Universiteit Utrecht

Binnen de Universiteit Utrecht lopen meerdere onderzoeksprogramma’s op het gebied van Deltavraagstukken. Hier worden belicht het onderzoeksprogrmamma Delta Evolution, en het onderzoek op het gebied van de hydrologische cyclus.

Delta Evolution

One of the research programmes of the chair group Coastal Dynamics, Fluvial Systems and Global Change (CFG) of the Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences, at Utrecht University is called Delta Evolution.

Aims

The Delta Evolution research programme focuses on the evolution of river systems and deltaic areas, including the near-coastal zones, over timescales ranging from 102 to 106 years. The general programme aims are:

1) to determine and quantify the relative contributions of external forcings (tectonics, climate, sea level, water- and sediment inputs) and internal controls (e.g., avulsion, compaction, morphological succession) on the long-term development of deltas; 2) to identify the key processes that control the long-term development of the delta; 3) to quantify and predict the development of the 3D alluvial architecture of river deltas

and the associated reservoir characteristics.

An important aspect of the overall aim is to investigate the evolution of the Rhine-Meuse delta (including the Rivers IJssel and Vecht) over various time scales from the Tertiary to the present. Furthermore, we consider the Rhine-Meuse delta and the database obtained from this delta as the unique dataset in the world to study generic characteristics and controls in the evolution of deltas world-wide.

Duration

The research program is a long-term running program that was established by Dr. H.J.A. Berendsen in 1999. Over time, new projects have been developed and added to the program, and this will continue in the next years. The program will be updated every two years, and will contain ongoing projects as well as planned or proposed projects for the longer term, with a time horizon of at least 4 years.

Rationale

Delta evolution, as a result of the interplay of climate, tectonics, glacio-isostacy and glacio- eustostacy and its effects on river aggradation and degradation, is of prime importance for the understanding of facies distribution, architecture and geophysical properties of the

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substrate of deltaic areas, and for the construction of numerical models simulating delta evolution and the testing of stratigraphical concepts. The Rhine-Meuse river system that existed since the Miocene, offers a great possibility to study the interplay of the driving forces climate, tectonics and isostatic and eustatic movements, because deposits in the downstream area are, at least partly, preserved in the subsiding Rhine-Basin and in the North Sea Basin. The study of these deposits is important from both a scientific point of view (understanding the evolution of deltas and river systems), and a practical point of view (extraction of hydrocarbons and water, flood protection, and applied geotechnics). The extensive knowledge on delta evolution in the Netherlands that is already available, and that will be extended further by this research program, is an important source for other deltas in the world (export of geological knowledge). To be able to develop general applicable concepts and models, it is necessary to investigate other deltas in the world in comparable and completely different settings and on various time scales. On different time scales, different processes are dominant in influencing delta evolution resulting in different architectures, facies distributions, and sequence stratigraphy.

Organization

Delta Evolution is embedded within the research programme of the chair group Coastal Dynamics, Fluvial Systems and Global Change (CFG), and falls under responsibility of the chair Global Change Geomorphology. The group presently consists of 8.2 tenured full-time staff (2.2 full professors, 2 associate professors, 5 assistant professors), 3 adjunct professors, 2 post-docs and 15 PhD students The research programme of the Global Change Geomorphology chair involves three main themes:

1) Sensitivity of river basins to global change; 2) Delta evolution;

3) Morphodynamics of alluvial rivers and floodplains. The group participates in:

• Physical Geography Research Institute, one of three research institutes of the Faculty of Geosciences.

• Utrecht Centre for Geosciences, in which participate the Departments of Physical Geography, Environmental Sciences and Earth Sciences of the Faculty of

Geosciences, the Departments of Biology and Physics and Astronomy of the Faculty of Sciences, and TNO Built Environment and Geosciences.

• Netherlands Centre for River Studies (NCR), a co-operation of Dutch universities, RWS Water Dienst, Deltares, WUR-Alterra and UNESCO-IHE.

• Netherlands Centre for Luminescence dating (NCL), Delft University.

• Netherlands Centre for Coastal Studies (NCK), a co-operation of Dutch universities, RWS Water Dienst, Deltares and Royal NIOZ - Texel.

• Netherlands Centre for Geo-ecological research, the research school of the University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Leuven University (Belgium) and Centre for Isotope Studies at Groningen University.

In addition, the group participates in:

• FLAG-initiative (FLuvial Archives Group).

• EUROCORE / EUROSTRATOFORM research program. • INQUA-NL initiative (Netherlands representation in INQUA).

• INTIMATE initiative (Integrating Ice, Marine and Terrestrial records of LG/Holocene). • IGBP-LUCIFS initiative (Land Use and Climate Impacts on Fluvial Systems).

Hydrologische Cyclus

De UU richt zich tevens op fundamentele kennisontwikkeling op het gebied van de hydrologische cyclus. Dit onderzoek vindt plaats onder de paraplu van het Boussinesq Centrum waarin TU Delft, Universiteit Utrecht, VU Amsterdam en WUR participeren. Hier

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worden onder meer studies worden naar fysische en modelmatige relaties tussen het mondiale schaalniveau en het regionale schaalniveau van de hydrologische cyclus. Ook wordt op verschillende schaalniveaus de interactie bestudeerd tussen geohydrologie en afvoerhydrologie waarbij zowel kwantiteits- als kwaliteitsaspecten worden gemodelleerd. Bij veel onderzoeksprojecten wordt vanzelfsprekend samengewerkt met Deltares, Alterra en KNMI.