Durations of soil formation and soil development indices in a Holocene Mediterranean floodplain

Zielhofer, Christoph; Espejo, José Manuel Recio; Granados, Miguel Ángel Núñez; Faust, Dominik

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.02.023

Cited by 53 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This period of mid-Holocene geomorphological stability and pedogenesis is characterised by a ubiquitous welldeveloped alluvial soil dated to 5600-4800 cal. BP within the middle Medjerda valley (Zielhofer et al , 2009, which is also documented in adjacent catchments in central Tunisia (Molle, 1979). This alluvial soil formed in response to a fall in groundwater level and represents relatively arid conditions in a phase of major mid-Holocene climatic change (Fletcher and Zielhofer 2013).…”

Section: North-west Africamentioning

confidence: 73%

Holocene flooding and climate change in the Mediterranean

Benito

Macklin

Zielhofer

et al. 2015

CATENA

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Mediterranean fluvial hydrology is characterised by decadal-to-multi-centennial length wet and dry episodes with abrupt transitions related to changes in atmospheric circulation. Since the mid-1990s site-based flood chronologies from slackwater deposits in bedrock rivers and regionally aggregated flood histories from alluvial deposits have developed increasingly higher resolution chronological frameworks, although regional coverage is still uneven. This paper analyses the spatial and temporal distribution of extreme Holocene hydrological events recorded in fluvial stratigraphy in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), southern France, southern Italy, Northern Africa (Morocco and Tunisia) and eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Crete, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel). This study constitutes the most comprehensive investigation of Holocene river flooding ever undertaken in the Mediterranean and is based on the analysis of 515 14 C and 53 OSL dates. It reveals that flood periods in different regions cluster into distinct time intervals, although region-wide flooding episodes can be identified at

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Section: North-west Africamentioning

confidence: 73%

Holocene flooding and climate change in the Mediterranean

Benito

Macklin

Zielhofer

et al. 2015

CATENA

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“…Thus, peaks in magnetic susceptibility cannot be explained by switches between terrigenous and limnic sediment influxes. In alluvial archives, soil formation at the floodplain surface (Zielhofer et al, 2009) or the impact of heat leads to peaks in magnetic susceptibilities. As fire induces the formation of the ferrimagnetic mineral maghemite (Le Borgne effect), magnetic susceptibilities should be high in fire-influenced sediments (Fassbinder, 2007).…”

Section: Methodological Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional fire history shows abrupt responses of Mediterranean ecosystems to centennial-scale climate change (Olea–Pistacia woodlands, NE Morocco)

Linstädter¹,

Zielhofer²

2010

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…Instead, each palaeosol seems to be indicative of wider floodplain stability and, thus, corresponds to a potential hiatus in the sedimentary sequence. The degree of evolution of the palaeosol profile may provide some clue as to the time scale involved in its formation (Huggett, 1998;Zielhofer et al, 2009). For example, the observed palaeosol characteristics can commonly form in relatively short time spans, possibly in the order of 10 3 e10 4 years (Yaalon, 1983).…”

Section: Terrace Staircasementioning

confidence: 99%

New data on the chronology of the Vale do Forno sedimentary sequence (Lower Tejo River terrace staircase) and its relevance as a fluvial archive of the Middle Pleistocene in western Iberia

Cunha

Martins

Buylaert

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tThe Vale do Forno archaeological sites (Alpiarça, central Portugal) document the earliest human occupation in the Lower Tejo River, well established in geomorphological and environmental terms, within the Middle Pleistocene. In a staircase of six fluvial terraces, the Palaeolithic sites were found on the T4 terrace (þ24 m, above river bed) which is made of a basal Lower Gravels unit (LG) and an overlying Upper Sands unit (US). Geomorphological mapping, coupled with lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and luminescence dating (quartz-OSL and K-feldspar post-IRIR 290 ) were used in this study. The oldest artefacts found in the LG unit show crude bifacial forms that can be attributed to the Acheulian. In contrast, the US unit has archaeological sites stratigraphically documenting successive phases of an evolved Acheulian. Luminescence dating and correlation with the Marine Isotopic Stages suggest that the LG unit has a probable age of ca. 335 to 325 ka and the US unit an age of ca. 325 to 155 ka. This is in contrast to previous interpretations ascribing this terrace (and lithic industries) to the Last Interglacial and early phases of the Last Glacial. The VF3 site (Milhar os), containing Micoquian (Final Acheulian) industries (with fine and elaborated bifaces), found in a stratigraphic level located between the T4 terrace deposits and a colluvium associated with Late Pleistocene aeolian sands, is younger than 155 ka but much older than 32 ka.© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. IntroductionUnderstanding of the Palaeolithic occupation of Northern Europe has been substantially based on evidence from rivers (e.g. Bridgland et al., 2006). For Western Europe and specifically in Iberia, insights into the Palaeolithic occupation is similarly derived from its major rivers (from north to south: Douro, Tejo/Tagus, Guadiana, Guadalquivir) (e.g. Santonja and Villa, 2006). Within this context, the Vale do Forno archaeological sites (Alpiarça, in central Portugal; Fig. 1) provide the earliest and most well documented human occupation in the Lower Tejo (the Portuguese part of the Tejo basin). Lower Palaeolithic bifacial sites are common, often well represented by lithic industries. Their local stratigraphy and technological characteristics indicate successive phases of what is commonly named as the Acheulian. However, they were chronologically poorly constrained.From the Spanish border to the Atlantic coast, the Tejo crosses major faults which provide a natural geomorphological subdivision of the river into a series of valley reaches (I to V;Cunha et al., 2005). * Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: pcunha@dct.uc.pt (P.P. Cunha), aam@uevora.pt (A.A. Martins), jabu@dtu.dk (J.-P. Buylaert), anmu@dtu.dk (A.S. Murray), 3raposos@sapo.pt (L. Raposo), paolo.mozzi@unipd.it (P. Mozzi), m.stokes@plymouth.ac.uk (M. Stokes).

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Durations of soil formation and soil development indices in a Holocene Mediterranean floodplain

Cited by 53 publications

References 40 publications

Holocene flooding and climate change in the Mediterranean

Holocene flooding and climate change in the Mediterranean

Regional fire history shows abrupt responses of Mediterranean ecosystems to centennial-scale climate change (Olea–Pistacia woodlands, NE Morocco)

New data on the chronology of the Vale do Forno sedimentary sequence (Lower Tejo River terrace staircase) and its relevance as a fluvial archive of the Middle Pleistocene in western Iberia

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