Experience of Large-Scale Geomorphological Mapping of Glaciated Shelves Using Geophysical Data (Velikaya Salma Strait, Kandalaksha Gulf of the White Sea)

The seabed topography of the Velikaya Salma Strait of Kandalaksha Gulf, White Sea, was studied using multibeam echo sounding, side-scan sonar surveys, seismoacoustic profiling, geological sampling, and survey from remote-operated underwater vehicles. A digital elevation model of the seabed with a grid cell of 2 m, slope angle map and exposure map were created. Structural-denudation, glacial, gravity, and tidal-current of meso- and microrelief forms were identified on the seabed of the strait. An approach to large-scale geomorphological mapping was proposed, based on identification of morphogenetic complexes: regular combinations of meso- and microrelief forms typical of glaciated shelves. The boundaries of morphogenetic complexes are repeat by the methods for automated analysis of morphometric parameters calculated using TIN models. This approach can be used for landscape and engineering-geological mapping, including identification areas of geological hazards.