The purpose of this programme area is to procure knowledge of the condition and development of nature in the immediate past and to understand the present condition as a function of this. This is the only way in which distinguishing between natural conditions on one hand and man-made changes on the other hand is possible.

The research concerns geological, hydrographical, atmospherical and biological conditions onshore, offshore, in fresh waters and in the Greenland ice cap. The work covers the natural impact and the man-made impact on the external environment until today, during the Ice Ages and interglacial periods, after the Ice Age, during the country’s building over and fluctuating population, during reclamation and agricultural production, during deforestation and planting under varying climatical, hydrographical, utilisation and pollution conditions, etc.

The purpose of GEUS's research in this area is also to be able to offer the public, the authorities and other scientists a basic, scientific understanding of the importance of the environmental impact: A basic understanding of the concept "environmental importance" in relation to time and usual natural changes, so that reliable projection of the development of our climate, environment and nature can be made.

The programme area also covers soil, soil pollution, soil decontamination and traditional geological soil mapping on a scale of 1:25,000. This mapping of the soil immediately below the topsoil is important in several contexts where the information will be useful, e.g. in connection with the future area reforms around groundwater protection zones, set-aside programmes, particularly sensitive agricultural areas, etc.

The soil pollution and soil decontamination activities are concentrated around the Danish R&D Centre for Soil and Sediment Decontamination established by the institutions participating in the "Danish Environmental Group" (the Danish National Environmental Research Institute (DMU), VKI-Institute of the Water Environment, Research Centre RISØ, Danish Technological Institute (DTI) and GEUS).

The activities of the part of the programme area dealing with environmental history and climate development are grouped in three specific focus areas in the performance contract.

One of the specific focus area concerns climate development studies, primarily by studying the relationship between climatic changes and variations partly in the Greenland ice cap and partly in the water flow across the barriers of the North Atlantic Ocean bed. The research into the melting from the underside of the North Greenland glacier tongues running into the sea and into the development of the current from the Greenland sea and into the Faroese waters was continued in 1997. The results indicate that both melting and current intensity are of major importance to the global climate.

Another specific focus area is related to environmental history. It is aimed at describing the relationship between natural and man-made characteristics of the Danish landscape, including lakes and forests.

In the lake research area, a method for calculation of lake water phosphate contents on the basis of the composition of fossil plankton preserved in lake sediments was developed. Through combination with pollen analysis, the changes in the phosphate contents can be related to land-use changes in the areas surrounding lakes. In 1997, this type of investigation was carried out in Denmark, in other countries in north-west Europe and in Greenland where the human impact on the landscape is at a minimum.

For several years the studies of the landscape have been concentrated on the cultural landscapes and forests. With support from various research committees and in co-operation with the National Forest and Nature Agency (SNS), the University of Aarhus, DMU and the Danish Forests and Landscape Research Institute (FSL) for, investigations of the connection between the degree of biologic diversity and the land-use were carried out. A list of suitable indicators of the environmental status is now under preparation.
The natural forest research received a higher priority. GEUS co-ordinates an EU project concerning the development of forests in Northwest Europe. As part of this project, GEUS produced a map of the potential stands of the Danish forests during the past 3000 years on the basis of a comparison of pollen analytical results.

In 1997 historical environmental conditions in Kattegat and the Sound were examined in co-operation with Swedish and German scientists.

The third specific focus area in the performance contract concerns the condition of the Danish coasts, including the stability of the coasts. In 1997 the impact of the fixed Sound Link on coasts and sea bed was monitored on the basis of "baseline" studies of sediment waste, erosion, etc.
In conjunction with the National Forest and Nature Agency and the Danish Coast Inspectorate, GEUS continued the work to characterise the coasts of Funen.

The digitalisation of the results from the soil mapping up till now covering about 80 per cent of Denmark’s land was concluded in 1997 with the publication of another 400 maps on a scale of 1:25,000. The users show great interest in these digital maps.

Field work was continued in uncovered areas of Lolland and Salling. For the Road Directorate (Danish Ministry of Transport), soil maps of a planned motorway section between Århus and Herning were made.

The publication of the book "Djurslands Geologi" (The Geology of Djursland) in 1997 marked the conclusion of the mapping commenced in connection with the reclamation of Kolindsund nearly 100 years ago. The book includes a description of the Djursland map sheet published in 1995.

In the soil pollution area, a contract was concluded with EU and others, as regards research into monitoring and modelling of natural decontamination effects in fractured soil (limestone). Projects related to decontamination of petrol and tar polluted land were commenced with support from the Danish Agency for Development of Trade and Industry and the Danish National Agency of Environmental Protection, respectively. The research into soil pollution shows that local pollution from tar compounds can be divided into a group where the compounds are degraded in nature and a group where degrading is only possible by means of soil decontamination techniques.
Finally, the co-operation with the National Institute of Radiation Hygiene on the natural seepage of radon believed to cause a large percentage of all lung cancer cases was continued.

	R996	B1997	R1997	B1998
Man-year consumption (number)	36	32	38	37
Total turnover (DKK million)	18.9	21.4	22.1	26.4
Of this basic funds (DKK million)	12.6	11.4	11.2	9.3
External funds (DKK million)	6.3	10	9.8	17.1
External funds ratio	33%	47%	47%	65%