Landscape Evolution & Mapping

The Landscape and Mapping Team (LEM) was formed to classify and quantitatively assess the surface and near-surface domains to enable refinement and development of complex and robust numerical models of surface processes to elucidate landscape evolution within the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond. Landscape evolution is defined as the study of how the landscape changes over time due to surface processes. This includes how glacial and fluvial incision reduced topography via hillslope processes by driving sediment transport and deposition, debris flows, landslides, rockfall, creep, regolith production, and other decoupled variables (e.g., anthropogenesis, vegetative cover, wind, lightening, etc.). Moreover, geochronology (e.g., OSL and TCN dating) will enable numerical ages and rates of surface processes to be established, which will aid understanding of timing, triggers, and relative importance of both contemporary and paleo-surface processes.

Objectives

The LEM team will leverage existing infrastructure, both financial and material, to develop efficient, novel, and scalable workflows. Research priorities which stand to benefit from LEM team efforts include, but are not limited to, mapping, early warning systems, urban development, and hazard assessment. Specifically, STATEMAP will be used to collect fundamental field data to produce or improve flood, debris flows, and landslide models as well as develop AI and ML algorithms to classify topography. The maps, models, and datasets produced by LEM will be disseminated through funding agency reports, UK Knowledge, KGS publications, Protocol.io, and peer-reviewed journal articles.

LEM aims to be the premier integrative surface process and numerical modelling team in central and southern Appalachia and to better understand the implications of surface processes on both short (human) and long (geologic) timescales. To achieve this, the LEM team works with faculty from Earth and Environmental Sciences (Dr. Caleb Walcott-George) and faculty outside of UK including Dr. Yichuan Zhu (Temple), Dr. Aaron Maxwell (WVU), Kennedy Ochieng (PhD. Student WVU), and Dr. Amy Collick (Morehead).

Research Programs

P1. Mapping Landforms and Fractures

Program 1 is designed around newly developed USGS STATEMAP plans to enable collection of data that will be useful to USGS in reporting but also support other research programs at KGS.

Mapping geomorphic landforms in eastern Kentucky
- Soil/sediment thickness data
  - Resistivity for soil/sediment thickness
  - Collecting soil/sediment cores
- Core analysis (grainsize, porosity, permeability, density, API, isotope [K, U, Th])
- Infiltration rates
- Radon soil measurements
Outcrop lithology
- Fracture mapping and petrography
Cartography of maps
Modular landslide, karst, and other components in collaboration with KGS teams

P1. New landform maps that will enable LEM to determine where different geomorphic processes are occurring in the KY landscape.

P2. Surficial Flooding

Program 2 is designed around developing surficial and related flood models using TUFLOW to build storm resilience in Kentucky. P2 focuses on mountainous terrain within Appalachia (KY, WV, NC, SC, TN, GA) to fully understand the potential severity and impacts of large storms. The impacts of flooding on communities in these regions does not stop at state borders. The end goal is to develop a regional hub of flooding excellence by incorporating researchers from other state surveys and academics in the region.

Kentucky River Catchment (KY)

Flood modeling of Kentucky river catchment
Paleo-flood record Kentucky River catchment
- Paleo-flood sedimentation
- Paleo-flood model reconstruction

North Carolina Catchments

Nolichucky river catchment (NC)
- Helene flood reconstruction
- Paleo-flood and scenario events
Swannanoa River catchment (NC)
- Storm variation and flood response
Develop fluvial monitoring network

Coal River Catchment (WV)

Flood of record
Influence of mining activity

P2. Example of TUFLOW flood model.

P3. Sediment Transport

Program 3 is focused on fluvial erosion and sediment transport both within and out of catchments to gain a better understanding of rates and magnitudes of both stochastic events and changes to hillslopes and topography.

Stillhouse Hollow, Mammoth Cave NP (KY)
- Monitoring sediment transport in overland stream and karst systems
Karst flood records in eastern Kentucky
- Karst Sedimentation and OSL geochronology to develop Holocene flood record
Numerical modelling of debris flows using D-CLAW
Impact of debris flow deposits on fluvial systems
Developing alternative software for debris flow modeling

P3. Bedload transport of grains >8mm in diameter inn a small catchment on a surface stream compared to a cave outlet stream.

P4. Geomorphometry

Program 4 is built around quantitative assessment of Kentucky's landscape to elucidate where different surface processes have primacy and how that has changed through geologic time.

GIS automated landform mapping
AI clustering of watershed topography using historical stream records and open-source data
Automated shallow lithologic mapping
Relative dating of landslides with surface roughness

P4. Major surfaces processes and their rate in a Himalayan catchment. We aim to develop the background knowledge to have the same understanding in Kentucky.

P5. Complex Numerical Modeling

Program 5 is focused on numerical modelling of surface processes using rates and magnitudes from P2 & P3, locations of surface processes from P4 to refine our understanding of both typical and extreme stochastic events.

Landslide Modeling

Depth to bedrock model
Complex numerical landslide and susceptibility modeling
- Landslide hazard affected by root strength Index
- New Workflow for Landslide Hazard Maps
- Monte Carlo landslide susceptibility
- Automatically segmented landslide inventories
- Deep learning landslide inventory for susceptibility modeling
- Landslide type inventory models
- Pre-failure topography

Surface Analysis

LiDAR surface change detection
- Landslide inventory, Cincinnati-Covington
- Flood surfaces
- Debris flows and trees

Signal Processing

Time series analysis of meteorological-hydrological responses

P5. Simple landslide susceptibility map generated using slope and root strength index (RSTI)

P6. Landscape Evolution and Geochronology

Program 6 focuses on using information from P1-5 along with leveraging geochronology to develop both conceptual and numerical landscape models of the Kentucky landscape. This includes how contemporary, past, and future rates and magnitudes of common and extreme stochastic events affect sediment transport, hillslopes, topography, and associated hazards.

Natural arch formation
Three-nuclide Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide (TCN) dating
LandLab: Paleo and forward models with climate change
Schmidt hammer & TCN dating
- Cliff retreat
Luminescence Dating
- Karst and flood sediments
- Paleo-seismic work in western KY
- Trenches and Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) dating