Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 June 2017
A brief overview is given of the history of geological mapping of theHolocene Rhine-Meuse delta. The first accurate map of the delta, based onfield observations, was made by Vink (1926). The geological map of theNetherlands, scale 1 : 50,000, made by the ‘Geologische Stichting’ (1927 –1938) under the supervision of P. Tesch totally neglected Vink’s work, andwas a step backwards with regard to the mapping of the Holocene delta.Between 1940 and 1965, the Wageningen group of soil scientists produceddetailed regional soil maps, that had a strong ‘geogenetic’ component. Inthe 1960’s a revolutionary ‘profile type legend’ was introduced by theNetherlands’ Geological Survey. This allowed to map not only the outcroppingsediments, but the whole Holocene succession, which gave more insight intothe geological history. Over the past 30 years, the Rhine-Meuse delta hasbeen studied extensively by students of physical geography at UtrechtUniversity. More than 250,000 borehole descriptions, 1500 14Cdates and over 36,000 archeological artifacts with associated ages(collected by the National Service for Archaeological Heritage) haveaccumulated, resulting in the largest database of a delta in the world. Theproduction of detailed maps has been crucial to the solution of manyscientific problems. The use of GIS has greatly enhanced geological andgeomorphological mapping, and subsequently, understanding of the evolutionof the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta. A new detailed digital elevation map ofthe Netherlands, based on very accurate laser-altimetry data, will enable usto map larger areas in greater detail, with greater accuracy, and in a muchshorter period of time.
Henk Berendsen passed away on May 14, 2007.