A new digital database of Ellen Louise Mertz’s 1924 ‘Overview of late- and postglacial elevation changes in Denmark’

Abstract

Data from an important historic article on late- and postglacial land-level changes in Denmark and the accompanying map are presented here in a new digital format. The original data were compiled in 1924 by Ellen Louise Mertz and comprise field observations of the marine limit in Denmark made over the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The original tables have been transcribed and expanded into a digital database consisting of 658 entries. The original map sheet has been georeferenced and 392 mapped points have been assigned coordinates. The points are linked to their attributes in the digital data table, making them newly amenable to geospatial analysis in a Geographic Information System. To demonstrate, we briefly present one such application, namely a reproduction and verification of the isolines of raised beach elevation from the original 1924 map.