2013/05/31 by Vittorio Maselli, Fabio Trincardi · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Maritime and Coastal Archaeology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Geological formations and processes #Delta #Erosion #River delta #Flooding (psychology) #Sediment #Subsidence #Population #Sea level rise #Natural (archaeology) #Drainage basin #Physical geography #Geology #Hydrology (agriculture) #Climate change #Oceanography #Geography #Archaeology #Geomorphology #Structural basin
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep01926
openalex publication_date 2013/05/31 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The review of geochronological and historical data documents that the largest southern European deltas formed almost synchronously during two short intervals of enhanced anthropic pressure on landscapes, respectively during the Roman Empire and the Little Ice Age. These growth phases, that occurred under contrasting climatic regimes, were both followed by generalized delta retreat, driven by two markedly different reasons: after the Romans, the fall of the population and new afforestation let soil erosion in river catchments return to natural background levels; since the industrial revolution, instead, flow regulation through river dams overkill a still increasing sediment production in catchment basins. In this second case, furthermore, the effect of a reduced sediment flux to the coasts is amplified by the sinking of modern deltas, due to land subsidence and sea level rise, that hampers delta outbuilding and increases the vulnerability of coastal zone to marine erosion and flooding.