium, according to emerging European standards (the work at European level is linked to the implementation of INSPIRE and 195 is in communication with the GeoSciML community), by the end of 2024. The working group meets approximately every 2 months, and organisationally resides under the National Commission for Stratigraphy in Belgium. The working group will soon be looking for additional experts (junior and senior) in its continuing effort to identify and define broad superstructures, detail the regional geology to the more local level, to tackle new types of lithotectonic elements, or better address parts of geological history. Potential candidates are encouraged to contact one of the authors or the NCS secretariat. Cox SJD, Richard SM (2005) A formal model for the geologic time scale and global stratotype section and point, compatible with geospatial information transfer standards. Geosphere 1:119. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00022.1 Hintersberger E, Iglseder C, Schuster R, Huet B (2017) The new database “Tectonic Boundaries” at the Geological Survey of Austria. Jahrbuch der geologischen Bundesanstalt 157:195–207 Le Bayon B, Padel M, Baudin T, et al (2022) The geological-event reference system, a step towards geological data harmonization. BSGF - Earth Sci Bull 193:18. https://doi.org/10.1051/bsgf/2022017 Németh Z (2021) Lithotectonic units of the Western Carpathians: Suggestion of simple methodology for lithotectonic units defining, applicable for orogenic belts world-wide. Mineralia Slovaca 2:81–90 Piessens K, Walstra J, Willems A, Barros R (2024) Old concepts in a new semantic perspective: introducing a geotemporal approach to conceptual definitions in geology. Life Sciences Plašienka D (1999) Definition and correlation of tectonic units with a special reference to some Central Western Carpathian examples. Mineralia Slovaca 31:3–16
