HOLIVAR2006 Abstracts
The Upper Holocene climate trend and palaeodynamic interpretation of coastal dunes complexes in northern France based on stratigraphy, sedimentology and archaeology.
Murielle Meurisse1, Brigitte Van Vliet-Lanoë1 and Michel Philippe2
1UMR 8110 PBDS, UFR Sciences de la Terre, Université Sc. et Tech. Lille, SN5, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq CEDEX, France
2Musée Quentovic, 8, place du Général de Gaulle, 62630 Etaples-sur-mer; UMR 7041 ArScAn, Ethnologie préhistorique, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, Nanterre, France
Contact: Murielle Meurisse (murielle.meurisse@ed.univ-lille1.fr)
The reconstruction of the Holocene climate trend and of the palaeoenvironmental littoral evolution of northern France is essentially based on a medium/high resolution stratigraphy of dunes complexes consolidated by radiocarbon dating, sedimentology, geomorphology, palaeobotanical and archaeological data (Meurisse et al. 2005).
Seven sedimentary sequences are defined during the second half of the Holocene (Meurisse and Van Vliet-Lanoë in prep.). The oldest peaty units formed from at the end of the Atlantic to the Subboreal with one or two short marine incursions. From about 3000 BP, the system became unstable (storm surges interstratified with peat, humic layers) with early dune sands. Two main phases of dune construction are preserved at the coast. The first one started from about 2000 BP with the local development of a peaty pedocomplex related to water table rise. The second phase of transverse dunes is separated from the precedent by drier humic palaeosols; it was initiated after 1000 BP. The onset of the whole dunes remobilisation started in the 14th though mostly from the 17th century, probably in relation to the Little Ice Age cooling and enhanced storminess. This sequence is marked by the evolution of old dunes into a longitudinal system but also by the enhanced contribution of river sands transported by floods (continental soil erosion).
This evolution of the coastal landscape, in relation with climate modifications, had a direct impact on the human settlements and migrations. This impact, for example, explains the displacement of the harbour installations in the Canche estuary, from the Roman Stapula harbour (located in shore cliff position at Etaples) to the port of Quentovic, more sheltered within the estuary.
Meurisse M., Van Vliet-Lanoë B, Talon B., Recourt P., 2005. Complexes dunaires et tourbeux holocènes du littoral du Nord de la France. Compte-rendu Geoscience 337, 675-684.
Meurisse M., Van Vliet-Lanoë B. Sequential stratigraphy of Holocene coastal dunes of northern France: interpretation in terms of climate and sea-level variations (in preparation).
Murielle is preparing a PhD entitled "High resolution and multiproxies analysis of dune complexes and shoreface deposits on the Manche (Picardy and Brittany)" at the "Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille" (northern France). Her work is based on stratigraphy of shoreface and aeolian deposits. The aim is the understanding of the climate forcing on shore dynamic, with the integration of regional archaeological data, to finally evaluate the both interactive impacts of climate change and of human activities.