Holocene history of the River Seine, Paris, France: bio-chronostratigraphic and geomorphological evidence from the Quai-Branly

Abstract

Bio-chronostratigraphic observations compiled from Quai-Branly in Paris (France) and their comparison with previous studies in the Paris Basin allow documentation of the morphodynamic evolution of the River Seine during the middle and late Holocene. This history begins in the Boreal (between 9500 and 8850 cal. BP), with the deposition of tufa, expressing a stabilized river bed. During the second part of the sub-Boreal the water-table was low. At the beginning of the sub-Atlantic (towards 2800/2700 cal. BP), alluvial dynamics increase, as is recorded elsewhere throughout the Paris Basin. At the beginning of the second part of the sub-Atlantic (around 2000 cal. BP), flood dynamics persisted at a lower intensity. Human occupation occurred from the fifth century AD. Before or around the beginning of the seventeenth century AD, a natural levee was built, indicating the progressive attachment of the Quai-Branly area to the floodplain. The hydrodynamic evolution of the River Seine observed at the Quai-Branly site is similar to that recorded in other river valley floors of the Paris Basin. This evolution appears to be in response to global climatic changes rather than to variations induced by human activities.