This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Foulds, S. A. Articles by Macklin, M. G. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Holocene land-use change and its impact on river basin dynamics in Great Britain and Ireland

River Basin Dynamics and Hydrology Research Group, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK; saf04{at}aber.ac.uk

Mark G. Macklin

River Basin Dynamics and Hydrology Research Group, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK

River basins in Great Britain and Ireland have been characterized by periods of hillslope and valley floor instability during the Holocene, reflecting sensitivity to both climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. In contrast to climatic controls, which have been relatively well documented, human impacts on and interactions with river basins remain unclear. There is now, however, a growing impetus to elucidate more fully the impact of anthropogenic activity on sediment supply and runoff, given that land-use change is thought to have exacerbated recent flooding in the UK (eg, the ‘Millennium'floods of 2000). The aim of this paper is to critically review the significance of Holocene land use on hillslope and valley floor stability in Great Britain and Ireland. The most widely reported impacts of land-use change on geomorphic activity include hillslope erosion and gully development, valley floor alluviation, river channel incision and elevated water tables. In the majority of cases, however, causal relationships are difficult to establish, due primarily to inadequate dating control. Even where geomorphic instability can be linked to land-use change, it is apparent that eroded material is often stored as colluvium, which together with evidence of diachronus hillslope and valley floor instability, raises important questions and identifies uncertainties regarding the dynamics and extent of sediment transfer within river basins. Such uncertainty has important implications for understanding how river basins will behave in response to future environmental change.

Key Words: climate • Holocene • land use • river basins • sediment supply

Progress in Physical Geography, Vol. 30, No. 5, 589-604 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0309133306071143


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. G. Hatfield and B. A. Maher Holocene sediment dynamics in an upland temperate lake catchment: climatic and land-use impacts in the English Lake District The Holocene, May 1, 2009; 19(3): 427 - 438. [Abstract] [PDF]