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Abstract: The CAESAR (Cellular Automaton Evolutionary Slope And River) model is used to demonstrate significant differences in coarse sediment transfer and alluviation in medium sized catchments when responding to identical Holocene environmental changes. Simulations for four U.K. basins (the Rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd and Wharfe) shows that catchment response, driven by climate and conditioned by land cover changes, is synchronous but varies in magnitude. There are bursts of sediment transfer activity, generally of rapid removal but with some sediment accumulation ‘spikes’, with longer periods of slow removal or accumulation of sediment in different valley reaches. Within catchments, reach sensitivity to environmental change varies considerably: some periods are only recorded in some reaches, whilst higher potential sensitivity typically occurs in the piedmont areas of the catchments modelled here. These differential responses appear to be highly non-linear and may relate to the passage of sediment waves, by variable local sediment storage and availability, and by large- and small-scale thresholds for sediment transfer within each catchment. Differential response has major implications for modelling fluvial systems and the interpretation of field data. Model results are compared with the record of dated alluvial deposits in the modelled catchments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes 20th century climate and human impacts on terrestrial and fluvial systems in the Dabie Mountains, Anhui Province, China, based on analyses of four types of information. Analyses of particle size, mineral magnetism, organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a sediment core taken from the Longhekou reservoir, built in 1958 AD in the upper reaches of Hangbu River, provide an ∼45 year record of fluvial responses, while monitored meteorological and hydrological data provide records of climate and river discharge. Census data compiled for the local Shucheng County provide records of population and land use, complemented with analyses of satellite images. The Xiaotian river delivers over 65% of the total water and silt to the reservoir. Analyses indicate that the fluvial regime tracks the monsoon climate over seasonal timescales, but human activities have a strongly mediating effect on sediment supply, sediment delivery and, to a lesser extent, runoff over longer timescales. Notable periods of human impact on erosion include the Great Leap Forward (1958–1960) and Great Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). A rising trend in precipitation and new land use changes at the present time may be leading to an enhanced flood risk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]