Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
The Baltic Sea Basin: Introduction
Jan Harff, Svante Björck, and Peer Hoth
Abstract
The Baltic Sea Basin serves as an example of a region where the use of
natural resources and the need of environmental protection require a comprehensive
and holistic approach in terms of geosciences, environmental sciences, and socio-
economics. In this topic, authors from countries around the Baltic Sea and overseas
shed light on the Baltic Sea Basin with respect to (1) the formation of the Baltic
Basin and its geological resources, (2) the stratigraphic record - mirror of climatic
changes during the last glacial cycle, (3) coastal processes and sediment dynamics
including aspects of coastal engineering, (4) interaction between socio-economic
driving forces and the natural environment since the prehistoric colonization, (5)
management of the marine ecosystem, and (6) monitoring strategies, respectively
remote sensing. The editors intend not only to provide a record of the current state
of the art in the investigation of the Baltic Sea Basin, but also to initiate innovative
interdisciplinary and international research activities.
Keywords
Baltic basin
·
Geology
·
Tectonics
·
Climate history
·
Sea level
change
·
Coastal dynamics
·
Socio-economy
·
Archaeology
·
Coastal zone man-
agement
·
Anthropogenic impact
·
Monitoring
·
Remote sensing
The Baltic Sea, connected to the North sea and the North Atlantic via the Danish
straits, is the largest brackish water basin in the world. Geologically, the basin is con-
fined to the northwest by the highlands of the Scandinavian Caledonides, situated
between two major tectonic regional units: the eastern and the western European
platforms. The Baltic basin serves as a natural laboratory for a variety of geologi-
cal structures and key processes crucial in the exploration of mineral resources and
engineering, the formation of intra-continental sedimentary basins, and the interac-
tion of hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere in basinal and coastal environments.
