Use of the catena principle in geomorphological impact assessment: a functional approach

An integral method for assessing geomorphological landscape qualities is presented, to be used in environmental impact assessments. Five groups of landform functions are distinguished in the Netherlands, an area of low relief: orientation functions, information functions, ordering functions, regulation functions and carriage functions. The assessment of landform functions is related to topographical, morphodynamic and chronological catenae. For each group of functions different evaluation criteria are selected. The method was applied in an environmental impact assessment of sand and gravel extraction sites in a fluvial lowland area in the Netherlands. A 1 : 50 000 analytical geomorphological map was used for the assessment.