Was the termination of the Jizera River meandering during the Late Holocene caused by anthropogenic or climatic forcing?. Issue 4 (8th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Elznicová, Jitka; Kiss, Timea; von Suchodoletz, Hans; Bartyik, Tamás; Sipos, György; Lenďáková, Zuzana; Fačevicová, Kamila; Pavlů, Ivana; Kovárník, Jaromír; Matys Grygar, Tomáš
• Is Part Of: Earth surface processes and landforms. Volume 48:Issue 4(2023)
• Page Start: 669
• Page End: 686
• Publication Date: 2022-12-08
• Subjects: fluvial systems -- Late Holocene -- log‐ratio methodology -- meandering -- sedimentary geochemistry; Geomorphology -- Periodicals; 551.4
• DOI: 10.1002/esp.5509
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-9337

Abstract

Abstract: The Jizera River in Czechia is a typical mid‐sized Central European watercourse. Its floodplain shows a morphological contrast between the laterally stable low‐sinuous current channel and preserved palaeomeanders. The aim of this paper was to date and explain the obvious metamorphosis of the channel pattern from meandering to low‐sinuous. We analysed the morphology of the lower river reach using a digital terrain model (DTM) and historical maps from the 1840s. Furthermore, the floodplain architecture was described based on the DTM, geophysical imaging (ground penetrating radar, GPR), sediment lithology and anthropogenic contamination using geochemical proxies, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The geochemical proxies were processed using log‐ratio methods from the compositional data analysis toolbox. According to our results the Jizera River showed signs of systematic lateral floodplain reworking during the Late Holocene with only minor aggradation, although parts of the catchment are covered by easily erodible loess. Interestingly, vertical aggradation did not show a significant increase during the last millennium. In the main study area, this limited vertical aggradation resulted in the preservation of palaeomeander fragments and palaeochannel belts with 100–200 m mean width in the 300–600 m wide floodplain, which are recognisable in the topography and in subsurface GPR imaging. This channel meandering took place between around 4 and 1.2 ka, and the transition towards the laterally stable modern channel with low sinuosity occurred around 1.2 ka. This timing indicates a climatic rather than anthropogenic impact, which was rather weak around that time. One likely cause for this transition was the influx of material from ravines incised into the sandstone valley edges during past climatic extremes. Subsequently, the re‐establishment of a meandering pattern was possibly prevented by a combination of low fluvial activity and the construction of weirs that reduced stream power. Abstract : The floodplain architecture of the Jizera River, a Central European watercourse with a mid‐sized catchment, was described for the first time. The river showed a meandering pattern in its lower reach (at least) from 4 to 1 ka when the river already laterally reworked its clastic floodplain, whereas the current river channel is almost straight. The meandering was terminated by the end of the 1st millennium ce, a period when direct anthropogenic changes of the watercourse could not be expected.