Since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, hydrology in Europe has been influenced by both climate changes, and since Neolithic times, an increase in human activity. Paleohydrological reconstructions, especially from lake studies, can help identify the respective impact of these two factors. The present work focuses on a lacustrine geosystem, the Sarliève paleolake in the Massif Central (France), in an unusually dry, temperate area. The lake sediment geometry (core drillings, geotechnical methods), and the geochemical and mineralogical characterization of the catchment rocks and soils, and of the lacustrine deposits, indicate major variations in paleohydrology during the last 12,000 years as dated by 14 C, palynology and tephrochronology. In addition, a model quantifying detrital versus biochemical lacustrine components was developed to identify hydrological trends. The data show that the Sarliève area was characterized mainly by remarkably dry conditions, hence sharpening the climatic trends at middle latitudes in Western Europe. Three main hydrological phases are distinguished since the Late Glacial: (1) 13.7-7.5 ka cal BP, a dominant dry climate, with a peak at ca. 8 ka cal BP, leading to a lowstand in water level and unusual mineral authigenesis, zeolite then dolomite, constituting up to 60% of the lacustrine sediments; (2) 7.5 to ca. 5.3 ka cal BP, repeated short-duration hydrological alternations that could have been climatedriven: lowstands in water level with up to 60% biochemical minerals versus higher water levels with <10% biochemical minerals; (3) 5.3 ka cal BP to the Middle Ages (i.e. beginning in the 5th century AD), a hydrological trend towards perennial high water level, with mainly detrital sediments, probably linked to climate evolution, except periods of obvious humandriven drying during the last two millennia.

International audienceMinimum rates of solid (SSY) and dissolved (DSY) sediment yield (SY) were evaluated in t/km 2 per yr from sediments stored in the Sarliève palaeolake (French Massif Central) for seven phases of the Lateglacial and Holocene up to the seventeenth century. The catchment (29 km2), mainly formed of limestones and marls, is located in an area rich in archaeological sites in the Massif Central. The respective impacts of human activities and climate on SY were compared by quantification of human settlements through archaeological survey and palynological data. During the Lateglacial and early Holocene up to about 7500 yr cal. BP, variations in SSY and DSY rates were mainly related to climate change with higher rates during colder periods (Younger Dryas and Preboreal) and lower rates during warmer periods (Bölling-Alleröd and Boreal). However, CF1 tephra fallout induced a sharp increase in SY during the Alleröd. During the middle and late Holocene after 7500 yr cal. BP, SSY and DSY greatly increased (by factors of 6.5 and 2.8, respectively), particularly during the Final Neolithic at about 5300 yr cal. BP when the climate became cooler and more humid. After this date, at least 75% of the SSY increase and more than 90% of the DSY increase resulted from human activities, but SSY rates showed little variation during Protohistoric and Historic Times up to the seventeenth century. SSY and DSY rates and DSY/SSY ratio indicate that catchment soils began to form during the Lateglacial and Preboreal, thickened considerably during the Boreal and Atlantic, finally thinning (rejuvenation) mainly as the result of human-induced erosion during the sub-Boreal and sub-Atlantic. Increased mechanical erosion during the late Holocene also induced an increase in chemical erosion

Both the mineralogy and facies of lacustrine bio-induced carbonates are controlled largely by hydrological factors that are highly dependent upon climatic influence. As such they are useful tools in characterizing ancient lake environments. In this way, the study of the sedimentary record from the small ancient Sarliève Lake (Limagne, Massif Central, France) aims to reconstruct the hydrological evolution during the Holocene, using petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical analyses. The fine-grained marls, mainly calcitic, display numerous layers rich in pristine Ca-dolomite, with small amounts of aragonite, which are clearly autochthonous. As these minerals are rather unusual in the temperate climatic context of western Europe, the question arises about their forming conditions, and therefore that of the lacustrine environment. Ca-dolomite prevails at the base of the sequence as a massive dolomicrite layer and, in the middle part, it builds up most of the numerous laminae closely associated with organic matter. Scanning electron microscope observations reveal the abundance of tiny crystals (tens to hundreds of nanometres) mainly organized as microspheres looking like cocci or bacilli. Such a facies is interpreted as resulting from the fossilization of benthic microbial communities by dolomite precipitation following organic matter consumption and extracellular polymeric substance degradation. These microbial dolomites were precipitated in a saline environment, as a consequence of excess evaporation from the system, as is also suggested by their positive ¶ 18 O values. The facies sequence expresses the following evolution: (i) saline pan, i.e. endorheic stage with a perennial lowstand in lake level (Boreal to early Atlantic periods); (ii) large fluctuations in lake level with sporadic freshening of the system (Atlantic); (iii) open lake stage (sub-boreal); and (iv) anthropogenic drainage (sub-Atlantic).