Late Holocene Paleoecology and Sedimentary History of a Small Lowland Catchment in Central England

作者：Antony Gavin Brown, Keith E. Barber · 发表于：Quaternary Research · 年份：1985 · DOI：10.1016/0033-5894(85)90085-7 · 被引用次数：81 · 研究领域：Soil erosion and sediment transport、Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes、Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

A variety of paleoecological and sedimentary techniques were used to investigate the storage of sediment within a small lowland catchment during the Holocene. Radiocarbon dating of vertically accreted floodplain deposits allowed the calculation of inorganic accumulation rates. These rates show a dramatic increase in sediment deposition during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (2900-2300 yr B.P.) due to deforestation and cultivation of the catchment slopes and resultant soil erosion. The soils within the catchment were susceptible to structural damage, surface waterlogging, and slope-wash erosion. From the calculated increases in sediment storage estimates of catchment erosion were made which vary from around 20 to 140 tons km−2 yr−1. The study of alluvial chronology at this scale can provide unique information on the source areas of Holocene floodplain sediments and provide long-term erosion rates.