Abstract
In order to better understand the human impact on fluvial sediment dynamics at various timescales, information on the changing connectivity between the various geomorphic units in a landscape is crucial. Quantitative sediment budgets for various time periods provide a first assessment of changes in coupling between slopes and river systems. However, the application of sediment fingerprinting can yield additional spatial information on the sediment pathways. Furthermore, the fingerprint approach can also be used in cases where detailed sediment budgets are difficult to obtain. Provenance studies have been executed in various sedimentary environments, covering a wide variety of spatial and temporal scales. Here, an overview is provided of the tracer properties that can be used to distinguish between the various sediment sources in a river catchment. From this general compilation, those tracers useful to fingerprint fine-grained floodplain deposits on a historical timescale (decadal to millennial) are identified. Geochemical and mineralogical compositions, mineral magnetic signals and isotope ratios can be considered the most suitable fingerprinting properties. The impact of source area weathering, grain size selectivity of erosion and sedimentary processes and post-depositional alteration on tracer properties from source to sink are considered. Finally, a synopsis is given of the qualitative to fully quantitative approaches that can be used to discriminate the sources of fine-grained alluvial sediments.
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