IQUAME 2500 - Review of the 1 : 2.5 Million International Quaternary Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas

Country / Region: Europe

Begin of project: July 22, 2011

End of project: December 31, 2024

Status of project: June 23, 2021

Under the umbrella of the Commission of the Geological Map of the World and supported by International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) BGR began to review, rework and digitise the paper map in order to build a geographic information system (GIS) of the Quaternary geology of Europe. It is intended that Quaternary information will able to be retrieved, combined and used across political boundaries across all of the Europe continent (see also: Mapping Europe’s Quaternary: the International Quaternary Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas (IQUAME), Quaternary Perspectives, 28, June 2020). The IQUAME will also include off-shore evidence from the European Seas, partly based on data from the EMODnet Geology project (sea-floor information) https://www.emodnet.eu/en/geology.
Contents The IQUAME 2500 GIS and map will contain information on: age/stratigraphy lithology and genesis of the Quaternary units	IQUAME Age Correlation Source: BGR
Among others, it will encompass: the maximum extent of glaciations. off-shore Quaternary geology. permafrost boundaries. active faults. glaciogenic landforms. Quaternary key localities/Palaeolithic sites. glacial isostatic features. impact craters.	IQUAME Semantic Transformation
IQUAME Guidelines	Working material For each national participant a guidance package for the review is provided. This includes: Review guidelines, term/vocabulary list (INSPIRE and CGI-conformal), explanation of the legend of the edition of 1995. Digitised map units of the previous 1995 paper version for ArcGIS. A common topographic base map compiled from VMap0 with optimisations in the drainage pattern, from several participants Technical guidelines for data transformation and Excel spreadsheets.
Project coordination Kristine Asch (BGR) Scientific Advisory Board Philip Gibbard, University of Cambridge (CAM) Margot Böse, Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) Kim M. Cohen, Utrecht University (UU) Mustapha Meghraoui, École et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST, Strasbourg) Participants Numerous scientists from over forty countries are involved in the project.	IQUAME Participants

Planned Roadmap and Milestones


2011	Bern	XVIII INQUA conference: Kick-off
2011	Belgrade	1st International IQUAME Workshop „Quaternary in the Dinarides“, MAEGS 17
2012	Vienna	2nd International IQUAME Workshop, Geologische Bundesanstalt
2013	Paris	3rd International IQUAME Workshop, CGMW
2014	Hannover	IQUAME „in-between“ technical Workshop, BGR
2015	Paris	4th International IQUAME Workshop, CGMW
2015	Vienna	EGU: Poster presentation at CGMW booth
2015	Nagoya	XIX INQUA conference: Poster presentation
2016	Berlin	5th International IQUAME Workshop (Harmonisation I, Preparation for the International Geological Congress), BGR
2016	Cape Town	35th IGC: CGMW Session „Quaternary of Europe/ IQUAME“
2017	Berlin	6th International IQUAME Workshop (Harmonisation II), BGR
2019	Berlin	7th International IQUAME Workshop (Harmonisation III and preparation for INQUA), BGR
2019	Dublin	INQUA conference: IQUAME session and Consultation Workshop, Geological Survey of Ireland
2020	online	International IQUAME meeting (review of status and contributions)
2021	New Delhi	(36th IGC: Presentation, consultation and review (IGC postponed from 3/2020 to 8/2021 due to COVID-19) cancelled)
2021	online	International IQUAME Consulting and Review Workshop
2021	online or in Wrocław, Poland	INQUA- SEQS: IQUAME presentation
2021/2022		International IQUAME Consulting and Review Workshop
2022/2023		International IQUAME Consulting and Review Workshop
2023	Rome	INQUA conference: IQUAME presentation
2024	Busan	37th IGC: Project and GIS map presentation

Last IQUAME Events

International Seminar and Workshop of the International Quaternary Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas

The first on-line workshop and seminar of the IQUAME project successfully took place on 14th December 2020. The meeting was organised by IQUAME coordinator Kristine Asch (BGR) and was opened by the INQUA International Union for Quaternary Research President Thijs van Kolfschoten and the President of the Commission of the Geological Map of the World Manuel Pubellier.

The agenda encompassed a leading lecture from Philip Gibbard, University Cambridge “A word about the Anthropocene”, a key note on Quaternary aspects of the Ausseer Land, Austria by Markus Fiebig, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, President section on European Quaternary Stratigraphy (SEQS) of INQUA, an overview on a Geographic Database of European Terrestrial Quaternary Sites of stratigraphical importance (DATESTRA) by Pierluigi Pieruccini, University of Turin, Secretary General SEQS, and several high quality presentations by members of the IQUAME community on aspects of the Quaternary mapping within their countries or regions. The international meeting was attended by 30 participants from 16 mainly European countries.

Agenda

1. Welcome and Introduction - Kristine Asch, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)
2. Welcome address -Thijs van Kolfschoten, President INQUA, Leiden University
3. Welcome address - Manuel Pubellier, President Commission of the Geological Map of the World (CGMW)
4. Keynote: Quaternary incision, landscape development and Stratigraphy in the Ausseer Land, Austria - Markus Fiebig, University of Natural Resources and Life sciences, Vienna; INQUA section on European Quaternary Stratigraphy)
5. Roundtable.- All
6. The International Quaternary Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas: Status and challenges - Kristine Asch & Alexander Müller (BGR)
7. Presentations by participants and related projects:

	a)	Abrupt climate changes – Evidences from Quaternary sedimentological sequences in Croatia – ACCENT - Lidija Galovic, Geological Survey of Croatia, Zagreb
	b)	A word about the Anthropocene - Phil Gibbard
	c)	SEQS-DATESTRA: a Geographic Database of European Terrestrial Quaternary Sites with stratigraphic importance, INQUA-SACCOM 1612F - Pierluigi Pieruccini, University of Turin, INQUA section on European Quaternary Stratigraphy)
	d)	Poland International Quaternary Map of Europe 1 : 2 500 000 - a Polish part - Leszek Marks, Geological Survey of Poland, Warsaw
	e)	Quaternary Map of the Middle East - Marzieh Straby, Geological Survey of Iran, Vice-president CGMW Subcommission of the Middle East

8. A Challenge: Data harmonisation on-line (discussion)
9. IQUAME: next steps, next meeting
10. Any other business

INQUA: IQUAME Session and International IQUAME Consulting Workshop at the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI)

In 2019, during the 20th INQUA Congress in Dublin, both a conference session dedicated to IQUAME and an international consulting workshop were held.

	a)	IQUAME scientific session ‘Quaternary data without frontiers: the International Quaternary Map of Europe 1 : 2,5 Million’ (convenors: Asch, K. & Gibbard, P.): A landmark keynote given by Christian Schlüchter was setting the context, followed by with presentations from several IQUAME participants to present new research and mapping results of the Quaternary of their country.
	b)	International IQUAME Consulting Workshop at the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI)

The workshop was dedicated to the consultation of scientists outside the IQUAME community on the map contents and database as well as to and classification and portrayal issues. The event was kindly and generously supported by the Geological Survey of Ireland (host: Michael Sheehy). During the event, progress of the project, classification issues and the latest mapping results of the participating project participants were presented, discussed and further developed. Furthermore, it was decided to extend the project name from ‘1 : 2.5 Million International Quaternary Map of Europe’ to ‘1 : 2.5 Million International Quaternary Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas’, since the area covered by the project also includes areas bordering Europe.

Participants of the IQUAME Consulting Workshop at the Geological Survey of Ireland (29.07.2019) Source: BGR

7th International IQUAME Workshop in Berlin

Topics: Harmonisation of semantic and geometric features on the Quaternary Geology of Europe across polictical boundaries, Vocabularies and a map key to describe and present the Quaternary geological units, preparations for the IQUAME session, workshop and presentation at the 20th INQUA Congress.

Participants of the International IQUAME-Workshop at BGR, Berlin, 14th-16th January 2019

IQUAME Partners:

Geological Surveys in Europe and neighbouring countries, scientists from universities and research institutes, CGMW Subcommission Middle East, CGMW Subcommission Northern Eurasia.