Late Holocene channel changes of the Middle Trent: channel response to a thousand-year flood record
Late Holocene channel changes of the Middle Trent: channel response to a thousand-year flood record
This paper presents recent work on the floodplain sedimentology of the Middle Trent using data from gravel pits, archaeological sites and documentary sources. The Middle Trent has been unusually active during the Holocene in comparison with other large lowland rivers in the British Isles. The Holocene floodplain fill is dominated by sands and gravels with abundant structural evidence of changes in channel pattern and channel type. A thousand-year record of channel change has been reconstructed from palaeochannels and gravel units with radiocarbon dating of brushwood, palaeomagnetic dating of fine channel fills, dendrochronological dating of timber structures and dating via archaeological typologies. The Trent also has a reasonably well-recorded flood history at least since the 11th century AD. A comparison of the flood record and channel change indicates that the same degree of morphological and sedimentary response is not necessarily associated with floods of similar magnitudes, i.e. there is no constant relationship between event magnitude and landform change. Instead, the response seems dependent on the existing state of the channel and medium-term trajectory of channel change. There is evidence at both the Hemington and Colwick reaches of a cycle of channel change involving a change in channel typology, and dating evidence that this may have migrated downstream.
The results of this work provide a medium-term perspective on channel change, which may be more appropriate for large British rivers than short-term monitoring for both model validation and planning purposes.
channel change, floods, late holocene, medieval bridges, beetles, trent
69-82
Brown, A.G.
c51f9d3e-02b0-47da-a483-41c354e78fab
Cooper, L.
b36b363d-def8-4da3-b250-93dd6975e6a4
Salisbury, C.R.
be50a8ec-da25-4a6c-8a5c-c1d95ce7c39c
Smith, D.N.
8ae80702-4c93-4cc8-9368-e63f5e0efe24
July 2001
Brown, A.G.
c51f9d3e-02b0-47da-a483-41c354e78fab
Cooper, L.
b36b363d-def8-4da3-b250-93dd6975e6a4
Salisbury, C.R.
be50a8ec-da25-4a6c-8a5c-c1d95ce7c39c
Smith, D.N.
8ae80702-4c93-4cc8-9368-e63f5e0efe24
Brown, A.G., Cooper, L., Salisbury, C.R. and Smith, D.N.
(2001)
Late Holocene channel changes of the Middle Trent: channel response to a thousand-year flood record.
Geomorphology, 39 (1-2), .
(doi:10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00052-6).
Abstract
This paper presents recent work on the floodplain sedimentology of the Middle Trent using data from gravel pits, archaeological sites and documentary sources. The Middle Trent has been unusually active during the Holocene in comparison with other large lowland rivers in the British Isles. The Holocene floodplain fill is dominated by sands and gravels with abundant structural evidence of changes in channel pattern and channel type. A thousand-year record of channel change has been reconstructed from palaeochannels and gravel units with radiocarbon dating of brushwood, palaeomagnetic dating of fine channel fills, dendrochronological dating of timber structures and dating via archaeological typologies. The Trent also has a reasonably well-recorded flood history at least since the 11th century AD. A comparison of the flood record and channel change indicates that the same degree of morphological and sedimentary response is not necessarily associated with floods of similar magnitudes, i.e. there is no constant relationship between event magnitude and landform change. Instead, the response seems dependent on the existing state of the channel and medium-term trajectory of channel change. There is evidence at both the Hemington and Colwick reaches of a cycle of channel change involving a change in channel typology, and dating evidence that this may have migrated downstream.
The results of this work provide a medium-term perspective on channel change, which may be more appropriate for large British rivers than short-term monitoring for both model validation and planning purposes.
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Published date: July 2001
Additional Information:
This paper is the most detailed use of archaeological data to reconstruct past channel conditions yet attempted in the UK. The paper shows real climate-driven fluvial change rather than statistically inferred change. Nearly all the work was undertaken and the paper written by the first author.
Keywords:
channel change, floods, late holocene, medieval bridges, beetles, trent
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 46688
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/46688
ISSN: 0169-555X
PURE UUID: 38f0866e-779b-4d4e-9740-021a962dfb20
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Date deposited: 13 Jul 2007
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:53
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Author:
L. Cooper
Author:
C.R. Salisbury
Author:
D.N. Smith
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