Search

In comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene river dynamics, climate change and floodwater farming in Central Asia is significantly under researched. To address this, a multi-disciplinary research project was begun in 2011 centred on the Talgar catchment, a south-bank tributary of the Ili River, southeast Kazakhstan. Building on archaeological excavations and surveys conducted over the past 20 years, we have undertaken investigations of Holocene human adaptations to changing hydromorphic regimes in the Tien Shan piedmont region, Central Asia. Fluvial geochronologies have been reconstructed over the last 20,000 years using Optically Stimulated Luminescence and 14C dating, and are compared with human settlement histories from the Eneolithic to the medieval period. Phases of Late Pleistocene and Holocene river aggradation at c. 17,400–6420, 4130–2880 and 910–500 cal. BC and between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries were coeval with cooler and wetter neoglacial episodes. Entrenchment and floodplain soil development (c. 2880–2490 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300–1640) coincided with warmer and drier conditions. Prior to the modern period, floodwater farming in the Talgar River reached its height in the late Iron Age (400 cal. BC – cal. AD 1) with more than 70 settlement sites and 700 burial mounds. This period of agricultural expansion corresponds to a phase of reduced flooding, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tien Shan Mountains. Late Iron age agriculturists appear to have been opportunistic by exploiting a phase of moderate flows within an alluvial fan environment, which contained a series of partially entrenched distributary channels that could be easily ‘engineered’ to facilitate floodwater farming. Holocene climate change was therefore not a proximate cause for the development and demise of this relatively short-lived (c. 200 years) period of Iron Age farming. River dynamics in the Tien Shan piedmont are, however, strongly coupled with regional hydroclimatic fluctuations, and they have likely acted locally as both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors for riparian agriculturists.

It has long been hypothesised that beds of highly organic mud or sapropels seen in marine sediment cores retrieved from the floor of the eastern Mediterranean accumulated during times of high Nile fluvial discharge. Our recent fieldwork in the valleys of the Blue Nile, the White Nile and the main Nile has for the first time revealed a sequence of extreme flood episodes synchronous with sapropel units S5 (124 kyr), S4 (102 kyr), S3 (81 kyr), S2 (55 kyr) and S1 (13.5–6.5 kyr). There are more weakly defined links with Nile floods and sapropel units S9 (240 kyr), S8 (217 kyr), S7 (195 kyr), S6 (172 kyr), but the dating error terms are too large to allow us to be too definite. During times of extreme floods over the past 125 kyr, wide distributary channels of the Blue Nile flowed across the Gezira alluvial fan in central Sudan and transported a bed load of sand and gravel into the lower White Nile valley. The sands were reworked by wind to form source-bordering dunes, all of which contain heavy minerals of Ethiopian provenance. These source-bordering dunes were active at 115–105 kyr, 60 kyr and 12–7 kyr, all times of extreme Blue Nile floods. The flood and dune sediments were dated using a combination of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon analyses. The Quaternary record of Nile floods discussed here shows a precessional signal and reflects episodes of stronger summer monsoon and more northerly seasonal movement of the ITCZ, linked to times of higher insolation in northern tropical latitudes. Progressive aggradation of Holocene Nile channels in northern Sudan has had a profound influence upon human settlement in the last 8 kyr.

We have reconstructed long-term shifts in catchment sediment sources by analysing, for the first time, the strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotope composition of dated floodplain deposits in the Desert Nile. The sediment load of the Nile has been dominated by material from the Ethiopian Highlands for much of the Holocene, but tributary wadis and aeolian sediments in Sudan and Egypt have also made major contributions to valley floor sedimentation. The importance of these sources has shifted dramatically in response to global climate changes. During the African Humid Period, before c. 4.5 ka, when stronger boreal summer insolation produced much higher rainfall across North Africa, the Nile floodplain in northern Sudan shows a tributary wadi input of 40–50%. Thousands of tributary wadis were active at this time along the full length of the Saharan Nile in Egypt and Sudan. As the climate became drier after 4.5 ka, the valley floor shows an abrupt fall in wadi inputs and a stronger Blue Nile/Atbara contribution. In the arid New Kingdom and later periods, in palaeochannel fills on the margins of the valley floor, aeolian sediments replace wadi inputs as the most important secondary contributor to floodplain sedimentation. Our sediment source data do not show a measurable contribution from the White Nile to the floodplain deposits of northern Sudan over the last 8500 years. This can be explained by the distinctive hydrology and sediment delivery dynamics of the upper Nile basin. High strontium isotope ratios observed in delta and offshore records – that were previously ascribed to a stronger White Nile input during the African Humid Period – may have to be at least partly reassessed. Our floodplain Sr records also have major implications for bioarchaeologists who carry out Sr isotope-based investigations of ancient human remains in the Nile Valley because the isotopic signature of Nile floodplain deposits has shifted significantly over time.

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. In the Nile catchment, a growing number of site- and reach-based studies employ radiocarbon and, more recently, OSL dating to reconstruct Holocene river histories, but there has been no attempt to critically evaluate and synthesise these data at the catchment scale. We present the first meta-analysis of published and publically available radiocarbon and OSL dated Holocene fluvial units in the Nile catchment, including the delta region, and relate this to changing climate and river dynamics. Dated fluvial units are separated both geographically (into the Nile Delta and White, Blue, and Desert Nile sub-regions) and into depositional environment (floodplain and palaeochannel fills). Cumulative probability density frequency (CPDF) plots of floodplain and palaeochannel units show a striking inverse relationship during the Holocene, reflecting abrupt (

The hydromorphic regimes that underpinned Old World river-based civilizations are reviewed in light of recent research. Notable Holocene climatic changes varied from region to region, whilst the dynamics of floodplain environments were equally diverse, with river channel changes significantly affecting human settlement. There were longer-term trends in Holocene hydroclimate and multi-centennial length ‘flood-rich’ and ‘flood-poor’ episodes. These impacted on five identified flooding and settlement scenarios: (i) alluvial fans and aprons; (ii) laterally mobile rivers; (iii) rivers with well-developed levees and flood basins; (iv) river systems characterised by avulsions and floodouts; and (v) large river-fed wetlands. This gave a range of changes that were either more or less regular or incremental from year-to-year (and thus potentially manageable) or catastrophic. The latter might be sudden during a flood event or a few seasons (acute), or over longer periods extending over many decades or even centuries (chronic). The geomorphic and environmental impacts of these events on riparian societies were very often irreversible. Contrasts are made between allogenic and autogenic mechanism for imposing environmental stress on riverine communities and a distinction is made between channel avulsion and contraction responses. Floods, droughts and river channel changes can precondition as well as trigger environmental crises and societal collapse. The Nile system currently offers the best set of independently dated Holocene fluvial and archaeological records, and the contrasted effects of changing hydromorphological regimes on floodwater farming are examined. The persistence of civilizations depended essentially on the societies that maintained them, but they were also understandably resilient in some environments (Pharaonic Egypt in the Egyptian Nile), appear to have had more limited windows of opportunity in others (the Kerma Kingdom in the Nubian Nile), or required settlement mobility or exceptional engineering response (Huang He, Mesopotamia) to accommodate problems such as river avulsion, desiccation or local salinization.

A meta-analysis of a large database of 14C dated fluvial units is used to assess the chronology and controls of episodic Holocene river entrenchment and terrace formation in the UK. Most Holocene terraces are of a ‘fill-cut’ type developed in Pleistocene sediments, in places now reaching down to pre-Holocene bedrock. Holocene terraces are widespread in higher-relief areas of the UK and peripheral higher-energy rivers, and include up to 7 levels in some valley floor reaches. Using 14C constrained data sub-sets for incision episodes, the onset, vertical ranges, formation times, and rates of entrenchment are examined, together with geographical distributions. The height range of terrace separation is relatively small (0.5–3.5 m) with a long-term averaged incision rate over the late and mid-Holocene of 0.43, 0.5, 0.67, 0.7 and 0.81 m/ka in the Tweed, Rheidol, Severn, Ouse and Ribble catchments, and a regional similarity in the scale of incision events. The periods 4200–3700, 3100–2900, 2100–1900, 1800–1500 cal. BP and most notably the last 1000 years (with prominent peaks at 900–800 and 700–600 cal. BP) were times of accelerated incision. It appears likely that extreme flood events triggered the formation of incision ‘slots’, rather than entrenchment being a direct response to glacio-tectonic uplift, or the result of incremental valley-floor lowering by combined incision and lateral reworking. River entrenchment has also been rapid in recent centuries, reflecting the coupling of extreme-events with anthropogenic effects on catchment hydrology. Incision results in changes of river channel flood power and overbank flood extent, and improved data on the long-term and large-scale vertical tendency of UK rivers are needed for flood risk management purposes.

This paper applies meta-analysis techniques to a database of 401 14 C-dated Holocene fluvial units in New Zealand. We use the database to produce a probability-based reconstruction of Holocene river behaviour at a national and regional scale. Records of river activity in northern (North Island) and southern (South Island) New Zealand are compared with independent hydro-climate proxy records that reflect regional, tropical and polar influences on Southern Hemisphere climate. During the Holocene, 12 multi-centennial length episodes of river activity and flooding were identified in the North Island, and in the South Island record 11 periods exceed the mean relative probability of activity. These records show that episodes of river activity have exhibited a predominantly out-of-phase relationship, suggesting the relationship between ENSO and SAM, and the relative dominance of the two modes, may be influencing Holocene river activity in New Zealand. The emerging pattern in the South Island Holocene fluvial record is one of increased river activity in response to enhanced westerly atmospheric circulation associated with a predominance of trough regime synoptic type (negative SAM-like circulation). In the North Island episodes of river activity are driven by increased meridional atmospheric circulation associated with blocking regime synoptic conditions (La Nina-like and positive SAM-like circulation). Analysis of floodplain sedimentation rates shows a rapid increase after ∼500 cal yr BP following the arrival of humans and the beginning of widespread deforestation. Regional climate complexity in New Zealand presents opportunities for palaeoclimate reconstruction, with the New Zealand fluvial 14 C-database ideally placed to fill geographical gaps in the long-term hydrological record.

Macklin, M. G., Jones, A. F., Lewin, J. (2010). River response to rapid Holocene environmental change: evidence and explanation in British catchments. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(13-14), 1555-1576 Sponsorship: Welsh Assembly Government and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for funding this study through its support of the Centre for Catchment and Coastal Research at Aberystwyth University

Our results show that the late Pleistocene Nile in northern Sudan was shifting position and actively aggrading at 145 ± 20 kyr, 83 ± 24 kyr, 32 ± 8 kyr and 20.7 ± 0.2 kyr and indicate, for the first time, a phase of high-energy flow in the White Nile at 27.8 ± 3.2 kyr, with still high but somewhat reduced flow in that river at 13.3 kyr, 10 kyr and 4.8-4.0 kyr. Beach ridges associated with a 386 m strandline of the White Nile have OSL ages of 27.5 ± 2.7 kyr and 14.5 ± 1.6 kyr. The Holocene terraces and former channels of the main Nile have ages of 11 kyr, 6.5-5.0 kyr and 4.8-4.0 kyr, after which there was a general decline in flood discharge. The now arid main Nile valley in northern Sudan was significantly wetter during the early to middle Holocene, with a lake up to 450 km2 in area, fed by an overflow channel from the early Holocene Nile between 9.5 kyr and 7.5 kyr. Previously stable late Pleistocene dunes were reactivated at intervals during the Holocene, with five samples from the White Nile valley indicating brief phases of Holocene dune activity at 9.9 ± 2.0 kyr, 9.0 ± 2.8 kyr, 6.6 ± 0.9 kyr, 4.8 ± 0.9 kyr and 2.9 ± 0.5 kyr, the earliest of which occurred within periods of generally wetter climate and higher Nile flow. The youngest freshwater shells on the Khor Abu Habl alluvial fan west of the White Nile correspond to a time of regionally wetter climate between 1.7 and 1.0 kyr. Our results suggest that millennial scale climatic instability may have been characteristic of Holocene climates in this region. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Holocene alluvial archive of 506 dated units for Great Britain is analysed in terms of the sedimentation styles involved. The database is classified by sedimentation unit (channel sediments, palaeochannel fills, floodplain surface sediments, floodbasins and colluvial deposits) and alluvial ensemble (fans and cones, upland gullies and streams, braided systems and active/inactive meandering and anastomosing systems). Floodplain, palaeochannel and floodbasin sediments dominate the record, mostly from meandering/anastomosing systems. Different sediment units show varied potential for recording environmental change: some are relatively poorly dated with respect to the volumes of material involved, whilst many dates ‘float’ in periods of depositional activity which lasted for extended time periods. Much dated activity is autogenic and of relatively little value in interpreting external environmental influence. Ensembles and units are similar in age patterns in some respects (commonly they exhibit sets of short-term peaks in sedimentation activity) but differ in others. Floodbasins and, to an extent, braided systems feature in the earlier Holocene, whilst dated fan deposition is more evident in the late Holocene. There is a general bias towards sediment units of late Holocene age, which probably reflects preservation factors. Previous British Holocene alluviation models are reviewed: it is suggested that the majority of earlier models reflect partial views imposed by limited regional coverage and available dating.

This paper presents a new correlation of Late and Middle Pleistocene fluvial sedimentary sequences in Greek, Libyan and Spanish river basins and evaluates river response to climate change over the Last Interglacial-Glacial Cycle. Over the past 200,000 years there have been at least 13 major alluviation episodes in the Mediterranean, although the amplitude, frequency and possibly, duration of these events varied significantly across the region. Parts of Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 5 appears to have been periods of pronounced landscape change in many Mediterranean catchments with major river aggradation occurring at ∼109-111 ka (during OIS 5d) and most notably at ∼88 ka (OIS 5b/5a boundary). Other parts of OIS 5 appear to have been periods of relative fluvial inactivity. OIS 2 and 3 were both characterised by an apparent increase in the number of alluviation events, and this record of river behaviour parallels many other palaeoenvironmental records in the region which also show more frequent climate fluctuations between ∼12 and 65 ka. There is evidence for a high degree of synchrony in major river aggradation events across the Mediterranean in catchments with very different sizes, tectonic regimes and histories. Climate-related changes in catchment hydrology and vegetation cover over the last 200 ka would appear to be the primary control of large-scale (catchment wide) sedimentation over time periods of between 103 and 104 years. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.