From the 8.2 ka event to the Little Ice Age: Holocene cold periods and human impact recorded in alpine glaciofluvial peatlands (Silvretta Mountains, Switzerland) Abstract. High alpine peatlands are naturally impacted by extreme climatic conditions and heterogeneous topography. In the Alps, humans have been influencing their development for millennia, and accelerating climate change puts them under additional pressure. In the Swiss part of the Fimba Valley (or Val Fenga; > 2350 m a.s.l. (metres above sea level)), small-scale peatlands have been investigated to gain knowledge on climatic and anthropogenic impacts on alpine landscapes using quantitative and semi-quantitative geochemical parameters derived from inter-calibrated portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) and XRF core scanning, sedimentology, and radiocarbon dating. The onset of peat formation, after the retreat of the Fimba Valley glacier, has been dated to a time window between 10 450 and 9000 cal BP at the lower (northern) end and to 6600 cal BP at the upper (southern) end of a 470 m long transect. Holocene cold episodes appear to have increased erosive glacial activity in the western side of the valley, resulting in high minerogenic sediment loads being deposited on the peatlands by a meltwater channel, interrupting peat accumulation repeatedly. In the early Holocene, distinct minerogenic layers suggest glacier growth and cold and potentially wet conditions around 9200, 8200, and 6300 cal BP. With the impact and extent of the 8.2 ka cold event still being under discussion for this region of the Alps, a coarse gravel layer is strong evidence for a marked glacial response in the Silvretta Mountains to a particularly cold and wet episode. Cooler climate conditions seem to have prevailed around 5400, 5000, 4500, and 3600 cal BP. Afterwards, the proportion of anthropogenic forcing in erosional processes and other disturbances increased. During and since the Middle Ages, soil or sediment erosion and decreasing peat accumulation were and have continued to be consequences of at least one of the following factors: deforestation; livestock grazing and traffic (trade, tourism); and, temporarily, the Little Ice Age. These impacts and their potential effects on carbon accumulation and flood risk mitigation in the valley should be considered in land management practice. Despite their strong minerotrophic character and a likely post-depositional release due to erosion and decomposition in recent layers, the peatlands have preserved clear signals of atmospheric lead (Pb) pollution: one correlated with the Roman period and another around 1450 cal BP. Rapidly changing sedimentation and hydrology in small mountain peatlands are a challenge for radiocarbon chronologies, high-resolution sampling, and the detection of atmospheric geochemical signals. Yet, our study demonstrates that dynamic glaciofluvial stream-bank mires are valuable for the reconstruction of the impact of climate and humans on alpine environments – from prehistory to the present.

❄️ From the 8.2 ka event to the Little Ice Age: Holocene cold periods and human impact recorded in alpine glaciofluvial peatlands (Silvretta Mountains, Switzerland)

von Scheffer, C., et al., 2025. E&G QSJ, 74, 263–279.

doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#EGQSJ #peatland #holocene

Silts with a human touch: the shift from natural to anthropogenically controlled fluvial dynamics in the Kinzig River floodplains, southwestern Germany Abstract. Central European fluvial systems shifted from naturally to anthropogenically controlled during the middle to late Holocene, responding uniquely to non-synchronous and interdependent natural ...

Silts with a human touch: the shift from natural to anthropogenically controlled fluvial dynamics in the Kinzig River floodplains, southwestern Germany

Engelmann, C., et al., 2025. E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 235–262.

▶ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#egqsj #holocene #floodplain

Quaternary glaciations in Southern Africa? A “moraine” in the Lesotho highland revisited Abstract. Climate records for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Southern Africa are scarce, and the glaciation of the highest summits has been controversially discussed. Geomorphological features on s...

🌍 Quaternary glaciations in Southern Africa? A “moraine” in the Lesotho highland revisited

Bayer, V. S., Böse, M., Hartmann, K., Marunye, J., and Riedel, F., 2025. E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 219–233.

▶ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#egqsj #geomorphology #erosion #moraine #pleistocene #remotesensing

The depositional age of glacio-lacustrine sediments (Salzburger Seeton) from the lower Salzach Valley, Austria

🧊 The depositional age of glacio-lacustrine sediments (Salzburger Seeton) from the lower Salzach Valley, Austria

Firla, G., Fiebig, M., Rauter, T., and Lüthgens, C.:, E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 213–218.

▶️ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#EGQSJ #sedimentology #luminescence #pleistocene

Late Quaternary geomorphological processes and landscape evolution in the Khur Basin, central Iran Abstract. The interior of the Central Iranian Plateau is an important area for the study of the palaeoenvironmental controls of early human dispersal in arid regions. In the now hyper-arid region, hum...

🇮🇷 Late Quaternary geomorphological processes and landscape evolution in the Khur Basin, central Iran

Rashidi Koochi, Z., Büdel, C., Walk, J., Fuchs, M., Torabi, M., Karimi, A., Baumhauer, R., and Stauch, G., 2025. E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 193–212.

▶ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#EGQSJ #chronology

Luminescence dating of alluvial sediments from the Quaternary fan–terrace sequence of the lower Bruche valley, Upper Rhine Graben, France Abstract. Geochronological constraints on fluvial terraces provide valuable insights into channel migration and adjustment involved within actively meandering river systems. However, numerical age est...

💥 Luminescence dating of alluvial sediments from the Quaternary fan–terrace sequence of the lower Bruche valley, Upper Rhine Graben, France.

Marik, M., Serra, E., Rixhon, G., and Preusser, F., 2025. E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 169–192.

▶ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#geochronology #luminescence #EGQSJ

A millennium of ore mining and smelting in the eastern Harz: a geospatial database spanning from the medieval period to the 20th century Abstract. The mid-mountain ranges are characterised by a medieval land occupation driven by various factors, which in turn affected the river systems. In particular, extraction and smelting activity l...

⛏️ A millennium of ore mining and smelting in the eastern Harz: a geospatial database spanning from the medieval period to the 20th century

Keßels, J., et al., E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 129–145, 2025.

▶️ doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-129-2025

#EGQSJ #holocene #mining #smelting #geodatabase #hydrology

📖 E&G Thesis Abstract #EGQSJ

The Mid-Pleistocene landscape history of the Lower Aare Valley with emphasis on subglacial overdeepening

▶️ Gegg, L., E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 125–127, 2025.

doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#Quaternary #Erosion #Glaciation #Overdeepening

Holocene vegetation dynamics and sedimentation processes in a small depression on a Pleistocene plain – a multi-proxy approach for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a Neolithic settlement area... Abstract. Since 2010, excavations by the Saxonian Archaeological Heritage Office have been conducted on a Pleistocene plain in northwest Saxony during the course of an open-cast lignite mining project...

Holocene vegetation dynamics and sedimentation processes in a small depression on a Pleistocene plain – a multi-proxy approach for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a Neolithic settlement area near Leipzig🌱

Tinapp, et al., EGQSJ, 74, 79–99, 2025.

doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#archeology #EGQSJ

🔍 Iterative outlier identification for robust cosmogenic 26Al∕10Be burial dating of fluvial terraces: a case study from the Danube River (Vienna Basin, Austria)

Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger, Z., et al., E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 59–78,2025.

▶ doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#pleistocene #cosmogenics #EGQSJ

💧 The Trendermarsch sunken in the Wadden Sea (North Frisia, Germany) - reconstructing a drowned medieval cultural landscape with geoarchaeological and geophysical investigations 🌊

Reiß, A., et al. 2025. EGQSJ, 74, 37-57.

doi.org/10.5194/egqs...

#geoarcheology #geophysics #egqsj