The contribution of a multiproxy approach in reconstructing floodplain development

Dinnin, Mark; Brayshay, Barbara

doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1999.163.01.15

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Floodplain palaeoecological studies show a rich biodiversity during phases of low anthropogenic impact, consisting of habitats that have become very rare in temperate Central Europe [142], e.g., fens in fluvial settings [143] and large oak-rich riverine woodlands [144]. Early and middle Holocene floodplains were densely forested with birch (Betula), willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), alder (Alnus) and oak (Quercus) [7,[144][145][146]. Due to intensified land use in the catchments, flood loam deposition led to a shift from multichannel rivers towards late Holocene single-channel and meandering rivers [7].…”

Section: Floodplain Land Use and Modification Of Riparian Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere—Current Limitations and Perspectives of Multidisciplinary Research

Werther¹,

Mehler

Schenk

et al. 2021

Water

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Floodplains represent a global hotspot of sensitive socioenvironmental changes and early human forcing mechanisms. In this review, we focus on the environmental conditions of preindustrial floodplains in Central Europe and the fluvial societies that operated there. Due to their high land-use capacity and the simultaneous necessity of land reclamation and risk minimisation, societies have radically restructured the Central European floodplains. According to the current scientific consensus, up to 95% of Central European floodplains have been extensively restructured or destroyed. Therefore, question arises as to whether or when it is justified to understand Central European floodplains as a ‘Fluvial Anthroposphere’. The case studies available to date show that human-induced impacts on floodplain morphologies and environments and the formation of specific fluvial societies reveal fundamental changes in the medieval and preindustrial modern periods. We aim to contribute to disentangling the questions of when and why humans became a significant controlling factor in Central European floodplain formation, and how humans in interaction with natural processes and other chains of effects have modified floodplains. As a conclusion, we superimpose emerging fields of research concerning the onset of the Fluvial Anthroposphere and provide 10 specific thematic objectives for future multidisciplinary work.

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Section: Floodplain Land Use and Modification Of Riparian Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere—Current Limitations and Perspectives of Multidisciplinary Research

Werther¹,

Mehler

Schenk

et al. 2021

Water

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“…Some studies combine analyses of pollen and coleoptera (e.g. Andrieu-Ponel et al, 2000;Brayshay and Dinnin, 1999;Dinnin and Brayshay, 1999), or pollen and wood remains (e.g. Behre, 1970Behre, , 1985Behre, , 2004Van Regteren Altena et al, 1962, 1963a, 1963b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle-Holocene alluvial forests and associated fluvial environments: A multi-proxy reconstruction from the lower Scheldt, N Belgium

et al. 2014

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Analyses of pollen, plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, wood and mosses), molluscs, diatoms and vertebrate (mainly fish) remains allowed a detailed reconstruction of a middle-Holocene alluvial forest and its associated hydrological conditions. The use of multiple proxies resulted in a taxonomically more detailed and environmentally more comprehensive understanding of terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats. The results demonstrate possible biases in palaeoecological reconstructions of alluvial and estuarine environments drawn from single proxies. Many locally occurring woody taxa were underrepresented or remained undetected by pollen analyses. Seeds and fruits also proved to be inadequate to detect several locally important taxa, such as Ulmus and Hedera helix. Apparently brackish conditions inferred from diatoms, pollen and other microfossils conflicted strikingly with the evidence from molluscs, fish bones and botanical macroremains which suggest a freshwater environment. Brackish sediment (and the microfossil indicators) is likely to have been deposited during spring tides or storm surges, when estuarine waters penetrated more inland than usual. Despite the reworking and deposition of estuarine and saltmarsh sediment well above the tidal node at such events, local salinity levels largely remained unaffected.

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“…In most parts of Europe, the Late Quaternary evolution of floodplain environments is the result of interactions between natural and human factors such as climatedriven changes in hydrology, vegetation, or anthropogenic clearing (e.g., Starkel et al, 1991;Brown, 1997;Dinnin and Brayshay, 1999;Schulte, 2002;Brown, 2003;Vannière et al, 2003;Bell and Walker, 2005;Macklin et al, 2006). During the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, floodplains evolved solely under natural conditions and without any evidence of anthropogenic influence on river dynamics (Starkel, 2002(Starkel, , 2003Lewin et al, 2005;Boucher et al, 2006;Collins et al, 2006;Thorndycraft and Benito, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2010

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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. [

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The contribution of a multiproxy approach in reconstructing floodplain development

Cited by 5 publications

References 33 publications

On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere—Current Limitations and Perspectives of Multidisciplinary Research

On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere—Current Limitations and Perspectives of Multidisciplinary Research

Middle-Holocene alluvial forests and associated fluvial environments: A multi-proxy reconstruction from the lower Scheldt, N Belgium

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

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