Holocene floodplain evolution in the Shiribeshi-Toshibetsu River lowland, northern Japan

Abstract

The influence of sea-level and climate changes on the evolution of coastal floodplains is an important problem in fluvial geomorphology and geology. However, few studies have constructed detailed chronologies of floodplain evolution, and the influence of sea-level and climate changes at submillennial time scales is not clear. This study investigated the Holocene evolution of the floodplain in the Shiribeshi-Toshibetsu River lowland, Hokkaido, northern Japan, based on 13 auger cores, 15 radiocarbon ages, and 2 cross sections made using existing columnar sections. In the study area, peat beds 3–6m thick in the uppermost Holocene sediments are underlain by fluvial sediment that mainly consists of sand beds resulting from crevassing or progradational avulsion. Age–elevation plots of the bases of these peat beds suggest that fluvial aggradation was continuous until peat formation began, which in turn suggests that peat beds began to form with the cessation of fluvial deposition. The chronology of floodplain sediments based on radiocarbon ages indicates that peatlands began to develop locally before ca. 6500calBP and became moderately widespread before 5600calBP. Peatlands then became more extensive after two periods of rapid expansion during ca. 5300–5000 and 4100–3900calBP. Comparison with sea-level and regional climate changes suggests that the initiation of these peat beds before 5600calBP was associated with the deceleration of sea-level rise at ca. 7000calBP. The two later periods of peatland expansion may have been strongly influenced by reduced fluvial activity due to decreased precipitation from a weakened East Asian summer monsoon. This interpretation suggests that floodplain evolution was controlled by sea-level and climate changes and that the response to climate change occurred at submillennial time scales. A comparison with the Ishikari lowland on Hokkaido showed that the two floodplains have slightly different histories, possibly because of differences in internal characteristics of the fluvial systems such as the number and size of tributary rivers, water discharge, and sediment supply, although their responses to sea-level and climate changes were similar. The fluvial response to sea-level and climate changes revealed in this study has implications for studies of the Holocene evolution of other coastal floodplains.