Spatio-temporal evolution of the Choisille River (southern Parisian Basin, France) during the Weichselian and the Holocene as a record of climate trend and human activity in north-western Europe

Abstract

drigues, et al.. Spatio-temporal evolution of the Choisille River (southern Parisian Basin, France) during the Weichselian and the Holocene as a record of climate trend and human activity in north-western Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, Elsevier, 2011, 30 (3-4) AbstractThe morpho-sedimentary evolution of the Choisille floodplain (lowland river, catchment: 288 km 2 ), a tributary of the River Loire in the south-western Parisian Basin, was studied through 61 core drillings along eight transects and a geophysical survey located in four stretches of the river: stretches A and B correspond to two sub-catchments, and stretches C and D are in the main valley. Sixty 14 C and four OSL datings were obtained, and sediments were analysed on seven reference cores. Eight phases of evolution differing markedly from the evolution of more northern areas in the Parisian Basin and north-western Europe were identified from spatio-temporal distribution of nine lithological facies. The deepest incision phase (1) occurred during the first part of the Weichselian, followed by the deposition of a gravelly-sandy unit (phase 2) during the Middle Pleniglacial, which was deeply incised (phase 3), probably during the Bölling. From the Allerød up to the last third of the Boreal (phase 4), sedimentation was continuously dominated by peaty deposits, with no evidence of either increased hydraulic energy during the Younger Dryas, or of incision during the LateGlacialHolocene transition. This trend seems to reflect the specificity of the south-western Parisian Basin climate from the Late Weichselian up to the end of the Boreal, due to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, compared to more northern areas where the climate was more continental. The downstream incision trend during the last third of the Boreal up to the Subatlantic (phases 5 and 6) indicates a sharp increase in precipitation and vegetation cover; the lack of peaty sediments, widespread in north-western Europe, and also of precipitated carbonates frequent in the Parisian Basin, seems to be due to local physiographic characteristics. The main part of the sediment filling, which is principally silty and retrograde, began during the Subatlantic (phase 7 and 8) as a result of deforestation of the plateaux for crop farming. High humaninduced sediment yield and storage concealed the possible impacts of climate change on fluvial dynamics: lithological facies change from phase 7 to 8 can only indicate the autogenic morphological evolution of the floodplain in accretion. The non-univocal upstreamdownstream variation in the start of phase 7 shows that sediment yield varied in space and time in the catchment, particularly in relation to the agricultural potential of the different areas; this observation could be used to testify human-induced sedimentation in other catchments.

Architecture of the lower terraces and evolution of the Dordogne River at Bergerac (south‐west France) during the last glacial–interglacial cycle

“…After this time, floodplain accretion becomes insignificant. Tectonic uplift may explain why, unlike for other rivers in Europe (Pastre et al, 2001;Antoine et al, 2003;Macklin et al, 2010;Morin et al, 2010;Erkens et al, 2011), increased suspension load during the Holocene due to anthropogenic activities in the catchment did not lead to significant floodplain accretion during the last five millennia.…”

Contribution of recent geomorphological and micrmorphological research to Landscape archaeology of the Plaine de Caen (Calvados, Lower-Normandy)

“…Elles s'appuient le sur la définition de bilans sédimentaires holocènes établis à partir de l'étude des produits de l'érosion stockés sur les versants et dans les plaines alluviales (Macaire et al, 2002 ;Houben et al, 2006 ;Hoffmann et al, 2007 ;De Moor et Verstraeten, 2008 ;Morin et al, 2011) et plus rarement sur la prise en compte des pertes en sols par l'étude des profils pédologiques (Houben, 2008 ;Verstraeten et al, 2009 ;Notebaert et al, 2011). Ce type d'étude propose le plus souvent un bilan général de l'érosion et la chronologie de l'érosion des sols est essentiellement appuyée sur la chronologie des remplissages de fond de vallée (Allée, 2003 ;Hoffmann et al, 2007 ;Morin et al, 2011). Par conséquent, la discussion sur le rôle des pratiques agricoles et des transformations paysagères associées, dans le développement de l'érosion des sols et des transferts vers les fonds de vallées, demeure générale.…”

Mid and Late Holocene evolution of Brateș Lake region (Danube floodplain) based on the multiproxy analysis

“…Most of the studies concern on a single major event, e.g. the Late Glacial -Holocene transition (Starkel et al, 2007;Turner et al, 2013), the fast sedimentation induced by human activities in the last millennium (Kalicki, 2000;Hoffmann et al, 2008;Kaplan et al, 2009;Morin et al, 2011), with an acceleration in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, followed by a sudden decrease as a result of dams constructions in the river basins (Owens et al, 1999;Panin and Jipa, 2002;Preoteasa et al, 2016;Stacke et al, 2014). Recently appeared new studies that treat the avulsions history on long periods of time during Holocene (Tigris and Euphrates: Morozova, 2005;Jotheri et al, 2016;Saskatchewan: Smith et al, 1989;Smith et al,1998;Morozova and Smith, 1999;Mississippi: Aslan and Autin, 1999;Rhin: Törnqvist, 1994;van Dinter et al, 2017;Meuse: Stouthamer and Berendsen, 2001) or their types and morphodynamics: progradational, reoccupation and anthropic avulsions (Törnqvist and van Dijk, 1993;Morozova and Smith, 1999;Morozova, 2005).…”