Author(s): Michael Weber; Florian Leo; Hilmar Hofmann; Silke Wieprecht
Linked Author(s): Silke Wieprecht
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: In 2011 the prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements (5000 to500 BC) around the Alps became part of the UNESCO world heritage. Archaeological investigations nowadays show that some of them are endangered by erosion due to several reasons. Within the project‘bank erosion and archaeological heritage protection in Lake Constance and Lake Zurich’ (UED) a coupled 3D numerical model of Lake Constance is set up to determine complex hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes in the shallow water zone. Depending on the quality of the wind input data the model is able to simulate the stratification of the lake, water levels, wave heights and current velocities sufficiently accurate. The simulation of erosion and transport of sediment particles during storm wind events is accomplished. For calibration and adjustment of the model parameters the site is intensively sampled by different means. In 2010water temperature distribution, wave heights, current velocities and turbidity in the shallow water zone were measured at one site in the western part of Lake Constance. To obtain the site specific information on the erosion parameters required by the morphodynamic model 13sediment cores are retrieved. Their erosional stability is determined by the enhanced SETEG system that was developed at the University of Stuttgart and comprises of a flume to measure the erosion of aquatic sediments as a function of sediment depth and its related analyzing software. Altogether the gained data provide good insights into erosion processes and thus allow the calibration and simulation of morphodynamic processes. In future the numerical model will act as a decision support system to ensure the preservation of the UNESCO World Heritage of pile dwellings.
Year: 2012