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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Antony G. Brown  and
Keith E. Barber
Antony G. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 7RH, Great Britain
Keith E. Barber
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Southampton University, Southampton S09 5NH, Great Britain
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Abstract

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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , July 1985 , pp. 87 - 102
Copyright
University of Washington

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