Holocene Land–Ocean Interaction and Environmental Change around the North Sea
The majority of the research presented in this volume arises from the Land—Ocean Evolution Perspective Study (LOEPS), which was one component of the Land—Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS - funded by the Natural Environment Research Council).
The main aim of LOEPS was to describe the evolution of coastal system from the Holocene to the Present, in response to changes in relative sea level and the impact of human activities.
A key element in the success of LOEPS has been the integration and interaction between the various element of the research programme. The papers published here reflect this integration rather than summarizing the results of individual research projects or the achievements of a single LOEPS objective.
The contributions fall into four sections: techniques; Humber catchment; other areas within the studied region; regional-scale analysis.
Holocene environmental change in the Yorkshire Ouse basin and its influence on river dynamics and sediment fluxes to the coastal zone
-
Published:January 01, 2000
-
CiteCitation
M. G. Macklin, M. P. Taylor, K. A. Hudson-Edwards, A. J. Howard, 2000. "Holocene environmental change in the Yorkshire Ouse basin and its influence on river dynamics and sediment fluxes to the coastal zone", Holocene Land–Ocean Interaction and Environmental Change around the North Sea, Ian Shennan, Julian Andrews
Download citation file:
- Share
Abstract
Geomorphological, geochemical and geochronological investigations of Holocene fluvial sedimentary sequences have been undertaken within a range of upland, piedmont and lowland valley floor reaches in the Yorkshire Ouse catchment, northern England. The aims of these studies have been to: (a) evaluate the effects of prehistoric and historic land-use change on catchment erosion and sediment delivery to river channels and floodplains; (b) establish the degree to which episodes of river erosion and sedimentation are controlled by climate-related variations in flood regime; and (c) assess the spatial heterogeneity of river response to environmental change and how this is likely to influence short- and long-term sediment storage, as well as sediment transfer to the Humber Estuary. Similar discontinuities in the Holocene alluvial record are evident at many sites in the Yorkshire Ouse catchment, though local differences in river sensitivity to externally imposed change have resulted in a complicated and often unique relationship between river behaviour and environmental change. The large proportion of particulate-borne contaminant metals (resulting predominantly from historical mining) stored in the Vale of York strongly indicates that sediment delivery from the Ouse catchment to the Humber Estuary during the Holocene may have been relatively low. This suggests that the degree of connectivity between river, estuarine and coastal transport systems, as well as spatial and temporal variations in fluvial sediment storage, are the key controls of long-term land-ocean sediment fluxes.