Landsat mapping of ice-marginal features on the Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia - image interpretation versus geological reality

To solve the question concerning the age and extent of the latest glaciation in northern Eurasia, several geological investigations were carried out. This paper describes work done on the North Taymyr ice-marginal complex on the Taymyr Peninsula in north central Siberia. The initial remote sensing work aimed to survey fieldwork localities and to acquire a regional geological overview. A Landsat 5 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) image was interpreted, both visually and by computer-based techniques. The ice-marginal zone is clearly visible on the satellite image and it was possible to distinguish spectrally different ground-types. In total, seven ground-types have been discerned and they are described and discussed. A geological interpretation of them was made after combining the initial results with the information gained from ground-truthing, which included sedimentological and morphological fieldwork. It is necessary to take topography and associations of classes into consideration when interpreting the final map, since the identification of some ground-types is not univocal.