Historical soil erosion by water in Germany: Scales and archives, chronology, research perspectives

Abstract

The published record of historical soil erosion by water in Germany as deduced from dated slope deposits ( n = 306), alluvial sediments ( n = 120) and lake sediments is summarized in this paper. The number of sediments investigated reflects the state of knowledge chronology of historical soil erosion and to a certain degree the intensity of the human impact on German landscapes during the Holocene. Even though few data of calculated historical soil erosion intensities exist, an estimation of historical soil erosion in Germany combining the available data has been calculated. Soil erosion in Germany occurred first locally during the Early Holocene, probably triggered by climatic variability. From the Neolithic onward, the record reflects the human impact according to agricultural land use. The observed variability indicates phases of weaker and regained intensity of agricultural land use in Germany. Few records characterise the early and middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1600 BC), and the migration period and the early Medieval Times (ca. 400–1000 AD). Surprisingly, for the Roman Emperor Times (ca. 1–400 AD) a decreasing number of soil sediments is recorded even when the data from southern Germany is examined separately. Phases characterised by an increase in soil erosion were the late Bronze Age and pre-roman Iron Age (ca. 1600 BC–1 AD), the high and late Medieval Times (ca. 1000–1350 AD) and the Modern Times (ca. 1500 AD until today). Some extraordinary heavy precipitation events (late 18th–early 19th, first half of 14th century, pre-roman Iron Age) topped the even high soil erosion intensities. Research gaps as well as potential for future research as derived from the available data are outlined.