The main objective of the Testerep project is studying the evolution and eventual demise of the Testerep peninsula over the past 5,000 years. To this end, researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and KU Leuven will supplement existing data on old natural (e.g. tidal gullies) and human (e.g. dikes) landscape features with both new terrestrial and marine data
With the use of a wide variety of techniques, including LiDAR, seismic, magnetic and EMI surveys, coring, excavating and sampling for pollen, 14C and OSL, they will acquire new data across the land-sea boundary.
All existing and new data will be integrated in a GIS database and analyzed using morphological and hydrodynamic models. The final output will consist of palaeogeographic maps, advanced 3D reconstructions and interactive 3D simulations of, among other things, the formation of the peninsula and the effect of the closure of the Testerep channel on sediment transport along the coast, its vulnerability to storm erosion and recovery.
