![]() ![]() The Chernozems that cover loess deposits are among the most fertile agricultural soils in central Europe and have been investigated extensively (e.g. However, results of investigations on Holocene alluvial deposits combined with the archaeological record or data on slope instability indicate a considerable influence of land use particularly in mountainous catchments (Dreibrodt et al., 2013a Dreibrodt and Bork, 2022 Fuchs et al., 2011). Macklin et al., 2006 Thorndycraft and Benito, 2006 Hoffmann et al., 2008 Notebaert and Verstraeten, 2010). A number of researchers favor climate variability as main explanation of Holocene changes in river activity (e.g. The influence of climate and humans on the Holocene activity of European rivers is controversial. extraordinary precipitation events, Bork et al., 1998 Dreibrodt and Bork, 2022) have been identified to trigger slope instability. early Holocene, Dreibrodt et al., 2010b) or phases of extreme weather events (e.g. Additionally, periods of pronounced climatic change (e.g. Bork et al., 1998 Dreibrodt et al., 2010a Dreibrodt and Bork, 2022). Holocene soil erosion in central Europe has been ascribed to forest clearings and land use since decades (e.g. Meller, 2006, 2011 Meller et al., 2019 Müller, 1953 Litt, 1994 Hellmund and Wennrich, 2014 Robin and Nelle, 2014 Robin et al., 2013a b, 2016).ĭeciphering the long-term human-environment interrelationship in the Holocene landscape history of the eastern Harz foreland is the aim of this work. Consequently, these landscapes have been object of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations since a long time (e.g. Providing rich natural resources the landscapes surrounding the Harz Mountains in central Germany have seen an exceptional long history of settlement staring in prehistoric times. Thus, our results are another example that the definition of “golden spikes” remains a critical undertaking, especially for the beginning of the Anthropocene. 3000 BP, Chernozem formation - diachronous since the Neolithic) and are closely linked to local and regional land use history. However, the tipping points for these processes are dated differently (soil erosion - ca. Thus, they would support arguments for long-term time transgressive anthropogenic transformation of Earth surface systems. These processes have left distinct traces in the continental geologic record. Shifts in river system behaviour attributable to anthropogenic activities in the Harz Mountains are therefore considered another Anthropocene marker.īased on our observations, we propose that land-use-induced alteration of central European low Mountain rivers and the formation of Holocene Chernozems in subhumid central Europe, in addition to anthropogenic-induced Holocene soil erosion, are included in the cadastre of early Anthropocene processes. At all sites, present-day flooding frequencies are higher than during the early to mid-Holocene. The onset of flooding of the small streams Zapfenbach and Liethe coincided with the documented medieval and modern mining phases in the eastern Harz. Persistent periods of landscape openness maintained by local preindustrial agriculture explain the promotion of anecic earthworms in naturally forested landscapes of central Europe and act as temporally transgressive drivers of landscape change.Īn early to mid-Holocene phase of reduced fluvial activity was followed by the onset of Holocene flooding, which correlates with the onset of mining in the Harz Mountains around ca. ![]() ![]() Linear radiocarbon age-depth relations of soil organic matter and indicative changes in soil mineral composition suggest that the Chernozem was formed by long-lasting anecic earthworm cast accumulation at the soil surface. The studied Chernozemic soils that now cover large areas of the studied landscape are of varying Holocene age. 1000 BP, soil erosion is a process that is detectable throughout the study area. ![]() The Holocene development of soils and sediments at three sites in the eastern Harz foreland was investigated using field and laboratory methods and integrated into the regional Holocene record of this central European landscape.Īpart from early Holocene processes, the history of mid-to late Holocene slope erosion was found to be closely linked to the local land-use history. ![]()
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