CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Buck, P.L.
Date : 2007.
Title : Historic GIS: comparing interpolated models of the 1855 and 1913 St. Marys River bathymetry, Sault Ste. Marie.
Publication : Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers. May 29 - June 2, 2007. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Issue : Programme 2007.
Page(s) : 75.
Abstract
The St. Marys River is a key international historic and geographic feature that has attracted little academic interest. A long stretch of rapids blocked river navigation in the Sault Ste. Marie area; therefore 19th century river users altered the river channel to improve transportation. These changes are documented on historic cartography which is useful for creating interpolated models of the riverbed topography. To illustrate St. Marys River channel change, a historic GIs database is created using international 1855 and 1913 bathymetry. Creating DEM, TIN and 3-D models from bathymetric data enables one to quantitatively measure and visually compare representations of the riverbed. Draping bathymetric maps over a 3-D model creates a physical grid for the soundings and enables a comparative visualization of the topography. Using historic cartography in partnership with GIs software creates a new medium for historic research in the Sault Ste. Marie region and expands the window of temporal knowledge regarding the chronology of 19th century St. Marys River channel change. This will provide a platform for researchers to store and analyze additional cartographic, archival and contemporary data to gain an understanding of how the river reacted historically, and might react in the future, to anthropogenic change.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology