Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2013-12
Non-reversible geosystem destabilisation at 4200 cal. BP: Sedimentological,geochemical and botanical markers of soil erosion recorded in a Mediterranean alpine lake
A 144-cm-long core was obtained in Lake Petit (2200 m a.s.l., Mediterranean French Alps) in order to reconstruct past interactions between humans, the environment and the climate over the last five millennia using a multidisciplinary approach involving sedimentological, geochemical and botanical analyses. We show a complex pattern of environmental transformation. From 4800 to 4200 cal. BP, podzol-type soils progressively developed under forest cover. This stable situation was interrupted by a major detrital pulse at 4200 cal. BP that we consider as a tipping point in the environmental history. At this point, pedogenetic processes drastically regressed, leading to the development of moderately weathered soils. More frequent detrital inputs are recorded since 3000 cal. BP (ad 1050) as the human impact significantly increased in the catchment area. We conclude that destabilisation of the environment was triggered by climate and exacerbated by human activities to a stage beyond resilience.
AndresenCSBjörckS (2005) Holocene climate variability in the Denmark Strait region – A land-sea correlation of new and existing climate proxy records. Geografiska Annaler – Series A: Physical Geography87(1): 159–174.
2.
ArnaudFRévillonSDebretM. (2012) Lake Bourget regional erosion patterns reconstruction reveals Holocene NW European Alps soil evolution and paleohydrology. Quaternary Science Reviews51: 81–92.
3.
BeniaminoC (2006) Le Valdeblore et l’eau des lacs des Millefonts. Patrimoines du Haut Pays7: 78–82.
4.
BenistonM (2003) Climatic change in mountain regions: A review of possible impacts. Climatic Change59(1–2): 5–31.
5.
BennettKD (1990) Book review: Textbook of pollen analysis. (FaegriK.IversenJ. (4th edn by FaegriK.KalandP. E.KrzywinskiK.), John Wiley and Sons, Chichester1989 (328 pp) £51.00 ISBN 0471921785). Journal of Quaternary Science5(3): 254–255.
6.
BergerALoutreMF (1991) Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years. Quaternary Science Reviews10(4): 297–317.
7.
BirksHHBirksHJB (2006) Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany15(4): 235–251.
8.
BlaauwM (2010) Methods and code for ‘classical’ age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences. Quaternary Geochronology5(5): 512–518.
9.
BoothRKJacksonSTFormanSL. (2005) A severe centennial-scale drought in midcontinental North America 4200 years ago and apparent global linkages. The Holocene15(3): 321–328.
10.
BrunetonHProvensalMDevillersB. (2002) Relations entre paléohydrologie et morphogenèse holocènes des petits et moyens bassin-versants en basse Provence et Languedoc oriental. Les fleuves ont une histoire: paléo-environnement des rivières et des lacs français depuis 15 000 ans. In: BravardJ-PMagnyM (Dir.) Histoire des rivières et des lacs de Lascaux à nos jours. Paris: Errance, pp. 259–267.
11.
ButzerKW (2005) Environmental history in the Mediterranean world: Cross-disciplinary investigation of cause-and-effect for degradation and soil erosion. Journal of Archaeological Science32(12): 1773–1800.
12.
CarignanJHildPMevelleG. (2001) Routine analyses of trace elements in geological samples using flow injection and low pressure on-line liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS: A study of geochemical reference materials BR, DR-N, UB-N, AN-G and GH. Geostandards Newsletter25(2–3): 187–198.
13.
CoûteauM (1982) Caractérisation pollenanalytique en Oisans des milieux forestiers et des milieux supra-forestiers dans l’actuel et dans le passé. Colloque de Perpignan (1881): la limite supérieure de la forêt et sa valeur de seuil. Prades, Ed. Terra Nostra.
14.
CurdyP (2007) Prehistoric settlement in middle and high altitudes in the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais-Vaud, Switzerland): A summary of twenty years of research. Preistoria Alpina42: 99–108.
15.
DearingJHuYDoodyP. (2001) Preliminary reconstruction of sediment-source linkages for the past 6000 yr at the Petit Lac d’Annecy, France, based on mineral magnetic data. Journal of Paleolimnology25(2): 245–258.
16.
De LumleyHEchassouxA (2009) Les gravures rupestres du Chalcolithique et de l’âge du Bronze ancien de la région du mont Bego. Les mythes cosmogoniques des premiers peuples métallurgistes des Alpes méridionales. L’Anthropologie113(5, Part 2): 969–1004.
17.
DeMasterDJ (1981) The supply and accumulation of silica in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta45(10): 1715–1732.
18.
DigerfeldtGde BeaulieuJ-LGuiotJ. (1997) Reconstruction and paleoclimatic interpretation of Holocene lake-level changes in Lac de Saint-Léger, Haute-Provence, southeast France. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology136(1–4): 231–258.
19.
DrysdaleRZanchettaGHellstromJ. (2006) Late Holocene drought responsible for the collapse of Old World civilizations is recorded in an Italian cave flowstone. Geology34(2): 101–104.
20.
EgliMSartoriGMirabellaA. (2009) Effect of north and south exposure on organic matter in high Alpine soils. Geoderma149(1–2): 124–136.
21.
EntersDDörflerWZolitschkaB (2008) Historical soil erosion and land-use change during the last two millennia recorded in lake sediments of Frickenhauser See, northern Bavaria, central Germany. The Holocene18(2): 243–254.
22.
FritzSC (2008) Deciphering climatic history from lake sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology39(1): 5–16.
23.
García-RuizJM (2010) The effects of land uses on soil erosion in Spain: A review. CATENA81(1): 1–11.
24.
Giguet-CovexCArnaudFPoulenardJ. (2011) Changes in erosion patterns during the Holocene in a currently treeless subalpine catchment inferred from lake sediment geochemistry (Lake Anterne, 2063 m a.s.l., NW French Alps): The role of climate and human activities. The Holocene21(4): 651–665.
25.
GoehringBMVaccoDAAlleyRB. (2012) Holocene dynamics of the Rhone Glacier, Switzerland, deduced from ice flow models and cosmogenic nuclides. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 351–352: 27–35.
26.
HatfieldRGMaherBA (2009) Holocene sediment dynamics in an upland temperate lake catchment: Climatic and land-use impacts in the English Lake District. The Holocene19(3): 427–438.
27.
HolzhauserHMagnyMZumbuühlHJ (2005) Glacier and lake-level variations in west-central Europe over the last 3500 years. The Holocene15(6): 789–801.
28.
HuangCCPangJZhaX. (2011) Extraordinary floods related to the climatic event at 4200 a BP on the Qishuihe River, middle reaches of the Yellow River, China. Quaternary Science Reviews30(3–4): 460–468.
29.
HughesPDMMauquoyDBarberKE. (2000) Mire-development pathways and palaeoclimatic records from a full Holocene peat archive at Walton Moss, Cumbria, England. The Holocene10(4): 465–479.
30.
IUSS Working Group WRB (2006) World Reference Base for Soil Resources. World Soil Resources Reports No. 103. Rome: FAO.
31.
JugginsS (2007) C2: Software for Ecological and Palaeoecological Data Analysis and Visualisation (User Guide Version 1.5). Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 77 pp.
32.
KauppilaTSalonenV-P (1997) The effect of Holocene treeline fluctuations on the sediment chemistry of Lake Kilpisjärvi, Finland. Journal of Paleolimnology18(2): 145–163.
33.
KharbouchM (2000) L’homme et la végétation dans la région du mont Bego (Tende, Alpes-Maritimes) depuis des millénaires. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences – Series IIA: Earth and Planetary Science330(12): 889–894.
34.
KoinigKAShotykWLotterAF. (2003) 9000 years of geochemical evolution of lithogenic major and trace elements in the sediment of an Alpine Lake – The role of climate, vegetation, and land-use history. Journal of Paleolimnology30(3): 307–320.
35.
KrauseR (2007) The prehistoric settlement of the inneralpine valley of Montafon in Vorarlberg (Austria). Preistoria Alpina42: 119–136.
36.
LarsenDJMillerGHGeirsdóttirÁ. (2012) Non-linear Holocene climate evolution in the North Atlantic: A high-resolution, multi-proxy record of glacier activity and environmental change from Hvítárvatn, central Iceland. Quaternary Science Reviews39: 14–25.
37.
LongmoreME (1982) The caesium-137 dating technique and associated applications in Australia – A review. In: AmbroseWRDuerdenP (eds) Archaeometry: An Australasian Perspective. Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, pp. 310–321.
38.
MackerethFJH (1966) Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London – Series B: Biological Sciences250(765): 165–213.
39.
McLennanSM (2001) Relationships between the trace element composition of sedimentary rocks and upper continental crust. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems2(4). DOI: 10.1029/2000GC000109.
40.
MagnyMArnaudFBillaudY. (2012a) Lake-level fluctuations at Lake Bourget (eastern France) around 4500–3500 cal. a BP and their palaeoclimatic and archaeological implications. Journal of Quaternary Science27(5): 494–502.
41.
MagnyMJoanninSGalopD. (2012b) Holocene palaeohydrological changes in the northern Mediterranean borderlands as reflected by the lake-level record of Lake Ledro, northeastern Italy. Quaternary Research77(3): 382–396.
42.
MagnyMLerouxABichetV. (2013) Climate, vegetation and land use as drivers of Holocene sedimentation: A case study from Lake Saint-Point (Jura Mountains, eastern France). The Holocene23(1): 137–147.
43.
MagnyMVannièreBCaloC. (2011) Holocene hydrological changes in south-western Mediterranean as recorded by lake-level fluctuations at Lago Preola, a coastal lake in southern Sicily, Italy. Quaternary Science Reviews30(19–20): 2459–2475.
44.
MagnyMVannièreBZanchettaG. (2009) Possible complexity of the climatic event around 4300–3800 cal. BP in the central and western Mediterranean. The Holocene19(6): 823–833.
45.
MiramontCBoutterinCSivanO. (2008) Grandes séquences et principales ruptures morphogéniques en Haute Provence – les complexes sédimentaires des petits organismes torrentiels de moyenne Durance. Cahiers de Paléoenvironnement6: 145–154.
46.
MocciFWalshKRicherS. (2008) Archéologie et paléoenvironnement dans les Alpes méridionales françaises: Hauts massifs de l’Argentiérois, du Champsaur et de l’Ubaye, Hautes-Alpes et Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Néolithique final – début de l’Antiquité6: 253–272.
MorinDRosenthalP (2002) Mines et métallurgie du fer en Provence et dans les Alpes du Sud, département des Alpes-Maritimes. Commune de Saint-Dalmas, Valdeblore. Etude diachronique des vestiges d’exploitation minière et de métallurgie du fer, prospection au sol. SRA PACA, 19.
49.
MortlockRAFroelichPN (1989) A simple method for the rapid determination of biogenic opal in pelagic marine sediments. Deep Sea Research Part A: Oceanographic Research Papers36(9): 1415–1426.
50.
MourierB (2008) Contribution de l’approche sédimentologique à la reconstritution de l’histoire des sols. Définitions de traceurs pédologiques et application sur des sédiments lacustres. PhD Thesis, Université de Savoie.
51.
MourierBPoulenardJCarcailletC. (2010) Soil evolution and subalpine ecosystem changes in the French Alps inferred from geochemical analysis of lacustrine sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology44(2): 571–587.
52.
MullerSDMiramontCBrunetonH. (2012) A palaeoecological perspective for the conservation and restoration of wetland plant communities in the central French Alps, with particular emphasis on alder carr vegetation. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology171: 124–139.
53.
MurrayRWMillerDJKryc (2000) Analysis of major and trace elements in rocks, sediments, and interstitial waters by inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Ocean Drilling Program. Available at: http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/tnotes/tn29/INDEX.HTM.
54.
NearingMAJettenVBaffautC. (2005) Modeling response of soil erosion and runoff to changes in precipitation and cover. CATENA61(2–3): 131–154.
55.
NesbittHWYoungGM (1982) Early Proterozoic climates and plate motions inferred from major element chemistry of lutites. Nature299(5885): 715–717.
56.
NicolussiKKaufmannMPatzeltG. (2005) Holocene tree-line variability in the Kauner Valley, Central Eastern Alps, indicated by dendrochronological analysis of living trees and subfossil logs. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany14(3): 221–234.
57.
OhlendorfCSturmMHausmannS (2003) Natural environmental changes and human impact reflected in sediments of a high Alpine Lake in Switzerland. Journal of Paleolimnology30(3): 297–306.
58.
OldfieldFWakeRBoyleJ. (2003) The late-Holocene history of Gormire Lake (NE England) and its catchment: A multiproxy reconstruction of past human impact. The Holocene13(5): 677–690.
59.
OzendaP (1985) La Végétation de la chaîne alpine: Dans l’espace montagnard européen. Paris: Masson.
60.
PagèsG (2009) Le Clouté, Valdeblore (06). Rapport de fouille programmée. SRA PACA, 42.
61.
PoulenardJ (2011) Des empreintes pédologiques dans les bassins versants et les archives naturelles. Université de Savoie. Available at: http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00736617.
62.
ReilleM (1995) Pollen et spores d’Europe et d’Afrique du nord. Marseille: Laboratoire de botanique historique et palynologie.
63.
ReimerPJBaillieMGLBardE. (2011) IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon51(4): 1111–1150.
64.
RobbinsJA (1978) Geochemical and geophysical applications of radioactive lead isotopes. In: NriagoJP (ed.) Biogeochemistry of Lead. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 285–393.
65.
RobertsNBrayshawDKuzucuoğluC. (2011) The mid-Holocene climatic transition in the Mediterranean: Causes and consequences. The Holocene21(1): 3–13.
66.
RöpkeAStobbeAOegglK. (2011) Late-Holocene land-use history and environmental changes at the high altitudes of St Antönien (Switzerland, Northern Alps): Combined evidence from pollen, soil and tree-ring analyses. The Holocene21(3): 485–498.
67.
RosénPVogelHCunninghamL. (2010) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a new method for rapid determination of total organic and inorganic carbon and biogenic silica concentration in lake sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology43(2): 247–259.
68.
SacconeLConleyDJKoningE. (2007) Assessing the extraction and quantification of amorphous silica in soils of forest and grassland ecosystems. European Journal of Soil Science58(6): 1446–1459.
69.
SchmidtRKoinigKAThompsonR. (2002) A multi proxy core study of the last 7000 years of climate and alpine land-use impacts on an Austrian mountain lake (Unterer Landschitzsee, Niedere Tauern). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology187(1–2): 101–120.
70.
StaubwasserMSirockoFGrootesPM. (2003) Climate change at the 4.2 ka BP termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene south Asian monsoon variability. Geophysical Research Letters30(8). DOI: 10.1029/2002GL016822.
71.
StrunkH (2003) Soil degradation and overland flow as causes of gully erosion on mountain pastures and in forests. CATENA50(2–4): 185–198.
72.
SuméraFGeistH (2010) Exploitation de la haute montagne du Mercantour et impact sur l’environnement depuis l’âge du Fer. Etude de cas: L’exemple du vallon de Millefonts, commune de Valdeblore (Alpes-Maritimes). Paris: Centre Camille Jullian, pp. 45–46.
73.
SuméraFBlancFCavanaE. (2008) Rapport de sondage, commune de Valdeblore. Rapport final d’opération SRA PACA, 30.
74.
ThevenonFAdatteTSpangenbergJE. (2012) Elemental (C/N ratios) and isotopic (δ15Norg, δ13Corg) compositions of sedimentary organic matter from a high-altitude mountain lake (Meidsee, 2661 m a.s.l., Switzerland): Implications for Lateglacial and Holocene Alpine landscape evolution. The Holocene22(10): 1135–1142.
75.
VogelHRosénPWagnerB. (2008) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a new cost-effective tool for quantitative analysis of biogeochemical properties in long sediment records. Journal of Paleolimnology40(2): 689–702.
76.
WalkerMJCBerkelhammerMBjörckS. (2012) Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch: A discussion paper by a Working Group of INTIMATE (Integration of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records) and the subcommission on quaternary stratigraphy (International Commission on Stratigraphy). Journal of Quaternary Science27(7): 649–659.
77.
WalshKMocciFPalet-MartínezJ (2007) Nine thousand years of human/landscape dynamics in a high altitude zone in the southern French Alps (Parc National des Ecrins, Hautes-Alpes). Preistoria Alpina42: 9–22.
78.
WeltjeGJTjallingiiR (2008) Calibration of XRF core scanners for quantitative geochemical logging of sediment cores: Theory and application. Earth and Planetary Science Letters274(3–4): 423–438.
79.
WhiteAFBlumAEBullenTD. (1999) The effect of temperature on experimental and natural chemical weathering rates of granitoid rocks. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta63(19–20): 3277–3291.
80.
WickLvan LeeuwenJFNvan der KnaapWO. (2003) Holocene vegetation development in the catchment of Sägistalsee (1935 m asl), a small lake in the Swiss Alps. Journal of Paleolimnology30(3): 261–272.
81.
WilhelmBArnaudFSabatierP. (2012) 1400 years of extreme precipitation patterns over the Mediterranean French Alps and possible forcing mechanisms. Quaternary Research78(1): 1–12.
82.
ZanchettaGGiraudiCSulpizioR. (2012) Constraining the onset of the Holocene ‘Neoglacial’ over the central Italy using tephra layers. Quaternary Research78(2): 236–247.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
