HR: 1330h
AN: H42C-1093    [PDF]
TI: Modeling the stratigraphy and preservation potential of meandering stream deposits
AU: Tucker, G E
EM: greg.tucker@geog.ox.ac.uk
AF: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB United Kingdom
AU: * Clevis, Q
EM: quintus.clevis@geog.ox.ac.uk
AF: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB United Kingdom
AU: Lock, G
EM: gary.lock@archaeology.oxford.ac.uk
AF: Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG United Kingdom
AU: Lancaster, S
EM: stephen.lancaster@orst.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, 202D Wilkinson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331 United States
AU: Desitter, A
EM: arnaud.desitter@geog.ox.ac.uk
AF: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB United Kingdom
AB: Both natural and human-induced modes of river and floodplain behavior have the potential to obscure, expose, or even destroy portions of the archaeological record. In valley systems with actively meandering channels much material can be lost to lateral bank erosion. Conversely, floodplain aggradation can bury and therefore obscure sites. In this study we aim to quantify the preservation potential of fluvial units containing archaeological sites as a function of the natural process of meandering, climate change and increased land-use during the Holocene. We used the CHILD simulation model of landscape evolution to explore alternative scenarios in which these three factors are both varied independently and combined. Boundary and initial conditions for the model scenarios are based on the Holocene evolution of the archaeologically-rich Upper Thames Valley, which is known to have witnessed variations in flood frequency, land-clearance, episodic alluviation and river entrenchment. The CHILD model is set up to combine four components that simulate the development of valley and floodplain system: hillslope and channel erosion, lateral stream meandering, overbank deposition, and the accumulation of a 3D stratigraphy. The landscape is represented by an adaptable triangular mesh of nodes, especially suited for simulating the gradual shifting of meander bends. The new stratigraphic layering routine recently added to the model in improves the resolution of the stratigraphic record accumulated by the model. Simulation results reveal systematic controls on preservation potential, and suggest potential sources of bias in the archaeological record.
UR: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/projects/evs/index.html
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1815 Erosion and sedimentation
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting