Abstract
The Younger Quaternary erosion history was reconstructed in a catchment close to the Chalcolithic giant settlement Maidanetske, central Ukraine based on dated sediment sequences. Four trenches and a long percussion drill-core were analyzed in a valley grading from a Loess covered plateau towards the Talianky River. The sediments were dated by a combination of radiocarbon dating, optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and embedded artifacts. Although there is some weakness of numerical dating so far, a non-coincidence between phases of soil erosion and the local and regional settlement history over long periods of the Holocene is indicated. This, viewed in the light of the geographical setting of the site in the climate sensitive forest-steppe borderland, suggests climatically driven erosion processes. The detected phases of erosion coincide with global (cal 27.6 ± 1.3 kyrs BP, 12.0 ± 0.4 kyrs BP), northern hemispheric (cal 8.5 ± 0.3 kyrs BP), Mediterranean (cal 3.93 ± 0.1 kyrs BP) as well as western to central European (2700 to 2000 cal BP) climate anomalies. Increased occurrences of heavy precipitation events, probably during phases of a weakened vegetation cover, could explain the observed record. Investigations at additional sites in Eastern Europe are needed to verify the representativeness of the presented record from central Ukraine at a regional level.The composition of the sediments indicates changes of the slope-channel connectivity during the deposition history. Whereas the glacial to early Holocene and modern times sediments were derived from the whole catchment area, during the mid- to late-Holocene a tendency to lower slope storage of colluvial material and valley incision is indicated.
Highlights
Based on numerous geomorphological investigations in southern and central Europe soil erosion has been identified as one of the most serious impacts of humanity on the environment (e.g. Van Andel et al, 1990; Bork and Lang, 2003; Butzer, 2005; Dotterweich, 2008; Thornes, 2009; Dreibrodt et al, 2010a)
Six main erosion phases have recorded at Maidanestke. They occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Younger Dryas phase (YD), the early Holocene (8.2 ka), at ca. 4 ka, between 2700 and 2200 yrs BP, and during the last millennium
A non-coincidence with the well-known settlement history indicates a strong influence of climate variability on the erosion history
Summary
Based on numerous geomorphological investigations in southern and central Europe soil erosion has been identified as one of the most serious impacts of humanity on the environment (e.g. Van Andel et al, 1990; Bork and Lang, 2003; Butzer, 2005; Dotterweich, 2008; Thornes, 2009; Dreibrodt et al, 2010a). In the neighboring region of western Russia, Belayev et al (2004) report phases of gully activity in small catchments at ca. Cal BP 1090–970 and 880–570 without giving information about the land use history of the catchment area. Without information about Holocene land use history, Belayev et al (2005) report gully activity at two additional sites in western Russia at ca. Panin et al (2009) found a pre-Holocene origin of 15 out of 19 studied gully systems in western Russia. These authors detected longer phases of erosion and gully activity from ca.
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