Budgeting soil erosion from floodplain and alluvial fan sediments in the western Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald, Germany)
Alluvial cone ; C 14 dating ; Erosion budget ; Floodplain ; Forest ; Germany ; Land use ; Palatinate ; Pollen analysis ; Soil erosion ; Stratigraphy ; Watershed
The catchment selected is that of the Schwarzbach in the western Palatinate Forest. Its Holocene floodplain and those of its tributaries were studied in detail at several sites, the focus being on the thickness, characteristics and age
to the settlement history of the western Palatinate forest. By comparison with similar small Upland catchments, the erosion rates of the Schwarzbach valley are low. This may be explained by the reduced suitability of the Palatinate Forest for agriculture
, and consequently a later onset of forest clearing, mostly followed by merely extensive land use.
This interdisciplinary study comprises archaeological findings as well as historical records. The “Rahnstätter Hof” manor of 82 ha of fields, meadows and forests was abandoned in 1870. The total amount of soil erosion on the former farmland has been
to intensified agriculture by the improved three-field crop rotation system and the overexploitation of forest lands in the pre-industrial era. A gully system studied was found to have developed since Early Medieval times. Soil erosion was found not to have