Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium)
The fluvial environment of Early Holocene small- to middle-sized lowland rivers in northwest Europe is mostly unstudied due to a lack of preserved and accessible deposits. A rescue excavation in the Scheldt valley in northern Belgium offered the opportunity to study a Boreal alluvial succession in d...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:8621599 2023-06-11T04:12:42+02:00 Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) Storme, Annelies Bastiaens, Jan Crombé, Philippe Debruyne, Sofie Louwye, Stephen Deforce, Koen 2019 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8621599 https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599/file/8621600 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8621599 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599/file/8621600 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess BOREAS ISSN: 0300-9483 Earth and Environmental Sciences Archaeology Geology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics DIJLE CATCHMENT ICE-CORE SEDIMENTATION SUCCESSION STRATIGRAPHY FLOODPLAINS ENVIRONMENT DEPOSITS RECORDS journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2019 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 2023-05-10T22:50:22Z The fluvial environment of Early Holocene small- to middle-sized lowland rivers in northwest Europe is mostly unstudied due to a lack of preserved and accessible deposits. A rescue excavation in the Scheldt valley in northern Belgium offered the opportunity to study a Boreal alluvial succession in detail. The results of palaeoecological and sedimentological analyses (diatoms, pollen, botanical macro-remains, molluscs, grain size) characterize the biotic and physical environment in the middle reach of this medium-sized river system. Although the Early Holocene in the Scheldt Basin has often been portrayed as a period of fluvial stability with marshy conditions and diffuse discharge, this study showed evidence of point bar formation by a small, low-energy meandering river between similar to 9.5 and similar to 8.8cal. ka BP. The point bar was at least temporarily vegetated and shows a shift from herbaceous riparian vegetation to an open willow-dominated alluvial forest. This evidence points to a more open vegetation and a more energetic environment than traditionally described for rivers of this size and age. A link to the 9.3 ka BP cooling event is suggested and possible reasons for the scarcity of records of this type of deposits are discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Ghent University Academic Bibliography Boreas 48 3 678 694 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth and Environmental Sciences Archaeology Geology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics DIJLE CATCHMENT ICE-CORE SEDIMENTATION SUCCESSION STRATIGRAPHY FLOODPLAINS ENVIRONMENT DEPOSITS RECORDS |
spellingShingle |
Earth and Environmental Sciences Archaeology Geology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics DIJLE CATCHMENT ICE-CORE SEDIMENTATION SUCCESSION STRATIGRAPHY FLOODPLAINS ENVIRONMENT DEPOSITS RECORDS Storme, Annelies Bastiaens, Jan Crombé, Philippe Debruyne, Sofie Louwye, Stephen Deforce, Koen Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
topic_facet |
Earth and Environmental Sciences Archaeology Geology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics DIJLE CATCHMENT ICE-CORE SEDIMENTATION SUCCESSION STRATIGRAPHY FLOODPLAINS ENVIRONMENT DEPOSITS RECORDS |
description |
The fluvial environment of Early Holocene small- to middle-sized lowland rivers in northwest Europe is mostly unstudied due to a lack of preserved and accessible deposits. A rescue excavation in the Scheldt valley in northern Belgium offered the opportunity to study a Boreal alluvial succession in detail. The results of palaeoecological and sedimentological analyses (diatoms, pollen, botanical macro-remains, molluscs, grain size) characterize the biotic and physical environment in the middle reach of this medium-sized river system. Although the Early Holocene in the Scheldt Basin has often been portrayed as a period of fluvial stability with marshy conditions and diffuse discharge, this study showed evidence of point bar formation by a small, low-energy meandering river between similar to 9.5 and similar to 8.8cal. ka BP. The point bar was at least temporarily vegetated and shows a shift from herbaceous riparian vegetation to an open willow-dominated alluvial forest. This evidence points to a more open vegetation and a more energetic environment than traditionally described for rivers of this size and age. A link to the 9.3 ka BP cooling event is suggested and possible reasons for the scarcity of records of this type of deposits are discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Storme, Annelies Bastiaens, Jan Crombé, Philippe Debruyne, Sofie Louwye, Stephen Deforce, Koen |
author_facet |
Storme, Annelies Bastiaens, Jan Crombé, Philippe Debruyne, Sofie Louwye, Stephen Deforce, Koen |
author_sort |
Storme, Annelies |
title |
Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
title_short |
Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
title_full |
Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
title_fullStr |
Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecology and fluvial dynamics of an Early Holocene medium-sized European lowland river valley (Upper Scheldt, northern Belgium) |
title_sort |
ecology and fluvial dynamics of an early holocene medium-sized european lowland river valley (upper scheldt, northern belgium) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8621599 https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599/file/8621600 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_source |
BOREAS ISSN: 0300-9483 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8621599 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8621599/file/8621600 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12362 |
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Boreas |
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48 |
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3 |
container_start_page |
678 |
op_container_end_page |
694 |
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1768388729367429120 |