Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

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Geomorphology

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Long-term development of Holocene and Pleistocene gullies in the Protva River basin, Central Russia

Andrey V. Panin ⁎, Julia N. Fuzeina, Vladimir R. Belyaev

Faculty of Geography, Moscow State Lomonosov University, Vorobiovy Gory, Moscow, 119992, Russia article info abstract

Article history: The specific geomorphic structure (a combination of flat or gentle watersheds with short steep valley sides) Received 9 August 2006 and the high resistance of surface material in the case study area in the centre of the Russian Plain are Received in revised form 31 May 2008 responsible for the specific pattern of Holocene erosion: no or minor sheet erosion, the occasional Accepted 4 June 2008 appearance of new gullies on the valley sides (four out of 19 studied), and a concentration of erosion activity Available online 6 February 2009 in old gullies that had existed since pre-Holocene times (15 out of 19 studied). The erosion activity is studied using radiocarbon dating of gully sediments. Summed probability density distribution (SPDD) of 65 Keywords: fi Central Russia radiocarbon dates is applied to detect changes of erosion rates over the last ve millennia. Three millennium- — Gully erosion scale phases of erosion activity are distinguished: Phase 1 1200 years BP to the present (intensive erosion), Holocene Phase 2 — 2800 to 1200 years BP (weak erosion), and Phase 3 — N4800 to 2800 years BP (intensive erosion). Human impact Short episodes, or single events of relatively strong erosion, have been found at around 4700, 3800, 3000, Palaeoclimate 2200, 1800, and 900 years BP. Erosion during Phase 3 coincided with the Holocene lowest population density in the whole region, and the start of Phase 1 coincided with a population gap at the case study area, which suggests other than anthropogenic causes for changing erosion regimes. These may be climatic factors because changes between millennium-scale phases of erosion activity coincide with pronounced climatic changes: the Subboreal–Subatlantic transition, and the start of the Medieval Warm period. However, a direct correlation between erosion activity and climatic parameters (warmer/cooler, wetter/drier) has not been found, presumably because the available palaeoclimatic reconstructions do not contain enough information on changing frequencies and magnitudes of hydrological extremes. According to population dynamics, charcoal frequency in erosion-derived sediments and pollen data, a human impact on erosion is suggested to have occurred from the 11th century AD, and more confidently from the 14th–16th centuries. This contributed to erosion acceleration that began some two centuries earlier, apparently for climatic reasons.

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1. Introduction Bork et al.,1998; Edwards and Whittington, 2001; Klimek, 2002, 2003; Zolitschka et al., 2003; Zygmunt, 2004; Starkel, 2005; Klimek et al., A large number of studies have been carried out in Europe during 2006; Chiverrell et al., 2007; Smolska, 2007). recent decades concerning soil and gully erosion with a historical Established chronologies of both forms and sediments allow perspective. Establishing a chronology of erosion events and identify- comparisons of erosion dynamics with climatic and land-use histories ing causal factors of erosion rate fluctuations in the past provides to infer possible reasons of erosion acceleration. It is always difficult to a basis for a better understanding of both palaeoenvironmental separate climatic and human influence over environmental change. dynamics and the present-day state of geomorphic systems under the In the case of erosion, anthropogenic drivers are inferred from indirect influence of multiple natural and anthropogenic factors. markers of human presence in the landscape such as the decline of Increased erosion in the past is indicated by various types of tree species in pollen spectra, the rise in charcoal values and the morphological evidence such as buried rills and gullies (Bork, 1989; presence of cereal-type pollen as a marker of agricultural activity Bork et al., 1998; Dotterweich, 2003, 2005; Vanwalleghem et al., (Kwaad and Mücher, 1979; Dodson, 1990; Macklin et al., 2000; 2005a, 2006; Schmitt et al., 2006; etc.), and sedimentological features Schmitt et al., 2003; etc.). Forest clearance and the onset of agriculture such as truncation of soil profiles and increased colluvial, alluvial and are traditionally regarded as critical points of landscape development lacustrine sedimentation (Bork, 1989; Ballantyne, 1991; Kalicki, 1996; that mark an abrupt increase of landscape susceptibility to erosion. The role of human impact on erosion is demonstrated by comparisons of erosion/sedimentation rates under and without human pressure ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +7 495 939 5469; fax: +7 495 932 8836. over landscape. Lakes in northern and northwestern Scotland dis- E-mail address: [email protected] (A.V. Panin). playing stable or decreasing sedimentation over time have either no

0169-555X/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.06.017 72 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 clear signs of human impact or only so towards the latter part of (Andres et al., 2002). The authors conclude that highly dynamic the Holocene, while most lakes in Britain and Ireland show increased processes of erosion/sedimentation can occur without human impact. sedimentation through the Holocene together with indications of Climatic changes have been shown to govern badland development anthropogenic impact (Edwards and Whittington, 2001). On the other in the semiarid southeast of Spain: during relatively humid periods, hand, there are cases which show that the onset of agriculture is not the vegetation cover on first-order valley bottoms traps sediment necessarily reflected in increasing erosion. Thus, in Atlantic Scotland fluxes from steep slopes while an increase in the duration or severity the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition occurred at c. 5000 BP, but up until of drought periods causes a decrease of vegetation-carpeting and gully c. 1000 BP agricultural communities appear to have had comparatively incision in flat valley bottoms (Nogueras et al., 2000). little impact on the environment (Macklin et al., 2000). Little is known about Holocene erosion chronology and its driving A coincidence of increased erosion/sedimentation with signs factors in Eastern Europe. In the forest-steppe and forest zones of of human presence in the landscape is usually regarded as a proof of the East European Plain, seven erosion-sedimentation rhythms were anthropogenic causes of increased erosion. A lot of research carried found for the Holocene, each of them including a phase of catchment out in the last decades supports the conclusion that in the loess erosion/sediment deposition on foot slopes, old gully bottoms and regions of Europe the intensity of land-use is to be considered the river floodplains, and a phase of landscape stabilization and soil main trigger for soil and gully erosion in historical times (Bork and formation (Sycheva, 2006). These rhythms are thought to correspond Lang, 2003; Valentin et al., 2005). Both phases of gullying and periods well with Holocene climatic cycles. That research was based on a large of old gully infilling are often found to have coincided with increasing number of dated palaeosoil sites spread over a large area, with various human activity in the catchments, such as settlement, cultivation, scales of human impact and climatic history. More detailed local and timbering, road construction (Bork et al., 1998; Schmitt et al., 2006). regional studies are still needed to establish the details of erosion In northern Bavaria, two main periods of gully erosion were found: chronology and its driving factors. during the 14th and in the late 18th and early 19th centuries AD In this paper we establish an erosion chronology at a case study (Schmitt et al., 2003). In both periods, erosion increased as a response area in the centre of the Russian Plain. Due to local conditions, erosion to land-use changes, such as the development of vineyards, hop is concentrated in old Pleistocene gullies, and using a large series of gardens and intensive forest use, with heavy rainfall events playing a radiocarbon dates we try to distinguish the periodicity of their activity triggering role. Observations and datings of buried gullies demon- as well as events of new gully formation. Phases of high and low strate high process rates and a rapid response of erosion systems to erosion activity will be discussed in relation to climatic and human human disturbance (Dotterweich, 2003; Vanwalleghem et al., 2005a; influence on erosion. etc.). Larger erosion systems such as lake catchments are character- ized by a delay in response: in British and Irish lakes, indications of 2. Case study area description anthropogenic impact are often prior to levels of increased sedimen- tation (Edwards and Whittington, 2001). Fluvial systems in Central 2.1. Location and natural conditions Europe show a similar delay: Igl et al. (2000) have suggested that in many areas of Central Europe a time lag of several hundreds to The case study area is located in the central part of the Russian thousands of years exists between the onset of human settlement and Plain, about 100 km south-southwest of Moscow, in the north of changes in the alluvial sedimentary record. This delay is believed to the Kaluga Region, within the Borovsk District at 55°12′N and 36°22′E be related to the density of settlements in the catchments as well as to (Fig. 1). It is an area of 15 km2 in the middle reaches of the Protva River delayed sediment transfer processes that depend on topography. at the Satino Experimental Station of Moscow State University. In order to quantify the human impact, information on population The station and surrounding area look back on a 30-year history of densities and open land/woodland ratios based on archaeological complex environmental research including detailed geological survey data can be used (Houben et al., 2006). A correlation of erosion and (a extensive program with N200 exposure sections, pits and cores population density is found, for example, in North-West England from depths of up to 90 m), detailed geomorphic mapping, and where little or no hillslope erosion occurred in the early Holocene, but monitoring of soil and gully erosion rates at specially equipped, small several phases of extensive gully formation in the late Holocene, after experimental catchments (Antonov et al., 2001). 2500–2200, 1300–1000, 1000–800 and 500 cal. BP, have been iden- At the Satino village the area of the Protva River basin is 1450 km2, tified as coinciding with established periods of population expansion the mean annual discharge 9.92 m3/s, the mean maximum discharge (Chiverrell et al., 2007). All these phases are interpreted as a con- of snowmelt flood 150 m3/s, and the mean maximum discharge sequence of growing landscape susceptibility to erosion in response to of rainfall floods in summer to autumn 36.8 m3/s (Akimenko and increased anthropogenic pressure. Yevstigneev, 2002). The climate is continental with severe winters, Although most research has found a dominant human role in warm summers and no dry season: mean temperatures are +18 °C in erosion increase during the Holocene, there are also examples of the July and −10 °C in January, and annual precipitation is c. 600 mm on role of climate in erosion/sedimentation dynamics. In the south- average. The seasonal distributions of precipitation and surface runoff western Mediterranean, a clear correlation has been found between are non-synchronous. Two-thirds of the precipitation falls during the chronology of archaeological sites and river overbank sedimenta- the warm half of the year, but only 25% of surface runoff happens tion, while floodplain sedimentation rates indicate a strong climatic in summer and autumn. The long cold period promotes a significant signal from 4.8 ka BP until today which is a clear correlation with the accumulation of snow which produces as much as 65% of the annual North Atlantic Oscillation (Zielhofer et al., 2008). It was concluded surface runoff during spring snowmelt (end of March to April). Winter that landscape dynamics greatly influenced prehistoric societies. In runoff makes up only 10% of the annual runoff. The natural vegetation the Ebro Basin, northern Spain, valley-floor gully systems switched is mixed forest on ortho-podzolic soils (albeluvisols). between incisional and aggradational regimes through the Holocene, Runoff intensities during extreme rainstorms can considerably with two main infill phases around 6000 cal. BP and the Iron Age exceed those observed during snowmelt periods. In rivers, the sum- (Harvey and Gutiérrez-Elorza, 2005). The regime switches are inter- mer flood discharges are several times lower than those of the spring preted to have been climatically induced. One more study from the floods. However, in gullies and small valleys with perennial streams, Ebro Basin concerns a dry valley-bottom infill previously treated as summer rainstorms can generate extremely high runoff. According to a response to increasing human impact but now found to indicate a observations at the experimental station, extreme rainstorms during climatically induced highly active phase of incision and subsequent the warm season make the biggest contribution to soil erosion on aggradation that occurred during the Alleröd Period of the Late Glacial arable fields of the Satino Experimental Station, though some erosion ..Pnne l emrhlg 0 20)71 (2009) 108 Geomorphology / al. et Panin A.V. – 91 73 Fig. 1. Location map and physiography of the study area. Isolines drawn at 1 m increment. Gully numbers correspond to Table 2. Circled numbers — Holocene gullies. 74 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 is also produced during the snowmelt period. Maximum annual exceeded 100 m. This erosional landscape was modified greatly by values obtained during a 20-year observation cycle are 26 t/ha glacial processes but it is still visible in the present-day topography for rainfall erosion and 8 t/ha for snowmelt erosion (Litvin, 2002; the highest positions of which inherit those of the bedrock landscape, Golosov, 2006). On the other hand, observations over more than i.e. the Early Pleistocene watersheds (Simonov et al., 1996). In the 20 years on gully headcut advance prove an essential role of the Middle Pleistocene several layers of glacial tills and glacio-fluvial snowmelt period in annual gully growth (Bolysov and Tarzaeva,1996). sands and silts covered the bedrock. The thickest and most per- sistent moraine sheets were left by the Dnieper (OIS 8) and the 2.2. Geomorphic landscape of the study area and its sensitivity to erosion Moscow (OIS 6) glaciation. By the end of the Middle Pleistocene local topography range was less than 30 m, but it rapidly increased fol- Local topography was formed during the Late Cenozoic and mostly lowing deglaciation due to incision by the Protva River and its during the Quaternary. Major features of Quaternary history are seen tributaries (Bredikhin and Panin, 1995). During the Late Pleistocene clearly in the geological sections shown in Fig. 2. The pre-Quaternary the area was not glaciated. Several incision–aggradation cycles of the bedrock consists of Carboniferous marine sedimentary rocks, mainly fluvial network have resulted in the present range of relief of up to limestones and dolomites with layers of clays and marls. They 70 m. A 2–3 m thick cover of the so-called sheet loams that formed were deeply dissected during the Early Pleistocene when local relief during the Late Pleistocene cold periods overlies glacial and glacio-

dn ms Fig. 2. Geological sections along the River Protva watersheds. See Fig.1 for location. Stratigraphic indices: Q2 ,Q2 — Dnieper and Moscow Epochs of the Middle Pleistocene (OIS 8 and 6), Q3 —

Late Pleistocene, Q4 — Holocene. Genetic indices: g — glacial, gf — glacio-fluvial, lg — limno-glacial, l — limnic, a — alluvial, d — deluvial, sl — sheet loams, ch — chemogenic (travertine), b — biogenic (peat). A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 75

fluvial deposits on most of the interfluves and gentle slopes. It is a Table 1 loess-like deposit, but with lower porosity and a higher clay content. Minimal catchment area (in ha) needed for a gully initiation under local conditions of the Satino Experimental Station (after Belyaev, 2002). It is, therefore, more resistant to erosion than typical loess, but less resistant than moraine. At some places the loam cover is absent and Slope angle Lithology the underlying glacial sediment is exposed. Sand Sheet loams Boulder loam On the basis of genetic morphology, the modern landscapes of the Grassed slope study area can be classified into two types: glacial/glaciofluvial land- 2° 1.40 580 – – scapes that occupy watersheds and cover 61% of the study area, and 5° 0.12 58.0 10° 0.04 18.4 – fluvial landscapes that cover 39% of the area. The morphological 15° 0.02 8.52 – differences critical for erosion development are illustrated by the distribution of different slope categories (Fig. 3). Most elements of Bare slope (arable land) glacial/glaciofluvial morphology such as moraine hill tops, glacio- 2° 0.21 7.30 84.7 fluvial hollows and sandurs constitute sub-horizontal surfaces with 5° 0.02 0.72 8.50 b 10° 0.01 0.23 2.68 angles less than 2°. More than 95% of watershed areas have angles 5°, 15° b0.01 0.11 1.24 with gradients increasing in the vicinity of river valleys. Fluvial landscapes are more varied. Terraces and floodplains are mostly b2° steep. Valley sides are the steepest morphological ele- Valley sides are the steepest topographical elements, and they are ments over the territory: they are mainly 5–15° but at some reaches therefore most susceptible for gully development. As valleys cut up to 35° steep. Valley sides cut through Quaternary deposits by 20– through different lithological units (Fig. 2), the composition of valley 25 m and may be composed of layers with different erosional re- sides may change from place to place and along the same slope from sistance, either low (sands, silts) or very high (boulder clays) (Figs. 1 resistant dolostones and limestones to highly erodible sands and silts. and 2). The exposed sands are most important for gully development Steep slopes composed of sand require only several hundred square due to their low erosional resistance. In the east of the area the Protva metres to initiate a gully even under natural conditions. The valley River cuts a high point of the Carboniferous bedrock surface, so the sides are dissected by a number of gullies 100–800 m long and 5–15 m valley sides are composed of limestones and dolomites intercalated deep. Their headcuts extend into interfluvial areas, while their fans lie with clays (Figs. 1 and 2). over floodplains or protrude directly into the river channel. All gullies From combining surface lithology and slope morphometry a are found on the earliest maps made in the late 18th century AD critical factor controlling gully initiation and development can be (Antonov et al., 2005). Direct observation since the late 1970s shows derived which allows determining the profound difference in sus- that most gullies are active at present in terms of both bottom erosion ceptibility to erosion between the two types of geomorphic land- and headcut advance (Bolysov and Tarzaeva, 1996). scapes considered. The role of slope value is evident from the estimate of the minimal catchment area needed for gully initiation (Table 1). 2.3. Lithological types of gullies The steeper the slope is, the smaller the critical catchment area is. Under natural conditions (grass-covered earth), the initiation of a gully Gullies cut through various types of rocks and Quaternary deposits. on the watersheds (angles b5°) requires a catchment area of tens or The resistance of underlying bedrock has been found to influence gully hundreds of hectares (Table 1 — column for sheet loams). Such gullies morphology and long-term development to a great extent (Belyaev, exist in the south-east of the study area (gullies 13–16 on Fig.1). Arable 2002). In order to take account of this factor, we determined the fields are located on watershed areas with angles b5° covered by lithological units that prevail in the respective vertical section cut sheet loams. The critical catchment area decreases considerably with by each gully and on this basis divided all gullies into three groups increasing slope angle (Table 1), but in the current combination of (Table 2): topography and field contours (Fig.1) no sites favouring gully initiation (i) Bedrock gullies (no. 14–17 in Table 2 and in Fig. 1) are cut are found. This is supported by the fact that during the period of mostly into pre-Quaternary rocks, predominantly Carbonifer- observation (i.e. over last 40 years) no new gullies have been formed. ous limestones and dolostones with variable proportions of In accordance with the poor conditions for linear erosion, rates of sheet interbedded clays and marls (Fig. 4a). Only the upper parts of erosion on arable fields are very low: according to observations at a these gullies are formed in the relatively less resistant number of experimental sites, they vary from 1–2to5–8 t/ha per year Quaternary deposits. Longitudinal profiles of such gullies are on average (Golosov, 1996, 2006). ungraded and demonstrate close dependence on lithology, with steep steps controlled by solid rock outcrops alternating with more gentle sections formed in less resistant materials. (ii) Till gullies (no.1, 4–6 and 10–13 in Table 2 and in Fig. 1) cut mostly through tills, predominantly of Dnieper age (OIS-8), with less involvement of glacio-fluvial sands (Fig. 4b). Gully longitudinal profiles are rather smooth, but their convex form points to an ungraded state which can be explained by the relatively high resistance of the till deposits. (iii) Sand gullies (no. 2–3 and 7–9inTable 1) are cut mainly into inter-glacial sands and silts with only limited involvement of boulder clays (Fig. 4c). Gully longitudinal profiles are char- acterized by a semi-graded concave form, though local convex fragments may exist at the reaches where till is cut. The spatial distribution of different gully types is controlled by local geological conditions resulting from Quaternary geomorphic history. Bedrock gullies are found in the southeastern part of the area Fig. 3. Slope angle distribution for areas of glacial/glacio-fluvial and fluvial origin. Slope where the pre-Quaternary bedrock has a relatively thin cover of only gradient classes according to Rychagov, 2006. 5–15 m of Quaternary deposits (Figs. 1 and 2). The bedrock upper 76 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

Table 2 Characteristics of gullies in the Satino case study area.

a b 3 2 3 3 c Gully name Age Litho-type F,10 m L,m Dmax, m. Volume, 10 m VF/VG % River action

VG VF 1 Uzkiy H T 72 230 9 36 b0.1 b10 2 Durnoy P S 300 450 11 53 11 21 N10 3 Volchiy H S 17 220 10 17 8.2 48 N10 4 Kamenniy P T 398 425 8 35 5.4 15 N10 5 Chugunkin P T 279 540 10 76 21 28 N10 6 Senokosnaya P T 328 460 10 48 6.6 14 N7 7 Buiniy H S 23 100 9 3.5 0.15 4.3 N5 8 Nabatov H S 43 200 3 1.9 0.20 11 N5 9 Lisyu Nory P S 494 540 13 91 0.6 b1 N7 10 Volchenkovskiy P T 414 540 12 51 b0.1 b10 11 Lukianovskiy P T 118 390 6 24 0.9 3.8 N5 12 Barsuchiy P T 195 425 10 29 0.9 3.0 N7 13 Obtsarskiy P T 627 920 8 29 b0.1 b10 14 Zapadniy Satinskiy P R 591 750 12 28 b0.1 b10 15 Vostochniy Satinskiy P R 370 940 9 41 b0.1 b10 16 Egorov P R 458 550 12 13 b0.1 b10 17 Emelin P R 119 410 6 3.0 b0.1 b10 18 Maliy Mitenkovskiy P T 97 270 6 13 b0.1 b1 N10 19 Bolshoi Mitenkovskiy P T 145 340 8 34 0.4 1.2 N10

F — catchment area, L — gully length, Dmax — gully maximum depth, VG — gully volume, VF — fan volume. a Gully age: P — Pleistocene, H — Holocene. b Gully lithological type (see text): R — rock, T— till, S — sand. c Time elapsed since the last event of gully fan lateral undercut by the main river according to reconstructions of channel migration by Panin et al. (1999), Panin and Karevskaya (2000) (103 radiocarbon years BP). surface dips towards the centre and the western part of the study area 14C years BP river incision started and progressed by about 2 m during while the thickness of the Quaternary deposits rises up to 100 m. Till the last millennium. By the present, the river has cut down to its and sand gullies are found here, with a particular spacing determined former position in the middle of the Holocene. This incision could by variations of Quaternary lithology. Most gullies are devoid of influence lower parts of the gullies that are directly connected to the bottom sediments, and their fans are the only record of their Holocene Protva River channel. history (Fig. 4a, c). Nevertheless, in a few cases sediment storages are The available reconstructions of the Protva River channel migra- found in gully bottoms (Fig. 4b). tions (Panin, 2000; Panin and Karevskaya, 2000; Vlasov, 2005) can provide a rough evaluation of periods when each location at the valley 2.4. Effect of river channel dynamics on gully development sides and the fan (or mouth) of each gully was last affected by main river channel lateral erosion. This information should also be taken Reconstructions of gully evolution need to take account of the into consideration when analyzing gully dynamics. On this basis, the main river channel migration because it can exert significant influence gullies can be subdivided into four groups (Table 2) according to the on processes in valley side gullies by connecting or disconnecting their time period when a gully fan or mouth (or initial valley slope at a sediment export from further transport in the channel. Lateral under- future gully location) was disconnected from the main river channel cutting of valley sides may also serve as a trigger for gully initiation. as a result of channel migration: The development of the Protva River channel has been studied (i) Late Glacial (N10,000 14C years BP): gullies no. 2, 3, 4, 5,18 and 19. earlier by analyzing palaeochannel morphology and floodplain sedi- (ii) Early Holocene (N7000 14C years BP): gullies no. 6, 9 and 12. ment stratigraphy (Panin and Karevskaya, 2000; Vlasov, 2005). It has (iii) Middle Holocene (N5000 14C years BP): gullies no. 7, 8 and 11. been established that channel incision to 2–3 m below the present (iv) Present, i.e. gullies that are directly connected to the present river position occurred in the Late Glacial. This is attributed to higher and channel: gullies no. 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and also no. 1 which is more intensive, extreme surface runoff under conditions of wide- located at the side of a small valley of the Yazvitsy River (Fig. 1). spread permafrost. High river runoff is evidenced by large palaeo- channels of the Protva River at the town of Borovsk where they are The above periods of time do not correspond to ages of gully dated to 13200 14C years BP (Panin, 2000). formation, but to the time passed since a valley slope at a particular The very beginning of the Holocene has left no traces in the sedi- gully location was undercut the last time by migration of a recipient mentation record or palaeochannel development. Between 8500– river channel. For example, the Volchiy gully (no. 3 in Table 2 and 6500 14C years BP the Protva River channel shifted widely across Fig. 1) itself began to form only in the middle Holocene (see below, the valley bottom, undercutting valley sides and gully mouths. Section 4.1), but the main valley slope at this point was disconnected This probably triggered incision in many gullies which were directly from lateral erosion of the Protva River channel much earlier. Thus, connected to the valley bottom. An extreme episode of channel plan- it belongs to group 1, i.e. Late Glacial (N10,000 14C years BP). It is, form transformation occurred around 5300 14C years BP when the therefore, important to compare the date of a gully initiation with channel abruptly shifted approximately into its present position the time at which the valley slope was disconnected from the main (Vlasov, 2005). Since 5000 14C years BP the river channel planform has river channel in order to understand the temporal variation of gully remained relatively stable until the present, except for a few localized sediment dynamics and gully's interaction with a recipient river. sections where limited bank erosion has continued. This means that most of the main valley sides have remained relatively stable. Con- 3. Methods sequently, over the second half of the Holocene most of the gullies developed fans that expand over the floodplain surface, of which only Processes of erosion usually exhibit high temporal and spatial a few were eroded by the river channel. Gradual channel aggradation irregularity caused by the stochastic nature of both driving forces and occurred between 5000 and 1000 14C years BP. Between 1200 and 800 influencing factors. Long periods of stability can be interrupted by A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 77

Fig. 4. Long profiles of gullies in pre-Quaternary bedrock (a), dominant glacial boulder clays (b) and dominant non-cohesive glacio-fluvial deposits (c). See Fig. 2 for lithology and indices. Gully numbers on Fig. 1 and in Table 2: a - no. 16, b - no. 6, c - no. 3. an erosion event or a series of events. Monitoring of erosion provides surviving from earlier stages of development and cut by gullies in the many examples of non-linear and even reverse responses of erosion Late Holocene (no. 10, 13, 16; Fig. 4a). The description of particular systems to rainstorm events of various magnitudes when a more geological sections may be found elsewhere (Panin et al., 1999; intensive rainstorm generates lower erosion, or the same downpour Belyaev et al., 2004; Belyaev et al., 2005; Eremenko et al., 2005). causes contrastingly differing effects on adjacent fields (Litvin, 2002; Sedimentary sections of gully fans and bottoms described in the Zorina, 2003, etc.). Reconstruction of past erosion encounters the field were divided into stratigraphic units that correspond to episodes additional problem of identifying a single erosion event or a series or periods of active sedimentation delimited by erosional contacts, of events and estimating their magnitude. In this respect, we have prominent changes of sediment lithology or buried soil horizons. systematically explored all large (N200 m long) gullies in the study Organic matter found within any unit was radiocarbon-dated. Overall, area in order to be sure that no substantial erosion event over the 76 dates were obtained from 14 gully fans and the bottoms of four territory was lost. gullies (Table 3). Decay-counting dating was carried out in the Kiev There are 18 gullies dissecting the main valley sides along its 5 km radiocarbon laboratory, State Scientific Centre of Environmental long reach, and one more is found in a tributary valley (Fig. 1). Sedi- Radiogeochemistry, Ukraine. All dates are reported as conventional ment sections were studied and sampled in all of them. Seven gullies radiocarbon dates normalized to a δ13Cof−25‰ and conventionally deliver sediments directly into the main river or tributary channel, rounded (Stuiver and Polach, 1977). Almost all dates used in the three of them having no morphologically distinctive fans (no. 14, 15, 17 subsequent statistical analysis were obtained from charcoal and fossil in Table 2). The other gullies open into the floodplain. Fifteen gully wood of C3 plants, peat and soil humus, with a maximum possible fans were studied in pits and cores together with three old fans δ13C difference from the standard of ±5‰ (Gupta and Polach, 1985; 78 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

Table 3 Radiocarbon dates from gullies in the Satino case study area.

No. Gully no.a Lab. no. Position Sample Material Conventional Calibrated date (95%) depth (m) 14C age (BP) Interval Middle, yrs BP 1 1 Ki-8469 Bottom 1.2 Charcoal 220±100 cal AD 1480–1960 230 2 1 Ki-8470 Bottom 1.3 Charcoal 430±100 cal AD 1300–1670 465 3 1 Ki-10842 Bottom 1.32–1.34 Charcoal 960±70 cal AD 890–1230 890 4 1 Ki-8471 Bottom 1.8 Charcoal 1760±100 cal AD 50–540 1655 5 1 Ki-10843 Fan 1.55 Charcoal 1040±70 cal AD 810–1170 960 6 2 Ki-6464 Fan 0.50 Charcoal 2770±65 1090–800 cal BC 2895 7b 2 Ki-6468 Fan 1.30–1.76 Buried soil 3180±85 1670–1250 cal BC 3410 8 2 Ki-6465 Fan 1.80 Charcoal 3510±85 2120–1610 cal BC 3815 9b 2 Ki-6470 Fan 2.10–2.15 Buried soil 4225±75 3010–2570 cal BC 4740 10 3 Ki-11562 Fan 0.81–0.84 Bulk 2860±90 1300–820 cal BC 3010 11 3 Ki-11564 Fan 1.18–1.23 Charcoal 3170±100 1700–1100 cal BC 3350 12 3 Ki-11552 Fan 1.65–1.70 Charcoal 3920±80 2620–2140 cal BC 4330 13 3 Ki-11553 Fan 2.05–2.10 Charcoal 4140±80 2900–2490 cal BC 4645 14b 3 Ki-11554 Under fan 2.25–2.30 Buried soil 4360±90 3350–2750 cal BC 5000 15 4 Ki-10533 Fan 0.30 Charcoal 160±90 cal AD 1520–1960 210 16 4 Ki-10534 Fan 0.7–0.8 Charcoal 420±80 cal AD 1320–1650 465 17 4 Ki-10535 Fan 1.00–1.05 Charcoal 960±80 cal AD 890–1260 875 18 5 Ki-8363 Bottom 0.25–0.28 Charcoal 550±110 cal AD 1250–1640 505 19 5 Ki-8364 Bottom 0.55–0.61 Charcoal 1220±100 cal AD 640–1020 1120 20 5 Ki-8365 Bottom 1.07 Charcoal 1560±110 cal AD 240–670 1495 21 5 Ki-7031 Bottom 1.65 Charcoal 2230±60 400–110 cal BC 2205 22 5 Ki-7032 Bottom 2.03 Charcoal 2880±70 1300–890 cal BC 3045 23 5 Ki-7030 Fan 0.55–0.60 Charcoal 1840±50 cal AD 60–330 1755 24 5 Ki-7035 Fan 0.90 Charcoal 2825±60 1200–830 cal BC 2965 25 5 Ki-7034 Fan 1.55–1.60 Bulk 3230±70 1690–1380 cal BC 3485 26 5 Ki-7033 Fan 2.55 Bulk 3655±80 2300–1750 cal BC 3975 27 6 Ki-7704 Bottom 0.36–0.38 Charcoal 170±100 cal AD 1510–1960 215 28 6 Ki-7705 Bottom 0.52–0.54 Charcoal 265±90 cal AD 1400–2000 250 29 6 Ki-7706 Bottom 1.03 Charcoal 405±80 cal AD 1390–1660 425 30 6 Ki-7709 Bottom 1.30 Charcoal 520±90 cal AD 1280–1630 495 31 6 Ki-7712 Bottom 0.80 Charcoal 780±90 cal AD 1030–1400 735 32 6 Ki-7707 Bottom 1.43 Charcoal 860±90 cal AD 1010–1290 800 33 6 Ki-7713 Bottom 0.96 Charcoal 905±90 cal AD 980–1280 820 34 6 Ki-7714 Bottom 1.42–1.48 Charcoal 970±90 cal AD 890–1260 875 35 6 Ki-7710 Bottom 1.76 Charcoal 1430±90 cal AD 420–780 1350 36 6 Ki-7708 Bottom 1.75 Charcoal 1735±100 cal AD 80–540 1640 37 6 Ki-7715 Bottom 2.35–2.40 Charcoal 2245±90 540–40 cal BC 2240 38 6 Ki-7716 Bottom 2.95 Charcoal 2580±70 900–410 cal BC 2605 39 6 Ki-6158 Fan 1.20 Charcoal 2240±70 410–90 cal BC 2200 40 6 Ki-6163 Fan 2.00 Charcoal 2700±80 1150–550 cal BC 2800 41b 6 Ki-7318 Under fan 3.6–4.1 Buried soil 7120±65 6110–5840 cal BC 7925 42 7 Ki-6162 Fan 0.50 Charcoal 460±75 cal AD 1310–1640 475 43 7 Ki-6161 Fan 1.80 Charcoal 2270±80 550–50 cal BC 2250 44 7 Ki-6159 Fan 2.20 Charcoal 2900±95 1400–800 cal BC 3050 45 7 Ki-6160 Fan 2.35 Charcoal 3420±105 2050–1450 cal BC 3700 46 8 Ki-6164 Fan 1.20 Charcoal 620±65 cal AD 1270–1430 600 47 9 Кi-7056 Fan 0.47–0.53 Charcoal 720±65 cal AD 1180–1400 660 48 9 Ki-7058 Fan 0.70 Charcoal 1030±65 cal AD 870–1170 930 49 9 Ki-7057 Fan 0.62 Charcoal 1050±70 cal AD 810–1160 965 50 9 Ki-7059 Fan 0.88–0.90 Wood 1260±60 cal AD 650–900 1175 51 9 Ki-7062 Fan 1.07–1.10 Charcoal 1390±60 cal AD 540–780 1290 52 9 KI-7060 Fan 1.10–1.13 Wood 2610±75 950–500 cal BC 2675 53 9 Ki-7061 Fan 1.30–1.32 Wood 3415±65 1890–1530 cal BC 3660 54 10 Ki-7066 Fan 0.60–0.64 Charcoal 1140±60 cal AD 720–1020 1080 55 11 Ki-7063 Fan 0.43–0.50 Charcoal 605±55 cal AD 1280–1420 600 56 11 Ki-7064 Fan 1.0–1.03 Charcoal 1210±60 cal AD 670–970 1130 57 11 Ki-7065 Fan 1.24–1.36 Wood 2920±65 1320–920 cal BC 3070 58 12 Ki-7028 Bottom 0.52 Charcoal 2115±65 370 cal BC–cal AD 20 2125 59 12 Ki-7023 Bottom 0.85 Peat 2240±80 420–40 cal BC 2180 60 12 Ki-7027 Bottom 0.83–0.9 Wood 2870±60 1260–900 cal BC 3030 61 12 Ki-7029 Bottom 1.75 Charcoal 3470±80 2020–1600 cal BC 3760 62c 16 Ki-7291 Modern fan 1.45 Shell 3520±80 63 16 Ki-7282 Old fan 0.27 Charcoal 955±60 cal AD 980–1220 850 64 16 Ki-7283 Old fan 0.80 Charcoal 2930±50 1310–980 cal BC 3095 65 16 Ki-7284 Old fan 0.92 Charcoal 3060±70 1500–1110 cal BC 3255 66 16 Ki-7292 Old fan 0.70 Charcoal 3160±70 1610–1260 cal BC 3385 67 16 Ki-7285 Old fan 1.23–1.25 Shell 3520±60 2020–1690 cal BC 3805 68 16 Ki-7286 Old fan 1.23 Charcoal 4160±50 2890–2580 cal BC 4685 69b 16 Ki-7287 Old fan 1.40 Shell 5120±55 4040–3780 cal BC 5860 70b 16 Ki-7288 Old fan 1.66 Shell 5360±60 4340–4040 cal BC 6140 71b 16 Ki-7293 Old fan 1.10 Shell 5710±80 4720–4360 cal BC 6490 72b 16 Ki-7289 Old fan 2.36 Shell 6485±70 5610–5310 cal BC 7410 73b 16 Ki-7294 Under fan 1.65 Travertine 7600±65 6600–6260 cal BC 8380 74b 16 Ki-7290 Under fan 2.5 Travertine 7800±75 7050–6540 cal BC 8745 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 79

Table 3 (continued ) No. Gully no.a Lab. no. Position Sample Material Conventional Calibrated date (95%) depth (m) 14C age (BP) Interval Middle, yrs BP 75 18 Ki-7067 Fan 2.0–2.1 Charcoal 3270±60 1690–1430 cal BC 3510 76 19 Ki-7068 Fan 0.70–0.75 Charcoal 930±70 cal AD 980–1260 830

a Gully numbers correspond to those in Table 2 and Fig. 1. b Dates given in italics are not used in statistical analysis (see text). c Rejected date (see text).

Aitken, 1990). That may at worst result in an 80-year underestimation fragments, metal wire, etc.). Consequently, the frequencies of young- or overestimation, which is insignificant compared with the 2σ est and oldest dates are not representative of the frequency of (95.4%) calibration interval of 300–600 calendar years provided by erosion/sedimentation events. laboratory errors of ±50–110 years (Table 3). Calibration was made For the study of the temporal distribution of the whole series of with the OxCal Version 3.10 program (Bronk Ramsey, 2001, 2005) dates, we used a special function of the OxCal program that calculates using atmospheric data from Reimer et al. (2004). BC/AD and BP (0 a sum of probability density distributions of individual dates. The BP=1950 AD) time scales are used in the text depending on which is resulting summed probability density distribution (SPDD) is normal- more convenient in the context. Uncalibrated radiocarbon ages are ized by the maximum value. As stated in Bronk Ramsey (2005), the specially indicated as 14C years BP. SPDD is difficult to justify statistically but it provides a best estimate Wide calibration intervals impose limits both on the reliability of for the chronological distribution of the items dated. A number of correlation between individual events, and on the distinction between recent studies (Macklin et al., 2005, 2006; Starkel et al., 2006) used phases of different erosion activity. Redeposition of organic matter a similar approach for the spatial correlation and inference of fluvial sampled for dating is also probable given the specific nature of gully activity phases based on regional series of radiocarbon dates. sedimentation. These limitations suggest caution in interpreting In addition to sample bias, another source of potential misinter- the dates in terms of single events and encourage the application pretation is produced by the complicated geometry of the calibration of statistical approaches to analyze the entire data set rather than curve. A hypothetical set of dates at regular intervals of 100 yrs with individual dates. We excluded dates from well-developed soils inside σ=70 yrs was generated in order to deal with this problem. They the fan sections and soils or travertines buried under the fans (nos. 7, were calibrated and the SPDD was calculated (Fig. 5). Due to the low 9, 14, 41, 73, and 74 in Table 3) because they characterize periods of inclination of the calibration curve, the SPDD has a tendency to decline stability rather than erosion activity. Date no. 62 (Table 3)was with increasing age before 1000 AD. The SPDD of the evenly-spaced rejected because the sample was recognized as redeposited from its series also responds to century-scale variations in former radiocarbon position in the geological section above a layer containing a glass concentration in the atmosphere: sharp peaks at 3000–2800 BC, fragment. Because only five dates represent the first half of the 1700–1300 BC, 950–750 BC, 500–700 AD and 1250–1550 AD cor- Holocene, and because they all belong to only one gully (dates no. 69– respond to steep sections of the calibration curve. Some of them 72, Table 3), we also exclude them from statistical analysis as not appeared in the distribution of the real data set and were eliminated being representative of the entire area. Finally, we consider a series of from the analysis. 65 dates younger than 500014C years BP for this study. The dated Frequency of erosion is not equivalent to erosion intensity in terms material is charcoal in 55 cases, wood in six, soil humus (bulk of sediment production from a gully in mass per time units. We samples) in two, and peat and shell in one case each. assume that erosion intensity within a gully is proportional to the Systematic sample bias should be taken into account when amount of sediment deposited on a gully fan during the respective analyzing the data set. Upper and lower parts of sedimentary sections period. Volumetric determination of time-related sediment deposi- in gully fans were not studied in equal detail. Sediments older than tion is not possible in most cases, or at least very problematic. We used 3500–4000 radiocarbon years BP usually lie at depths of more than a fan aggradation rate instead, assuming that a fan's vertical growth 1.5–2.0 m in gully fans. As in many cases pits were limited to 1.0–1.5 m per unit time is proportional to sediment production rate. It is thought depth because of the groundwater level, the lower parts of fans that an increasing fan aggradation rate corresponds to an increasing were studied by coring. That provided a much lower probability of erosion intensity within a gully, and vice versa. Aggradation rates obtaining datable matter. The youngest sediments were not sampled were calculated as thickness of sediments between two dated samples purposely in many cases because of the time constraints of the radio- divided by time range between middle points of 95% calibration carbon method. For example, samples were not taken from sediments intervals. The resulting rates represent average values while real the young age of which was obvious from artefacts (brick and glass deposition processes may have been highly irregular. Even so, the rates are thought to be representative of temporal tendencies in sediment production rates.

4. Results and interpretation

4.1. Gully generations and development before the middle of the Holocene

On the basis of morphological differences and some stratigraphic evidence and dates, two generations of gully origin can be distin- guished — Pleistocene gullies (the majority) and Holocene gullies. Pleistocene gullies are characterized by the presence of two pro- minent slope generations in a typical cross-section (Fig. 6a). Gentle upper slopes indicate that initially these landforms had a hollow-like morphology. This stage of development can be attributed to the Fig. 5. Summed probability density distribution (SPDD) of an equally spaced series of radiocarbon dates (interval 100 years, σ=70 years) indicating non-uniformities of the maximum of the Late Valdai cold epoch (OIS-2). Steep V-shaped calibration curve. gullies are incised into the more gentle older landforms of complex 80 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

needed for gully formation with increasing slope gradient (Table 1; see Section 2.2). The other important controlling factor is lithology. Three of the four Holocene gullies appear to have formed on slopes composed mainly of highly erodable sands and silts with a minor component of glacial boulder clays (see Fig. 4c for example). The Uzkiy Gully (no. 1) is the only one to cut through thick till layers which was enhanced by inherited local topography because the Uzkiy Gully occupies a Middle Pleistocene glacio-fluvial outwash depression crossing the interfluve and forming a relatively large catchment, the largest of all the Holocene gullies. The age of gully initiation can be more or less precisely defined only for the Volchiy Gully (no. 3). Its fan has never been subject to Fig. 6. Typical cross-sections of Pleistocene (a) and Holocene (b) gullies. river channel erosion. The fan buries a well-developed ortho-podzolic soil (albeluvisol), showing that since the beginning of the Holocene, at least, the valley side has been stable and no sediment was delivered origin (glaciofluvial, fluvial and mass movement processes). This from it into the adjacent floodplain areas (Fig. 4c). This long period incision occurred most probably in the Late Glacial due to high surface of stability may imply that the climatic event responsible for gully runoff inferred from large river palaeochannels (see Section 2.4). An formation was exceptional during the entire Holocene. Abundant additional reason for dating the gully incision to that time was lateral charcoal particles were found on top of a buried soil and at the base undercut of valley sides and local base level lowering because of the of fan sediments. A combination of fire and an extreme runoff event Protva river incision. is the most probable reason for the gully formation. An extensive During the Late Glacial incision, a large amount of sediment should fire could have cleared forest cover substantially, thereby increasing have been produced, leading to substantial fan aggradation. Fan pre- slope erodibility. Charcoal particles are dated to 4360±90 14C years servation depends on its interaction with the migration of the BP (Ki-11554) in soil and 4140±80 14C years BP (Ki-11553) in recipient river channel. Most of the gullies with mouths not affected sediments. Calibration 2σ intervals overlap at 2750–2900 BC (nos. 13 by lateral river migration since the Late Glacial (N11,000 radiocarbon and 14 in Table 3); this is the most probable interval of the initiation of years BP) have relatively large fans. The volumes of such gully fans the Volchiy Gully. constitute not less than 15% of gully volume (VF/VG N15%), although The Buiniy Gully (no. 7) cuts a steep sandy valley side that was there are two exceptions with inconsistently small fans (Table 2 and eroded laterally by the Protva River channel 5000–6000 radiocarbon Fig. 7). years ago. This is evidenced by a palaeochannel fill, which is dated at Gullies with fans eroded by the river channel in the early and thebaseto4970±10014C years BP (Ki-6175) (Fig. 4b). The 14 14 middle Holocene (N7000 and N5000 C years BP) have a VF/VG ratio palaeochannel was most probably abandoned around 5300 C years of 14% or less. Gullies that deliver sediments directly into the river BP which corresponds to a phase of considerable channel transforma- channel are characterized by a VF/VG ration of b1% (Table 2 and Fig. 7). tion (Vlasov, 2005). Catchment area is small, hence gully initiation On the one hand, the low values of the above ratios support the was probably triggered by lateral slope undercutting (Fig. 1 and Table conclusion that the major gully incision occurred in pre-Holocene 2). The larger proportion of gully erosion took place when the gully times, most likely in the Late Glacial. On the other hand, this intensive mouth was directly coupled to the active Protva River channel. This incision period presumably took place before the very end of the can be inferred from the small size of the modern fan which is only 4% Late Glacial, as is indicated by the two gullies with inconsistently small of the gully volume (Fig. 7 and Table 2). The fan sediments contain fans (compared with the sizes of the respective gullies) lying on the coarse-grained charcoal particles at the base that are dated to 3420± youngest pre-Holocene river terrace. Gully incision continued in the 105 14C years BP (Ki-6160). Apparently the gully was stable between Holocene; this is evident from the substantial volumes of sediment 5300 and 3400 14C years BP and resumed its activity due to an extreme stored in gully fans (or upper parts of fans) which are apparently rainstorm event which coincided with a strong forest fire. dated to the Holocene. Another dating argument is the complete The Uzkiy Gully (no. 1 in Table 2) initiation can be dated only in- absence of Early to Mid-Holocene dates from gully bottom sediments directly. There is almost no fan though the gully volume is considerable and the occurrence of such dates in some gully fans, implying that active erosion may have occurred in the studied gullies during that period of time. However, Early to Mid-Holocene dates in gully fan sediments are rare, presumably because older parts of fans were removed by the lateral migration of the Protva river channel. The oldest direct evidence of sediment production from gully erosion is represented by the lower sections of some fans (Chugunkin and Senokosnaya gullies) where sediment layers have a facies transition into the Protva River palaeochannel infills dated to 7800–7200 14C years BP (Fig. 4b). The base of the old fan of the Egorov Gully is dated to 6500 14C years BP (Fig. 4c). Gullies formed in the Holocene are V-shaped and have no generation of older upper gentle slope sections (Fig. 6b). There are four gullies of this type (Table 2). Where a Holocene gully opens into a Late Glacial floodplain, its fan has not been subject to river action and is comparable to the gully in volume (the Volchiy Gully, no. 3). In other cases, lateral river channel shifts have reduced gully fan sizes. All the Holocene gullies are cut into rather steep slopes (N150). Three gullies dissect slopes of N250, and two of them have very Fig. 7. Ratios of fan volume (VF) to gully volume (VG) in relation to time elapsed since small catchments (the Volchiy (no. 3) and the Buiniy (no. 7) gullies). the last lateral cutting of the gully fan by the river. Holocene gullies are shown in bold This illustrates the rapid decrease of the critical catchment area numbers and hatched columns. A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 81

Fig. 8. Change of sedimentation rates on gully fans (a–c) and in bottoms (d); numbers of gullies refer to Table 2.

(Table 2). Such a situation is possible only if the recipient river was able of average deposition rates for several time spans (Fig. 8). Calculated to remove all the material delivered by gully erosion. In the small valley rates vary by an order of magnitude from 1.4 to 23.7 cm/100 yrs. To of the Yazvitsy River two epochs of high fluvial activity have been obtain a more detailed figure of sedimentation one needs to analyze reconstructed: around 4700–4300 and between 1000 and 600 14C the stratigraphic positions of the dated samples. years BP (Panin et al., 1999). Gully bottom sediment dated to 1040±70 In the Lisyi Nory Gully fan (no. 9 in Fig. 1 and in Table 2) the two (Ki-10843) proves that the gully had already existed before the lower points on the graph are dates of 3660 years BP (from radio- beginning of the second epoch (Eremenko et al., 2005). Therefore carbon date no. 53 in Table 3) and 2680 years BP (date no. 52 in the most probable dating of the gully initiation is the period around Table 3), corresponding to the basal parts of two layers each of which 4700–4300 14C years BP. This is close to the Volchiy Gully initiation date, had resulted from a single erosion event or short erosion phase. This is which is located not far from the Uzkiy Gully. clear from the gradual fining-up of deposited material, from coarse The Nabatov Gully (no. 8 in Table 2) cuts a two-layer slope composed debris at the base to loam. Therefore, the highest sedimentation of carbonate bedrock at the base covered by alluvial terrace sands. The rates relate to a short initial stage, which the date usually belongs to. gully cuts through the sands and lies over bedrock without cutting into After that, aggradation declined and could cease after a short period. it. The gully mouth opens approximately at the middle of the steep valley Sedimentation rates corrected for stratigraphy are shown by a grey side. The fan makes up only about 11% of the gully volume (Fig. 7 and dashed curve (Fig. 8a). Table 2). Again, fan sediments are saturated with charcoal particles In the Lukianovskiy Gully fan (no. 11 on Fig. 1 and in Table 2; at the base, dated to 620±65 14C years BP (Ki-6164). The small fan Fig. 8b), the age of 3070 years BP (date no. 57 in Table 3) relates to the volume may be more easily explained by the hanging position of top of a 50 cm layer composed of a characteristic fining-up sequence. the gully mouth than by direct erosion by the migrating river channel. The basal boulder horizon (depth 165–175 cm) was formed during Sediments delivered from the gully were conveyed further downslope the major erosion phase. Upwards, it changes into sandy silt with into the river and over the floodplain without creating depositional inclusions of gravels, probably deposited during the declining limb of landforms. If this assumption is correct, then the date of the fan base the erosion event. The uppermost loam with thin peat layers and sediments may provide an estimate of the age of gully initiation. wood debris marks the final stabilization of the gully. Hence, the Its location at a village boundary (Fig. 1) and its unusually straight above date refers to the stabilization phase after period of high planform suggest anthropogenic causes, probably as a result of road aggradation rates. The next point, 1130 BP (date no. 56 in Table 3), erosion. The date of the foundation of the village is not precisely known refers to the top of the next layer. Distinct contact with the lower layer but presumably it was not later than the 16th century when other (depth 125 cm) may be taken as evidence of an erosion episode. At the villages in the area are mentioned in written sources for the first time. same time, however, the clastic basal horizon is absent and the whole layer is composed of fine material (loam and silt with no coarser 4.2. Gully sediment stratigraphy and reconstructed rates of aggradation inclusions). It can, therefore, be concluded that the sedimentation for the second half of the Holocene regime remained similar to that associated with the previous date, and deposition rates can be considered relatively uniform. After 1130 Most of the information on fluvial activity within the gullies BP, boulder layers appear again, indicating an increase in erosion analyzed here has been obtained from detailed analysis of gully fan activity. Several erosional contacts are found in the upper part of the sediment stratigraphy and 14C dating. There are four sediment sediment section, so that real rates of sediment delivery from the gully sections with three or more 14C-dated samples allowing a calculation could have been even higher than the estimated values. 82 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

Erosion dynamics in the Buiniy Gully (no. 7 on Fig. 1 and in Table 2) second-order peaks and troughs that may result from sediment differ from those in the other gullies (Fig. 8c). Since reactivation of the redeposition within gullies. Two maxima, at AD 200–700 and 400– gully at around 3700 cal years BP (date no. 45 in Table 3), average 100 BC, have analogues in fan dates supporting their non-random sedimentation rates on the fan have been constantly increasing. Gully origin. development is strongly constrained by an insufficiently small It is remarkable that the lower age limit of gully bottom sediments catchment area and resistant tills underlying the erodible non- is apparently younger than that of fan sediments. This provides the cohesive deposits which permitted the initial incision. Therefore, evidence that aggradation in gully bottoms was preceded by an overall mostly in case of extreme runoff events the gully seems to have kept a gully incision, which removed all older bottom infill sediments while high potential for further development. The main trunk of the gully fan aggradation was already in progress. The end of gully incision can system is passive now, but a large tributary gully headcut is actively be estimated from the oldest dates from bottom sediments: 3470±80 developing upslope in erodible glacio-fluvial sand. The reactivation of (no. 61 in Table 3) in the Barsuchiy Gully, 2880±70 (no. 22 in Table 3) the gully system was probably related to this tributary gully in the Chugunkin Gully, 2580±70 (no. 38 in Table 3) in the Seno- development, which is responsible for the modern fan formation. kosnaya Gully, and 1760±100 (no. 4 in Table 3) in the Uzkiy Gully. The Hence, dynamics of fan growth are likely to be controlled by internal first three dates were obtained from basal sediments in middle parts of features of gully evolution rather than external influences. the respective gullies (see Fig. 4b for an example). They therefore Sedimentation in the middle part of the Senokosnaya Gully bottom characterize the development of long profiles as a whole. These dates (no. 6 on Fig. 1 and in Table 2) exhibits a distinct periodicity (Fig. 8d). produce SPDD peaks at 1900–1600 BC and 1200–500 BC (Fig. 9c) After the maximum incision around 2600 years BP (date no. 38 in Table which mark the end of significant incision in various gullies and a shift 3) aggradation rates were initially high, probably resulting from local to localized sediment redistribution or even constant aggradation. The cut-and-fill processes in the upper part of the gully. Later, aggradation date for the Uzkiy Gully is obtained from infill of the old gully head rates declined and reached a minimum between 1700 and 800 years BP. (Eremenko et al., 2005) and is thought to characterize sediment At some point in time towards the end of this interval, sedimentation dynamics only in the upper reach of the gully. rates increased and remained relatively high until the present. The entire series of dates allows us to divide the history of gully In conclusion, three of the four dated sediment sequences erosion dynamics into three millennia-scale phases: two phases discussed above prove the trends obtained by statistical analysis of intensive erosion separated by a phase of stabilization (Fig. 9d). of the radiocarbon dates presented in the next section. The most In defining the limits of the phases, we used 1σ intervals of SPDD distinct trend is a shift to high sedimentation rates around 1200 years corrected to pseudo-variability of the calibrated equally-spaced data BP (Lisiy Nory and Lukyanovskiy gullies) or at some later time set. All chronological boundaries are rounded to 100 years in BP time (Senokosnaya Gully). The intensive erosion phase before 2600 years scale. BP is less prominent, perhaps because of an insufficient number of available dates and long time intervals in between. Changes in (i) Phase 1 (high erosion): 0–1200 cal BP. It corresponds well sedimentation/erosion intensity are probably in most cases controlled with dates for fan aggradation (Section 4.2) showing an abrupt by external factors. However, in one case (Buiniy Gully) internal increase of sedimentation rates after 1200 years BP. One event/ mechanisms of the gully development seem to be the dominant episode of high erosion is found around 900 years BP (10th control of the temporal variability of erosion rates. century AD). The increase of SPDD at 600 years BP is probably a pseudo-peak produced by the shape of the calibration curve 4.3. Changing frequencies of erosion events in the second half of the Holocene (see the same peak in the SPDD of the equally-spaced series, Fig. 9d). Sixty-five dates from gully sediments younger than 5000 14C years The decrease in the frequency of dates in the last 500 years are available for statistical processing. The datings are regarded as is attributed to sample bias. Most gullies are characterized by representing randomly selected erosion-derived stratigraphic units, active modern erosion, such as secondary bottom incision and i.e. they represent a random selection of erosion events in different headcut advance (Bolysov and Tarzaeva, 1996). In many cases gullies. The temporal distribution of this dataset is thought to exhibit this erosion is evidently driven by human impact from culti- changing frequencies of erosion events over the case study area. The vation, road erosion, runoff collection by road embankments, series may be discussed as a whole, or differentiated into dates from etc. For example, the Egorov Gully (no. 16 on Fig. 1) remained fan sediments (40 dates) and dates from sediments stored in gully almost stable with five relatively inactive, hollow-shaped heads bottoms (25 dates). Fan sediments correspond to sediment export with vegetation cover until in the late 1970s all runoff from its from the gully system as a whole. Bottom sediments may be derived catchment was concentrated in a single concrete culvert under from several localized sources such as gully head advance, sediment the newly built road embankment and diverted into one central redistribution along the gully, or mass movements on the gully sides. gully head. The latter subsequently began to grow intensively Taken separately, they supplement the more detailed interpretation of (1.5–2.0 m/year), with flash floods resembling debris flows erosion chronology. occurring approximately once per decade. Erosion is also found Normalized summed probability density distributions (SPDD) in gullies with almost no human impact in their catchments. For of calibrated dates are shown in Fig. 9. Peaks and lows in probability example, the Lisyu Nory Gully (no. 9 on Fig. 1) has a 100% density indicate respectively, higher and lower frequencies of forested catchment; however, it is characterized by relatively sedimentation and associated erosion events. The rough separation active headcut advance (about 1.5 m/year) and a few rapidly of peaks of frequency was made using the 1σ interval (probability developing, localized secondary bottom incisions in the middle 68.2%). The fan dataset has two general peaks, at 1900–700 BC and part. 600–1500 AD, separated by a minimum at 700 BC–600 AD (Fig. 9a). (ii) Phase 2 (low erosion): 2700–1200 years BP. At that time, This minimum can be attributed to a decrease in erosion and sedi- aggradation on gully fans and in their bottoms decreased con- mentation activity. The SPDD decline in the beginning (before 1900 siderably or even ceased completely. This is a period of com- BC) and at the end (after 1500 AD) does not reflect any reduction of plete stability of the gully systems. Two events/episodes of gully activity, but results from sample bias (see above, Section 3). The erosion re-activation are found around 2200 and 1800 years BP. distribution of dates from gully bottom sediments (Fig. 9b) has a They are most apparent on bottom SPDD showing sediment major maximum after 900AD, close to the second maximum of fan redistribution within gullies (Fig. 9a), but both of them are dates. The SPDD for dates from older sediments shows a succession of also found as minor peaks on fan SPDD (Fig. 9b). The rise at the A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 83

Fig. 9. Date distributions (SPDD) for gully fans (a), gully bottoms (b), oldest deposits in gully bottoms (c) and the total series of dates (d) indicating phases of gully erosion.

end of the phase, between 1400 and 1200 years BP, is clearly a humus) and on the sides of the Kamenniy Gully (4370±90, product of the calibration curve. Ki-10537, humus). The median points of the calibration intervals for these dates lie between 4750 and 5000 years BP. (iii) Phase 3 (high erosion): N4800–2700 BP. The decline in the Soil burial time should have been earlier than that given by the number of dates older than 4000 years BP results from a lack of dates on humus as humus always contains older components available, thicker sediments in fans, and probably from a low even at the soil surface (Chichagova,1985). At this stage, we can content of organics in incision-derived sediments. A sampling only state with any confidence that the increase in erosion hiatus makes it difficult to establish the exact beginning of this occurred not later than 4800 years BP. erosion phase. It began apparently before 4700–4800 BP, which is the estimated date for the appearance of the Volchiy Gully The absence of sediments in gully bottoms (Fig. 9b) along with (see Section 4/1). There is also indirect evidence to confirm their abundance on fans (Fig. 9a) indicates that 4800–3200 years an earlier beginning of erosion activity: high flood events BP incision was the dominant trend of development over the entire and active erosion/sedimentation in adjacent small valleys are gully network. Two new gullies (Volchiy and Uzkiy) are likely to have dated to 4900–5600 years BP (after Panin et al., 1999; Belyaev appeared during this period, and the Buiniy gully resumed its erosion et al., 2004). On the other hand, well-developed buried soils activity (see Section 4.1). During the interval 3200–2700 years BP, that mark erosion stability are found and dated in the central- bottom incision occurred only locally in some gullies, while localized western part of the case study area: underlying the Volchiy sediment redistribution became dominant. Gully fan (4360±90, Ki-11554, charcoal), in the lower section Three local peaks of SPDD are found around 4700, 3800 and of the Durnoy Gully fan sediments (4225±75, Ki-6470, 3000 years BP (Fig. 9d); they are all present on the fan SPDD (Fig. 9a). 84 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

The first peak correlates to the Volchiy Gully initiation. The second and Lang, 2003; Valentin et al., 2005; Schmitt et al., 2006; etc.). We have the third peaks correspond to the oldest sediments, i.e. the respective used the systematic description of all known archaeological sites in deepest incisions in the Barsuchiy and Chugunkin gullies (Fig. 9c). the Kaluga Region (Kashkin at el., 2006) to quantify human presence The rank of these peaks is not clear as they may correspond both in the case study region. The Kaluga Region is divided into 24 districts. to decadal or century-scale highs in erosion dynamics and to single In order to focus on the case study site, we used data only on the events spread across the time axis because of uncertainties of radio- Borovsk District (760 km2, 2.6% of the Kaluga Region). There are carbon dating. Another peak at 3400 years BP has been found to be a 106 human settlements dating from various archaeological periods: product of a step in the calibration curve as it is evident also on the Mesolithic (11.5–8 ka BP), Neolithic (8–5 ka BP), Early Iron Age SPDD of the equally-spaced series of dates (Fig. 9d). (EIA: 2.8–1.8 ka BP), and four subdivisions of the Middle Ages: 3rd– 8th, 9th–10th, 11th–13th and 14th–17th centuries AD. We calculated 5. Discussion the number of settlements for each period and divided them by the duration of the period to obtain a time-specific index, the number 5.1. Human impact on erosion activity of settlements per century. Though people already lived in the region in Mesolithic and Neolithic (0.11 and 0.10 sites per 100 years Direct or indirect human impact is the major, or one of most respectively), the graph in Fig. 10 shows that no settlements are important, factors of erosion dynamics in the Holocene (Bork et al., known from the Bronze Age (5.0–2.8 ka BP). In the whole Borovsk 1998; Edwards and Whittington, 2001; Dotterweich, 2003; Bork and District only six artefact findings are dated to this epoch (Osipov,

Fig. 10. Erosion chronology at the Satino case study site (a) compared to: (b) the number of ancient settlements in the Borovsk District (data from Kashkin et al., 2006), (c) major historical and economic events in the case study area (after Proshkin,1992; Osipov, 1999; Kashkin et al., 2006; Bublikov et al., 2008), and (d) changing area of forested and arable land in the Moscow Region (after Turmanina, 1980). A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 85

1999). It makes sense to suppose that population density was low at impact. However, detailed analysis of this peak shows that erosion that time and humans did not influence the landscape. Thus, Phase 3 events were not limited to the vicinity of the Ryzhkovo or Malamakhovo of high erosion is probably not influenced by humans. The appearance ancient settlements. High SPDD values are supplied by 16 dates of settlements during the Early Iron Age and their increase in numbers from nine gullies over the entire case study area, both on the left and during the Early Medieval period coincide with low-erosion Phase 2. the right bank of the Protva River. Half of the dates belong to two gullies, The increase in erosion at the beginning of Phase 1 coincided with a nos. 6 and 9 (see Fig. 1), both rather far off the settlements. stable density of settlements although it also coincides with the Slavic According to Nizovtsev (2001), early settlements in the Satino colonization of the region. Evidence of human impact becomes obvious area were located on the low terraces of the Protva River. Population from the 11th century when an increase of erosion (episode 1b) co- was low, and in the 12th–15th centuries only the terraces and gentle incides with a marked increase in the density of settlements. The promontories of the valley sides were cultivated. Episodes of forest population of the region has been generally increasing further, which clearing by burning may have happened, but there were no per- probably provided a basis for constant anthropogenic influence on the manent arable fields on the interfluves. This activity is believed to landscape. This dynamic correlates well with the overall demographic produce minor effect on erosion (Nizovtsev, 2001, pers. comm.). Rier boom in the south of the forest zone in the 12th–early 13th centuries (2000) describes such a type of economy and settlement as typical (Rier, 2000). of Eastern Slavs: in the 10th–13th centuries, settlements were located Local colonization developed in accordance with regional pop- mainly in river valleys, and watersheds were not yet settled. This ulation dynamics. There are three archaeological sites near or within is supported by studies by Turmanina (1980) who found that in the the case study area that provide a chronology of the local presence 9th–12th centuries the south of the Moscow region was covered by of inhabitants. The oldest Slavic settlement in the vicinity of the undisturbed lime–oak forests that were used mainly for apiculture. On Satino Experimental Station is Benitsy village on the left bank of the average, no more than 10% of the land in the region was cultivated in Mezhilovka River just outside the western edge of the map in Fig. 1.It the 10th century, but expanding rapidly afterwards (Fig. 10d). A new is first mentioned in written sources as a local administrative centre in phase of colonization began in the 14th century when settlements AD 1150, but it was founded at least a century earlier as finds from the began to move away from rivers to interfluves under the pressure of 11th century were made during archaeological excavations (Osipov, population growth and a lack of land in river valleys (Rier, 2000). 1999.). The second site is a part of the 8–10 m terrace of the Protva However, large-scale forest clearance on watersheds only began in the River 300 m south-east of gully no. 3 in Fig. 1. Slavic burial mounds 16th century when the sizes of individual settlements began to in- from this site have recently been dated to the 10th–first half of the crease considerably. Before the 16th century, small villages prevailed 11th century AD (Bublikov et al., 2008). The mounds buried a cultural and fields were also small and located near the settlements to make layer, which belongs to a settlement from the first half of the first the transport of fertilizers easier (Rier, 2000). millennium AD (Bublikov et al., 2008). The third site is Malamakhovo According to Turmanina (1980), during the last millennium the village on the Isma River 1.0 km north of the northern edge of the heaviest anthropogenic impact on vegetation in the Moscow Region map in Fig. 1. Here an archaeological complex was found, consisting occurred in the 13th–16th and 18th–19th centuries. Nizovtsev (2001) of nine settlements dated to different periods: Late Mesolithic suggests that in the Satino area the shift of settlements to the valley (seventh–sixth millennia BC), first half–middle of the first millennium margins and the expansion of arable fields over the interfluves AD, 11th–13th centuries AD and 14th–17th centuries AD (Proshkin, occurred only in the 16th century. In the 17th–18th centuries the 1992). There is, therefore, a population ‘gap’ in the last centuries of the extent of arable land reached its maximum. Land use changes at the first millennium AD, and signs of population activity appear again at Satino site since the end of the 18th century were studied by Antonov the transition from the 10th–11th centuries. et al. (2005). On the General Survey maps from 1767, the interfluves The analysis of the regional and local population dynamics is are shown to be cultivated in their entirety, along with some valley supported by the chronological distribution of various kinds of materials margins. At that time, arable fields made up 66.9% of the total area, used for radiocarbon dating (Fig. 11). Charcoal was dominant through- settlements and roads 5.1%, natural areas such as forests, meadows, out, including periods of no or low population (the Bronze Age), bogs and water objects only 28.0%. Later on, the extent of arable land which suggest its source from forest fires of natural origin. An increase in began to decrease. Abandonment began from the relatively steep charcoal probability density to more than double does not occur until valley margins strongly affected by erosion. At present, cultivated the end of the 10th century AD. From this point on, charcoal remains the fields do not occupy locations steeper than 50 (Antonov et al., 2005). only dated material and demonstrates probability values much higher By the middle of the 19th century, arable fields occupied 47.7%, and than before. Taking into account the synchronous rise in the number by the end of the 20th century only 36.7%, while the proportions of of settlements (Fig. 10) the SPDD peak in the 11th–12th centuries AD settlements and roads have risen to 10.9%, and natural areas to 52.4%. (erosion episode 1b) can be interpreted as a result of anthropogenic Hence, during the last two centuries major reforestation occurred: natural areas, mainly forests, almost doubled in size due to a decrease in arable land to almost half. More information on human modification of local landscapes is drawn from the pollen record. Two case studies are available, with analyses made by I.A. Karevskaya (Panin et al., 1999; Eremenko et al., 2005). The first case study concerns the colluvial deposits in the Yazvitsy valley (see map on Fig. 1, north) accumulated as a result of an erosion event following extensive forest fire (or a series of fires) between 1000 and 600 years BP. Pollen spectra demonstrate a major forest disturbance followed by a succession of vegetation and final restoration of the burnt forest, with no signs of human presence (Panin et al., 1999; Belyaev et al., 2004). The second case study concerns the old infill of the head of the Uzkiy Gully (Eremenko et al., 2005; Belyaev et al., 2005). Two sediment bodies were distinguished in the section separated by a distinct erosional surface. In the lower Fig. 11. Date distributions (SPDD) for different kinds of materials: charcoal and others body dated to 1760±100 (Ki-8471, charcoal), no evidence of cultural (principally wood). vegetation (and, consequently, agricultural activities) has been found 86 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 in the pollen spectra. In the upper body dated to 430±100 (Ki-8470, The onset of MWP coincided with the beginning of the last phase charcoal) and 220±100 (Ki-8469, charcoal), pollen of cereals along of intensive erosion (Phase 1) around 1200 BP. The deep and steady with ruderal and segetal species were found, which indicates ongoing decrease of precipitation in the first half of MWP seems to have been agricultural activity. not favourable for erosion. However, the reconstruction was made on In conclusion from the above, the older phase of high erosion, which the basis of average precipitation, while extremes are more important occurred during the Bronze Age seems to be not related to human for triggering erosion. For example, important high-magnitude erosion activity. Likewise, the increase in erosion in the 8th century AD, is events could occur due to rare but heavy rainstorms of convectional unlikely to have anthropogenic origins as it happened during a local origin that are triggered by hot summer conditions in a generally drier ‘population gap’ one to two centuries before the establishment of the climate. first settlements in the study area. Some indications of human impact on The Little Ice Age in the centre of the Russian Plain is thought erosion are dated to the 11th century, but reliable evidence of human to have occurred from the middle of the 13th century until the end of causes for erosion is found only later for the 14th–early 16th century. the 19th century, with the major cold phase in the 17th–19th centuries (Fig. 13). Long cold winters should have promoted large snow storage 5.2. Climatic influence on erosion activity and high snowmelt runoff that could have been responsible for high erosion rates. However, it is not yet possible to distinguish between For the comparison of erosion chronology with palaeoclimate climatic and human impact, which had already been substantial dynamics, we use the palaeoclimatic data obtained in neighboring during the major LIA. areas in the south of the forest zone. Khotinskiy (1977, 1989) com- The above analysis shows that erosion activity can be correlated pleted a set of palynological analyses of peat sections in the upper to climate changes only at the millennial scale. A more detailed picture Volga River region at latitudes 56°–58°N. He constructed a qualitative of climate dynamics fails to explain the dynamics of erosion. The first scheme of temperature and precipitation changes in the Holocene up reason for this may be the low resolution of climatic reconstructions to the present (Fig. 12b). Klimanov and Serebryannaya (1986) made a available for this region. Second, in humid climates palynological data quantitative estimate of palaeoclimatic parameters based on palyno- provide a reliable estimate of thermal conditions, but precipitation logical studies of four peat sections in the Srednerusskaya Upland at estimates are much less reliable, as is demonstrated by Guiot et al. latitudes 51°–54°N (Fig. 12c). (1993). Moreover, erosion events are usually triggered by climatic The first observation is that recognized erosion phases correlate extremes such as thunderstorms or unusually intensive snowmelt. well with major climatic boundaries of the Middle and Late Holocene The correlation between the probability of anomalies and average (Fig. 12). Phase 3 probably began at the Atlantic–Subboreal transition characteristics of climate is not a well-studied topic in palaeogeo- and ended at the Subboreal–Subatlantic transition. The beginning of graphy. The amount of water that produces erosion effects is lost for Phase 1 coincides with the onset of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) vegetation. Therefore, extreme meteorological and hydrological in Europe (note that both MWP and LIA in Khotinskiy's scheme events may be overlooked in the vegetation response and the related (Fig. 12b) begin much earlier than it is usually accepted for Europe: palynological record. Still, those events are documented in geological Klimanov and Serebryannaya, 1986 — see Fig. 13; Hughes and Diaz, records and fluvial topography. In this way, reconstructions of past 1994; Grove, 2004). However, this correlation does not appear to be a erosion events can contribute to the better understanding of palaeo- simple one as each erosion phase covers rather contrasting climatic climatic patterns. phases in Khotinskiy's graph. There is no exact correlation providing It has generally been assumed that anomalous climatic periods us with a simple model according to which erosion is favoured by are distinguished by more frequent occurrence of weather and hydro- warm or cool, moist or dry climate. Short erosion episodes demon- logical extremes able to exceed threshold levels in fluvial systems. strate even less correlation with climatic parameters. Episodes 3a and Active erosion episodes coincided with the climatic extremes of the 3b refer to warm temperature anomalies, episodes 1b and 3c to cold second half of the Holocene: early Sub-Boreal cooling — phase 3 c — the anomalies, and episode 2b corresponds to average thermal conditions. Volchiy Gully formation; middle Sub-Boreal warming — phase 3b — re- The comparison with precipitation changes shows that high erosion activation of the Buiniy Gully; MWP — phase 1b (the most intensive rates during episodes 1b, 2a and 3a occurred in a high precipitation erosion during the last 5000 years, with possible human impact); LIA — anomaly, while the others correspond to conditions similar to the the Nabatov Gully formation or major re-activation. During periods of present. stable climate similar to that in the middle of the 20th century, the Integral changes of water balance can be illustrated by changes frequency and magnitude of extremes may have been relatively low and of groundwater and lake levels. Diakonov and Abramova (1998) erosion systems were rather stable. estimated changes in groundwater levels in the Meschera Lowland, Valuable information on weather anomalies is also provided by 100 km east of Moscow (Fig. 12d). During the Atlantic thermal written records. In Russian historical chronicles, the systematic re- optimum 5–6 14C ka BP, the groundwater level at the studied bog was cording of natural anomalies began in the last quarter of the 10th deep and the bog was drying repeatedly. In the second half of the century (Borisenkov and Pasetskiy, 1988). Unfortunately, they do not Holocene, groundwater levels tended to rise, which is indicative of a cover the entire duration of the modern phase of intensive erosion generally wetter climate. The same trend is visible from the graph of (Phase 1). Hence, that information cannot be used to discover the lake levels in the upper Volga River region produced by Tarasov et al. cause of the transition from a relatively stable state of gully systems to (1997) (Fig. 12e). An overlay of the erosion history shows that Phase 3 the beginning of active erosion at around 1200 BP. However, the MWP of intensive erosion corresponds to a relatively less humid period and LIA that may possibly serve as analogues of preceding warm while Phases 2 and 1 are characterized by similar humidity though and cold epochs in terms of extreme event occurrence are covered they differ greatly in erosion intensity. Again, no clear correlation is by chronicle data. Krenke and Chernavskaya (1995) counted relative found. frequencies of extreme events mentioned in chronicles of the Moscow A more detailed climate reconstruction for the last 2000 years Region during the MWP and LIA. Severe winters, intensive summer was produced by Klimanov et al. (1995) on the basis of pollen data rainstorms and high spring floods were, respectively, 2.8, 1.7 and 2.9 from the Polovetsko–Kupavenskiy peat bog (57°N). According to these times more frequent in the LIA than in the MWP, whereas rainfall- data, the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) was marked in the center of induced floods, storms and thunderstorms were 1.5, 2.7 and 1.6 times the Russian Plain (Fig. 13). In the period 1200–1000 BP summer and more frequent in the MWP than in the LIA (Fig. 14). According to winter temperatures were 1.50–2.00 higher, and annual precipitation the authors, some types of weather anomalies show a high correlation, 50 mm lower than at present, and the bog could dry up entirely. i.e. a high probability of joint occurrence in the same year: these are A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 87

Fig. 12. Erosion chronology in the Satino case study area (a) compared to climatic changes in the center of the East European Plain in the second half of the Holocene; (b) temperature and annual precipitation in the Upper Volga River region: deviation from the present (Khotinskiy, 1989); (c) seasonal and annual temperature and annual precipitation in the Tula Region: deviation from the present (Klimanov and Serebryannaya, 1986); (d) ground water level in the Meschera Lowland (Diakonov and Abramova, 1998); (e) lake levels in the Upper Volga River region (Tarasov et al., 1997).

severe winters and high spring floods. In this case, the correlation is anomalies such as the LIA snowmelt erosion was probably predomi- based on causal relations: a long winter without thaws provides large nant. Consequently, the ratio of snowmelt to rainfall erosion is likely snow storage. to have been variable in the past. The key point is that different The chronological variation of the frequency ratio of various types kinds of erosion can play specific roles in new gully formation or in of climatic extremes explained above makes it possible to suggest that maintaining the growth of existing gullies, as has been established by during periods of warm climatic anomalies, such as the MWP, rainfall direct gully monitoring at present. For example, Rysin (1998) found erosion dominated over snowmelt erosion. By contrast, during cold that in Udmurtia (East European Russia) rain-induced growth of 88 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91

Fig. 13. Erosion chronology in the Satino case study area compared to the last 2000-kyr climate changes at the Polovetsko–Kupavenskiy Bog (after Klimanov et al., 1995). existing gullies is usually less than 20% of total annual growth, but 5.3. Spatial correlation of erosion chronology gully density is for 32% controlled by the spatial distribution of the maximum daily rainfall value and only for 17% by the snowmelt runoff Studies of sheet erosion in the Holocene based on the chronology value. This leads to the conclusion that gully formation is mostly of erosion-derived sediments have been done in Central Europe. controlled by extreme rainfall events, while gradual gully growth is Several phases of erosion in the second half of the Holocene were maintained mostly by snowmelt runoff. The magnitude of extreme found in hilly loess-covered regions of the Southern Germany from rainfall capable of gully formation is illustrated by Vanwalleghem et al. the probability distribution of OSL-ages for erosion-derived colluvium (2005b). They used channel morphometry of old gullies in the Belgian (Lang, 2003). A comparison with the SPDD of radiocarbon dates for loess belt to calculate the recurrence interval (RI) of rainfall events the Satino case study site on the Central Russian Plain reveals both needed to erode the observed gully channels under different land use agreement and disagreement (Fig. 15). Poor agreement is found at scenarios. For cropland, the RI values were estimated at 11–128 years, 2800–2400 BP: a distinct minimum in Central Russia corresponds to for forest — N200 years. the rising limb in South Germany. No data exist to make an inference whether human contribution (Germany), or a difference in climatic change patterns, or both, are responsible for that. The decrease of SPDD for OSL dates after 800 BP represents time constraints of dating techniques and sample bias rather than decreasing erosion intensity. That is why the peak at 800–900 BP in the OSL data set does not necessarily represent a peak of erosion rates, so its correlation with the phase 1b in the radiocarbon date series from our study is problematic. On the other hand, there is much similarity between the two chronological records. The first increase of colluviation in South Germany occurred during the Bronze Age (Lang, 2003). It corresponds to the second half of Phase 3 (3900–2600 BP) at the Satino case study site, with two distinctive episodes 3a and 3b of increased erosion rates. Episode 3c coincides with a gully formation event between 2850-2500 BC (4800–4450 BP) discovered in eastern Germany (Schmidtchen and Bork, 2003). Distinct maxima in the distribution for South Germany are found around 2000 (Roman period), 1200 and Fig. 14. Relative frequencies of weather anomalies during the Medieval Warm Period (AD 970–1380) and the Little Ice Age (1381–1850) in the Moscow Region as mentioned 850 BP (Fig. 15). All maxima are explained by stronger human impact in old chronicles and other written sources (after Krenke and Chernavskaya, 1995). on the land in the respective periods (Lang, 2003). On the central A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 89

Fig. 15. Correlation of Late Holocene erosion phases in Eastern and Central Europe: summed probability density distributions of dates for erosion-derived sediments: grey fill — 65 14C dates in the Centre of the Russian Plain, relative units, dashed line — 60 OSL dates in South Germany, arbitrary units (after Lang, 2003), and solid line — reconstructed average soil erosion rates across Germany with the exception of the Alps (after Bork et al., 1998). Enlargement for the last two millennia.

Russian Plain, they correlate with erosion episode 2b and the first half of erosion at that time (see Section 4.3). Phase 1a represents a period of erosion Phase 1, including the most pronounced episode 1b. The of human impact. The temporal resolution of the radiocarbon date synchronism of the major trough between 1600 and 1400 BP is series is insufficient to detect changes of erosion rates within the remarkable, as is the beginning of an increase in erosion at the onset of phase. Only indirect evidence can be used such as known changes of the Medieval Warm Period between 1400 and 1200 BP. This increase land use. The maximum area of arable land at the end of the 18th in erosion rates is also found in other loess regions of Central Europe, century (Antonov et al., 2005) probably implies higher erosion at that for example in the foreland of the Eastern Sudeten Mountains where an time. increase of river overbank sedimentation rates has been discovered and attributed to the deforestation of river catchments in Early Medieval times 6. Conclusions (Klimek, 2002). The comparison of the two sets of dates should be interpreted Of 19 valley-side gullies studied here, only four were initiated on the basis of the different histories of land-use changes. In Central in the Holocene under control from available catchment areas Russia, the acceleration of erosion by human action did not start until and geomorphic and lithological properties of valley sides. All new the beginning of the second millennium AD, while in Central Europe gullies appeared on steep slopes (N15°). A frequent location (three an important disturbance of natural landscapes on the regional scale is gullies) is on slopes composed of low-resistance sands as the attributed to the Roman period and even earlier. Hence, the above required catchment area was rather small (1.5–4.5 ha). On a slope correlation probably indicates a climatic signal of erosion rather than composed of high-resistance tills, gully initiation required a catch- the dynamics of anthropogenic pressure on the landscape. In case of ment area of N7 ha. Almost all such catchments are already occupied Central Europe, the climatic signal was amplified by the human factor. by erosion forms while smaller catchments can still be found It can be argued that the signs of human appearance alone are not a without gullies. sufficient basis to suggest an anthropogenic acceleration of erosion. Statistical processing of 65 radiocarbon dates of gully deposits For example, Igl et al. (2000) have demonstrated that in South provides a chronology of erosion in the second half of the Holocene. Germany population and settlement density achieved a sufficient This reveals a two-level chronological hierarchy: level to influence erosion rates only 1600–500 BP while the oldest (i) millennium-scale erosion phases: Phase 1 — 1200 years BP to traces of human presence date back to around 5000 BP. the present (high erosion), Phase 2 — 2800–1200 years BP (low The high-resolution record of soil erosion intensity across erosion), and Phase 3 — N4800–2800 years BP (high erosion); Germany (except for the Alps) since the 7th century AD has been (ii) single events or episodes of high erosion around 900, 1800, elaborated by Bork et al. (1998) via an investigation of soil profile 2200, 3000, 3800, 4700 years BP. truncation and related sedimentation along slope catenas. They found two extremes of strong erosion in the first half of the 14th No human settlements of the Bronze Age are known in the and in the 18th centuries (Fig.15). Findings of Dotterweich (2003) and surrounding region, which indicates that the high erosion activity Dotterweich et al. (2003) show that in northern Bavaria not only during Phase 3 had climatic rather than anthropogenic origins. This soil wash, but also gully erosion increased during these phases. A conclusion is supported by the close coincidence of the termination of combination of factors is thought to be responsible for these erosion Phase 3, and the transition between the Subboreal and Subatlantic peaks: land-use changes and climatic effects such as anomalously high periods of the Holocene. The beginning of Phase 1 also coincides with rainfall (Bork et al., 1998; Bork and Lang, 2003). Gully formation the start of the Medieval Warm Period while no human settlements dating to the late 18th–early 19th century has been found in the loess existed in the case study area. Human impact on erosion may be field of central Belgium (Vanwalleghem et al., 2005a). The 14th- suggested to have been present from the 11th century AD, and more century peak corresponds to a high on SPDD curve in Central Russia confidently from the 14th–16th centuries. (Fig. 15, enlargement), which originates from a steep section of Significant similarity in the erosion chronology has been observed calibration curve, and we cannot be sure if there was any real increase between the center of the Russian Plain and Central Europe, namely an 90 A.V. Panin et al. / Geomorphology 108 (2009) 71–91 erosion minimum at 1600–1400 years BP, an increase in erosion Dodson, J.R., 1990. Fine resolution pollen analysis of vegetation history in the Lough Adoon Valley, Co. Kerry, western Ireland. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 64, 235–245. around 1200 years BP, and active erosion and mass movement around Dotterweich, M., 2003. Land use and soil erosion in northern Bavaria during the the 13th–15th centuries AD. The substantial differences in the history last 5000 years. In: Lang, A., Hennrich, K.P., Dikau, R. (Eds.), Long Term Hillslope of human colonization between the two regions demonstrate that this and Fluvial System Modelling: Concepts and Case Studies from the Rhine River Catchment, Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 201–229. coincidence is probably generated by common climatic signals. There Dotterweich, M., 2005. High-resolution reconstruction of a 1300 year old gully system are, however, also substantial dissimilarities which may have been in northern Bavaria, Germany: a basis for modelling long-term human-induced caused by differences in climate history and the landscape response to landscape evolution. 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