PrefaceClimate and long-term human impact on sediment fluxes in watershed systems
Section snippets
River activities as agents of environmental change
During the past decade coordinated programs like IGBP (International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme) successfully promoted research in large-scale oceanic and atmospheric transfers of mass and energy to better understand regional- to global-scale environmental change (e.g., Steffen et al., 2003, Crossland et al., 2005). For many years, the broader scientific community has been focusing on the major drivers of oceanic and atmospheric components of the Earth climate system (greenhouse gas
Long-term human impact and the natural background of watershed sediment flux
Any future changes of regional- to subcontinental-scale fluvial fluxes of sediment are probably affected by direct or indirect human influences. It is reasonable to assume that in the past human pressure on terrestrial geosystems was less severe in many regards. Most likely a dissimilar configuration and interplay of forcings, cascade elements and processes of sediment transfer controlled watershed-scale sediment flux. Two conclusions may be drawn from that. First, there are basic constraints
Conclusions
The contributions assembled in this volume highlight some challenges in understanding changes of sediment flux at larger scales of time and space. Two modes of geomorphic enquiry may be identified. First, a group of case studies that record morpho-sedimentologic sequences to give evidence for past geomorphic change. The interpretation often centers around causal and spatial factors based on observed site-specific geomorphic effects. Second, another group of investigations place
Acknowledgments
Generous financial support by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant 4850/44/06) enabled us to host the second Open LUCIFS Workshop in Muenzenberg and reduce travel costs for a number of participating authors. The PAGES IPO provided additional funds for several participants. Thanks go to Stan Trimble, Anthony Brown, Michel Meybeck, Jean Poesen, and John Wainwright for accepting our invitation to give keynote addresses. Special thanks are due to Richard Dikau for moderating large parts of
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