This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal 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 Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by David, C. Articles by Roberts, N. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Land-use history and sediment flux in a lowland lake catchment: Groby Pool, Leicestershire, UK

St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London TW1 4SX, UK

John Dearing

Department of Geography, Liverpool University, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK

Neil Roberts

Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK

Whole-basin sediment records have been used to investigate the impact of land-use change and catchment processes on sediment flux to Groby Pool, Leicestershire, UK, over the pastc. 200 years. Estimates of sediment yields for the period ad 1945–1989 were calculated using dry mineral mass data from multiple cores. Up-core changes in loss-on-ignition values were used to correlate cores and these were tied to a master chronology based on ²¹⁰Pb and 137Cs profiles. Sediment sources within the catchment were identified by comparing the magnetic properties of lake sediment, soil and stream samples. In addition, documentary records were used to establish the pattern of land-use change and other activities which might affect material flux to the lake. A lakewide change in sediment type is recorded after Parliamentary Enclosure in 1789, as the focus of arable activity shifted from outside to inside the lake's drainage catchment. Trends in lake sediment mineral magnetic properties also indicate a slight shift in the source of allochthonous inputs, from subsoil to topsoil derived material at that time. Recent changes in mineral magnetics are thought to reflect the changing supply of subsoil flux resulting from modifications to inlet streams coupled with increased inputs of atmospheric pollutants. Sediment yield estimates of 18 t km^{- 2} yr^{- 1}, obtained for the period 1945–1989, are similar to other lowland UK sites with similar lake/catchment ratios. Activities such as quarrying, road construction and agricultural intensification appear to have had little or no impact on sediment yields to the lake in recent times. This is thought to be due to the interplay between catchment and instream storage, a low drainage density and the buffering effect of riparian vegetation.

Key Words: Lake sediments • sediment yields • sediment sources • environmental magnetism • land-use change • archival records • human impact • landscape change

The Holocene, Vol. 8, No. 4, 383-394 (1998)
DOI: 10.1191/095968398667698533


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

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. A. Shotbolt, A. D. Thomas, and S. M. Hutchinson The use of reservoir sediments as environmental archives of catchment inputs and atmospheric pollution Progress in Physical Geography, September 1, 2005; 29(3): 337 - 361. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. Bertran and P. Bertran Soil erosion in small catchments of the Quercy region (southwester France) during the Holocene The Holocene, May 1, 2004; 14(4): 597 - 606. [Abstract] [PDF]