Human induced soil erosion and gully system development in the Late Holocene and future perspectives on landscape evolution: The Myjava Hill Land, Slovakia

Abstract

In humid climate zones, like Central Europe, past soil erosion and gullying are strongly connected with agricultural expansion, and extreme soil erosion events often play an important role in land abandonment. This paper provides a case study to demonstrate the interaction between land use, soil erosion, floodplain development, and land use changes in a 0-order catchment in the Babikovce catchment, Myjava Hill Land, situated in western Slovakia. Sedimentological, pedological, geoarchaeological and historical data indicate two main periods of intensive hillslope erosion and gullying since the High Middle Ages. In particular, a few extreme precipitation events (or rapid snowmelts) caused intensive runoff events and gullying on cleared land. The formation of the gully system and fan deposits in the Babikovce catchment and other areas also forced the occurrence of intensive muddy floods and caused floodplain aggradation and meander changes along rivers in the Myjava Hill Land. As a result, the development of the dense network of permanent gullies in the Myjava Hill Land can be associated with the transformation of woodland into farmland and later land abandonment. Today, the area is highly truncated by soil erosion and very difficult to farm.