Stratigraphy and Chronology of Late Quaternary Floodplain Sediments in a Historic Mining Area, Vils River Valley, East Bavaria, Germany

Abstract

Analysis of 288 percussion drillings from depths of up to seven meters and a 120 m long excavated section provide new and detailed information on the Late Quaternary to Late Holocene floodplain evolution from the most important Central European ironmining region of the 15th century. The generalized sequence of the Vils River floodplain is built of five units representing facies of different genesis (rock/saprolite, gravel, sand, loam, peat) that are identified by physical, chemical, and mineralogical parameters (grain size, clast shape, and content, TOC, bulk mineralogy). Along the 87 km length of the valley, different units/facies are found at the Upper Vils River (UVR 1-5) and at the Lower Vils River (LVR 1-4b). In both river sections, fine-grained material (flood loam) forms the major part (up to 4 m) of the alluvial sequence. 29 age determinations (24 14 C, 4 IRSL, 1 tree-ring analysis) show increasing accumulation of flood loam in the last millennium. The data correlate with the beginning of mining at the Vils River and hence suggest a causal connection with mining activities in the catchment-both on the slopes and in the floodplain-with intense deposition of flood loams. [

Trace metal storage in recent floodplain sediments along the Dill River, central Germany

“…Work elsewhere in Germany has noted rapid increases in floodplain sedimentation beginning about 1000 years ago. Increased sedimentation has been ascribed to expanded agricultural activity, wetter climate conditions, or a combination thereof (Fuchs et al, 2011;Raab et al, 2011). There is little evidence in the literature of high rates of sedimentation such as those documented here along the Dill River having occurred over the last 300 years.…”

Reconstructing human–landscape interactions in the context of ancient iron smelting on Elba Island, Italy, using sedimentological evidence

“…Because of the more pronounced pattern of As in core‐logging data compared to homogenized samples of the <2 mm sieve separate, we assume that the enrichment of arsenic is mainly related to the presence of (coarse) slag fragments (cf. Raab et al, ). Simultaneously increased pre‐metallurgical background values of As and Fe are likely related to adsorption of As(III) on (pedogenic) Fe‐oxides (cf.…”

“…Because of the more pronounced pattern of As in corelogging data compared to homogenized samples of the <2 mm sieve separate, we assume that the enrichment of arsenic is mainly related to the presence of (coarse) slag fragments (cf. Raab et al, 2010).…”

“…Analysis of floodplain sediments of the receiving streams allows the environmental effect of pre-industrial metallurgy to be reconstructed (cf. Brown, Bennett, & Rhodes, 2009;Hudson-Edwards, Macklin, & Taylor, 1997;Macklin, Ridgway, Passmore, & Rumsby, 1994;Raab, Hürkamp, & Völkel, 2010;Stolz & Grunert, 2008); evidence given by alluvial deposits provide information on increased fluvial activity after deforestation as well as changed metal fluxes. For Elba Island, there is a lack of such research.…”

Historical Disturbance and Contemporary Floodplain Development along an Ozark River, Southwest Missouri

“…Floodplain sediment dating techniques that determine relative age have been used to identify historical deposition patterns (e.g., Raab et al, 2010), including identification of buried soils (Knox, 1977;Magilligan, 1985), geochemical identification of historical mining sediment (Knox, 1987;Lecce and Pavlowsky, 2001), and 137 Cs fallout from nuclear weapons testing beginning in the 1950s (Walling et al, 1992;Faulkner and McIntyre, 1996;Stam, 1999). In the Ozarks, trace metal and 137 Cs studies have been used to document historical floodplain sedimentation in lower valleys of small tributaries, but little is known about historical main valley floodplain deposition in the region (Carlson, 1999;Trimble, 2001;Rodgers, 2005;Womble, 2009).…”