ISGM – Past Events
Session on Marine geomorphology mapping and applications: IAG 11th Conference on Geomorphology (Christchurch, New Zealand on 2-6 February 2026) co-organised by the International Seabed Geomorphology Mapping Working Group and the IAG Submarine Geomorphology Working Group.
The ocean floor is characterised by diverse landforms that have been shaped by a range of tectonic, sedimentary, volcanic, oceanographic and biological processes operating across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Integrated bathymetry, seabed and sub-seabed data provide valuable insights into the distribution and stratigraphy of marine landforms, and are used to inform a broad range of research, industry and government programs. This session invites contributions that showcase the diverse geomorphic processes and features that shape underwater landscapes, and the rapidly evolving field of marine geomorphology mapping. It brought together marine bathymetric, geomorphic and sub-surface specialists, and fostered cooperation and collaboration between multi-disciplinary practitioners from academic, industry and government sectors. Contributions included work from any depth or physiographic region in the marine realm, e.g. oceanic plateaus, abyssal hills, mid-ocean ridges and continental margins. Datasets of any scale, from satellite-predicted depth to ultra-high-resolution swath bathymetry, sub-surface imaging and sampling, are welcomed.
ISGM hosted a workshop at IAG 11th Conference on Geomorphology (Christchurch, New Zealand on 7 February 2026)
During this event, the ISGM demonstrated the application of the two-step process to examples from continental shelves and the deep marine, and thereby demonstrated the utility of the two-part approach for the mapping the distribution of sedimentary facies that form in these diverse marine environments. Moreover, we showed the application of the ArcGIS Pro Toolboxes and showcase the upcoming IAG-hosted ISGM webpage, which contains marine geomorphology mapping tools and documents.
ISGM hosted a workshop at the International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution, La Valletta, Malta, 4th July 2022
We invited setting specialists (e.g. mass movement, coastal, fluvial geomorphologists) to provide input to the second part of a standardised two-part classification scheme of the seabed.Part 1 of this scheme (Morphology) standardised the terminology that is used to classify the surface form of the seabed (i.e. from bathymetry datasets) through the provision of glossaries of features. The workshop was focussed on the second step in this approach (Part 2: Geomorphology), which similarly utilises well established geomorphology classification schemes to assign a geomorphic origin to morphological features (Part 1: Morphology) on the basis of further seabed and subsurface data, and expert interpretation of formative processes.
The workshop was successful as it prompted much lively conversation, and good detailed discussions. There was also general enthusiasm and support for the ambitions of ISGM. Nonetheless, we were not surprised to discover that if you invite 50 geomorphologists in a room, they will have strong opinions on how features should be structured and named. Plenty of constructive criticism was provided by the participants: in part people felt that a few important aspects were missing, they pointed out inconsistent usage of terms between disciplines and where classification trees needed to be re-organised.
Feedback from the workshop and from the broader community was integrated into a revised Version 1.0 of the Part 2 report – Geomorphology Mapping.
ISGM hosted a workshop at the Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping (GeoHab) conference, St. Petersburg, Russia, 13th May 2019
A one‐day workshop on Seafloor Geomorphology was held on 13th May 2019 as part of the GeoHab conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. The intended purpose of the workshop was to showcase to the seafloor habitat mapping community the innovative geomorphology mapping and analysis tools available at the time, and to discuss the issues and shortcomings when applying semi-automated methods for geomorphological mapping. This document summarises the methods presented, the workshop discussion points on the demands and applications for seafloor geomorphological analysis, and consider future challenges for the discipline.