High-resolution seismic profiles along with physical and sedimentological properties of sediment cores from the Saguenay (Eastern Canada) and Reloncavi (Chile) Fjords allowed the identification of several decimeter to meter-thick turbidites. In both fjords, the turbidites were associated with large magnitude historic and prehistoric earthquakes including the 1663 AD (M > 7) earthquake in the Saguenay Fjord, and the 1960 (M 9.5), 1837 (M ~ 8) and 1575 AD major Chilean subduction earthquakes in the Reloncavi Fjord. In addition, a sand layer with exoscopic characteristics typical of a tsunami deposit was observed immediately above the turbidite associated with the 1575 AD earthquake in the Reloncavi Fjord and supports both the chronology and the large magnitude of that historic earthquake. In the Saguenay Fjord, the earthquake-triggered turbidites are sometimes underlying a hyperpycnite associated with the rapid breaching and draining of a natural dam formed by earthquake-triggered landslides. Similar hyperpycnal floods were also recorded in historical and continental geological archives for the 1960 and 1575 AD Chilean subduction earthquakes, highlighting the risk of such flood events several weeks or months after main earthquake. In both fjords, as well as in other recently recognized earthquake-triggered turbidites, the decimeter-to meter-thick normally-graded turbidites are characterized by a homogeneous, but slightly fining upward tail. Finally, this paper also emphasizes the sensitivity of fjords to record historic and prehistoric seismicity.

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International audienceSoil erosion is one of the main factors influencing land degradation and water quality at the global scale. Identifying the main sediment sources is therefore essential for the implementation of appropriate soil erosion mitigation measures. Accordingly, caesium-137 (137Cs) concentrations were used to determine the relative contribution of surface and subsurface erosion sources in a lowland drained catchment in France. As 137Cs concentrations are often dependent on particle size, specific surface area (SSA) and novel thorium (Th) based particle size corrections were applied. Surface and subsurface samples were collected to characterize the radionuclide properties of potential sources. Sediment samples were collected during one hydrological year and a sediment core was sampled to represent sediment accumulated over a longer temporal period. Additionally, sediment from tile drains was sampled to determine the radionuclide properties of sediment exported from the drainage network. A distribution modelling approach was used to quantify the relative sediment contributions from surface and subsurface sources. The results highlight a substantial enrichment in fine particles and associated 137Cs concentrations between the sources and the sediment. The application of both correction factors reduced this difference, with the Th correction providing a more accurate comparison of source and sediment samples than the SSA correction. Modelling results clearly indicate the dominance of surface sources during the flood events and in the sediment core. Sediment exported from the drainage network was modelled to originate predominantly from surface sources. This study demonstrates the potential of Th to correct for 137Cs particle size enrichment. More importantly, this research indicates that drainage networks may significantly increase the connectivity of surface sources to stream networks. Managing sediment transferred through drainage networks may reduce the deleterious effects of suspended sediment loads on riverine systems in similar lowland drained agricultural catchments

Information on the main sources supplying deleterious sediment loads to river systems is needed to improve our understanding of soil erosion processes. In particular, it is important to quantify the respective contributions of surface and subsurface sources to material degrading waterbodies. Radiocesium (137 Cs), emitted during thermonuclear bomb testing (~1950-1980) and nuclear accidents provides significant discrimination between surface material exposed to atmospheric fallout and subsurface material sheltered from it. A systematic worldwide review of research articles (n=123) that used 137 Cs to trace sediment sources showed that the United Kingdom (n=24), Australia (n=23) and the United States (n=20) had the highest number of publications utilizing 137 Cs in a sediment tracing framework. In contrast, few studies were published for catchments in Africa (n=9) or South America (n=2). In the northern hemisphere, positive relationships were evident between 137 Cs activities in surface and subsurface sources and the proportion of thermonuclear bomb fallout. However, given the low proportions of fallout received in regions between 0-20°N and 0-20°S, the potential application of 137 Cs tracing techniques may be limited in this area of the world as well as in agricultural regions with severe soil erosion (i.e. Chinese Loess Plateau and South Africa). In total, 94% of the studies researching surface and subsurface sources that analyzed 137 Cs as a potential tracing property included this parameter in end-member mixing models. The main challenges for the future of this technique are mainly related to the access to ultra-low background gamma spectrometry facilities and the development of surrogate tracers. Future research should ensure that basic catchment information and details on the sampling design are properly documented to ensure studies are reproducible. Moreover, researchers should provide raw measurement data to help improve our global understanding of 137 Cs dynamics in soil erosion research.

eDnA refers to DnA extracted from an environmental sample with the goal of identifying the occurrence of past or current biological communities in aquatic and terrestrial environments. However, there is currently a lack of knowledge regarding the soil memory effect and its potential impact on lake sediment eDnA records. to investigate this issue, two contrasted sites located in cultivated environments in France were studied. In the first site, soil samples were collected (n = 30) in plots for which the crop rotation history was documented since 1975. In the second site, samples were collected (n = 40) to compare the abundance of currently observed taxa versus detected taxa in cropland and other land uses. The results showed that the last cultivated crop was detected in 100% of the samples as the most abundant. In addition, weeds were the most abundant taxa identified in both sites. overall, these results illustrate the potential of eDnA analyses for identifying the recent (< 10 years) land cover history of soils and outline the detection of different taxa in cultivated plots. the capacity of detection of plant species grown on soils delivering sediments to lacustrine systems is promising to improve our understanding of sediment transfer processes over short timescales. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a complex mixture of genetic material present in environmental samples. 1-4 During the last several decades, eDNA studies have significantly improved our ability to detect a range of organisms, including macroorganisms, plants, animals and even to reconstruct paleo communities. 5,6 Detection of taxa present in an eDNA sample can be accessed with a general approach based on target PCR (polymerase chain reaction) called "DNA metabarcoding". 7 This method was successfully applied in a wide range of environmental samples collected from soil compartments, 8 freshwater ecosystems, 9,10 marine environnements 11 as well as for palaeoenvironnemental reconstructions of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. 12-14 eDNA studies conducted on soils are assumed to analyze particles of eDNA originating from organism remains, organic matter, or from extra-cellular DNA molecules bound to soil compounds, such as clay. 15 In principle, eDNA can remain in soil or sediments for long periods as eDNA bound to clay was shown to be protected

International audienceHigh-resolution seismic profiling has been combined with geochemical analyses of both watershed samples and five lacustrine cores retrieved from two natural lacustrine basins of glacial origin: Lake Majeur and Lake Sigriou (1630 m a.s.l. and 1995 m a.s.l., respectively, Eastern French Pyrenees). Identifying specific minerogenic and organic markers of autochthonous and allochthonous supply, data allow documenting past climatic and anthropogenic pressures. Over the past century, the lacustrine sediment of Lake Majeur has been essentially composed of algae, drastically contrasting with the natural sedimentary infill of the basin, mainly resulting from soil erosion from the mid-late Holocene. Since ad 1907, the Lake Majeur has been used for hydroelectricity production. Human-induced lake-level regulations, affecting up to 37% of the lacustrine surface, have increased by fourfold the accumulation rate of the lake and favoured water enrichment. Rubidium abundance within the lacustrine sediments of the two lakes reflects the mid-late Holocene palaeohydrology. After dam construction in ad 1907, greater quantities of rubidium found in Lake Majeur sedimentary infills indicate drier climatic periods, such as from ad 1975 to ad 1982, during which water reservoirs were particularly in demand. Inversely, before the dam was built, rubidium fluctuations were correlated with wetter conditions and hydrological events were recorded as sandy layers deposited by canyon reactivation, synchronous with European climatic deterioration phases. We notably document that the Mediaeval Climate Anomaly was interrupted by some humid periods dated c. ad 940, ad 1080, ad 1100 and ad 1250. We also date the onset of the 'Little Ice Age' c. ad 1360 and identify that this period was wetter after c. ad 1500

Soil erosion often supplies high sediment loads to rivers, degrading water quality and contributing to the siltation of reservoirs and lowland river channels. These impacts are exacerbated in agricultural catchments where modifications in land management and agricultural practices were shown to accelerate sediment supply. In this study, sediment sources were identified with a novel tracing approach combining cesium ((137)Cs) and strontium isotopes ((87)Sr/(86)Sr) in the Louroux pond, at the outlet of a lowland cultivated catchment (24km(2), Loire River basin, France) representative of drained agricultural areas of Northwestern Europe. Surface soil (n=36) and subsurface channel bank (n=17) samples were collected to characterize potential sources. Deposited sediment (n=41) was sampled across the entire surface of the pond to examine spatial variation in sediment deposits. In addition, a 1.10m sediment core was sampled in the middle of the pond to reconstruct source variations throughout time. (137)Cs was used to discriminate between surface and subsurface sources, whereas (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios discriminated between lithological sources. A distribution modeling approach quantified the relative contribution of these sources to the sampled sediment. Results indicate that surface sources contributed to the majority of pond (μ 82%, σ 1%) and core (μ 88%, σ 2%) sediment with elevated subsurface contributions modeled near specific sites close to the banks of the Louroux pond. Contributions of the lithological sources were well mixed in surface sediment across the pond (i.e., carbonate sediment contribution, μ 48%, σ 1% and non-carbonate sediment contribution, μ 52%, σ 3%) although there were significant variations of these source contributions modeled for the sediment core between 1955 and 2013. These fluctuations reflect both the progressive implementation of land consolidation schemes in the catchment and the eutrophication of the pond. This original sediment fingerprinting study demonstrates the potential of combining radionuclide and strontium isotopic geochemistry measurements to quantify sediment sources in cultivated catchments.

Soil erosion is recognized as one of the main processes of land degradation in agricultural areas. High suspended sediment loads, often generated from eroding agricultural landscapes, are known to degrade downstream environments. Accordingly, there is a need to understand soil erosion dynamics during flood events. Suspended sediment was therefore sampled in the river network and at tile drain outlets during five flood events in a lowland drained catchment in France. Source and sediment fallout radionuclide concentrations (7Be, 210Pbxs) were measured to quantify both the fraction of recently eroded particles transported during flood events and their residence time. Results indicate that the mean fraction of recently eroded sediment, estimated for the entire Louroux catchment, increased from 45 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% between December 2013 and February 2014, and from 65 ± 20% to 80 ± 20% in January 2016. These results demonstrate an initial flush of sediment previously accumulated in the river channel before the increasing supply of sediment recently eroded from the hillslopes during subsequent events. This research highlights the utility of coupling continuous river monitoring and fallout radionuclide measurements to increase our understanding of sediment dynamics and improve the management of soil and water resources in agricultural catchments.