The complex and non-linear fluvial river dynamics are characterized by repeated
periods of fluvial erosion and re-deposition in different parts of the floodplain.
Understanding the fluvial architecture (i.e. the three-dimensional arrangement and
genetic interconnectedness of different sediment types) is therefore fundamental to
obtain well-based information about controlling factors. However, investigating the
fluvial architecture in buried floodplain deposits without natural exposures is challenging.
We studied the fluvial architecture of the middle Weiße Elster floodplain in
Central Germany, an extraordinary long-standing archive of Holocene flooding and
landscape changes in sensitive loess-covered Central European landscapes. We
applied a novel systematic approach by coupling two-dimensional transects of electrical
resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements and closely spaced core drillings
with spatially resolved measurements of electromagnetic induction (EMI) of larger
floodplain areas at three study sites. This allowed for (i) time and cost-efficient core
drillings based on preceding ERT measurements and (ii) spatially scaling up the main
elements of the fluvial architecture, such as the distribution of thick silt-clay overbank
deposits and paleochannel patterns from the floodplain transects to larger surrounding
areas. We found that fine-grained sand and silt-clay overbank deposits
overlying basal gravels were deposited during several periods of intensive flooding.
Those were separated from each other by periods of reduced flooding, allowing soil
formation. However, the overbank deposits were severely laterally eroded before
and during each sedimentation period. This was probably linked with pronounced
meandering or even braiding of the river. Our preliminary chronological classification
suggests that first fine-grained sedimentation must have occurred during the Early to
Middle Holocene, and the last phase of lateral erosion and sedimentation during the
Little Ice Age. Our study demonstrates the high archive potential of the buried fluvial
sediments of the middle Weiße Elster floodplain and provides a promising time and
cost-effective approach for future studies of buried floodplain sediments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:86930 |
| Date | 28 August 2023 |
| Creators | von Suchodoletz, Hans, Pohle, Marco, Khosravichenar, Azra, Ulrich, Mathias, Hein, Michael, Tinapp, Christian, Schultz, Jonathan, Ballasus, Helen, Veit, Ulrich, Ettel, Peter, Werther, Lukas, Zielhofer, Christoph, Werban, Ulrike |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 10.1002/esp.5296 |
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