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Tracing climate and human-driven erosional activity in the Transylvania lowlands (Central-Eastern Europe) during the Holocene

Hutchinson, Simon M; Haliuc, Aritina; Feurdean, Angelica

Tracing climate and human-driven erosional activity in the Transylvania lowlands (Central-Eastern Europe) during the Holocene Thumbnail


Authors

Aritina Haliuc

Angelica Feurdean



Abstract

Erosion is a complex geomorphological process controlled by climate, soil and vegetation characteristics in addition to land-use. However, the interplay of these drivers is not fully understood. Here we present a 11.8 ka multi-proxy record of geochemical, mineral magnetic and grain size analyses from Lake Stiucii, in the Transylvania lowlands (CE Europe) documenting past erosional activity and the drivers of landscape change. We identify three major phases in the site’s development. The first, a lacustrine phase (11.8–10.9 cal ka BP), is characterised by open water conditions with significant river inflow and depicts a period of greater erosion under a less developed catchment vegetation cover. Between 10.9 and 4.6 cal ka BP, the lake became a wetland characterised by shallow water with a reduced drainage network under warmer climate and/or reduced rainfall. From 4.6 cal ka BP, a second lacustrine phase developed driven by enhanced stream flow and sediment input subsequently accelerated by land use change. On a millennial scale, the two significant changes in the lake-catchment system and erosion regime at 10.9 and 4.6 cal ka BP may reflect a response to fluctuations in large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The eight short-term erosional events identified at 10.6, 7.8 cal ka BP, between 4.4–4.1, 3.5, 3.0–2.5, 1.9, 1.5, 1.1–0.8 cal ka BP, overlap well-known climate events. However, from 4.6 cal ka BP the climate-landscape relationship is amplified by rising anthropogenic impacts. Our data provide critical information on the paleoenvironmental evolution of CE Europe’s lowlands and facilitate discussion of the effects of millennial and centennial climatic shifts as expressed in the local environment.

Citation

Hutchinson, S. M., Haliuc, A., & Feurdean, A. (2024). Tracing climate and human-driven erosional activity in the Transylvania lowlands (Central-Eastern Europe) during the Holocene. Holocene, https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254477

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 1, 2024
Online Publication Date Jun 18, 2024
Publication Date Jun 18, 2024
Deposit Date Jun 23, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jun 24, 2024
Journal The Holocene
Print ISSN 0959-6836
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254477

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