Identifying flood deposits in lake sediments: Changing frequencies and potential links to long-term climate change

This thesis consists of an introduction and three individual papers that investigate the possibility for identifying the sedimentary imprint of catchment processes in lake sediments, emphasising on extreme events and in particular those deposited by river floods. Three individual lake sediment basins in southern Norway have been studied and changes in the frequency of such events are reconstructed for the last c. 10,000 years. In Paper I, the sediments of the glacier-fed Lake Russvatnet in eastern Jotunheimen (61′ N 8′ E) were studied. The record comprises a combination of glacier-derived material produced by the glacier Blackwellbreen and also several episodic processes in the catchment area such as floods and debris flows. In order to distinguish late- Holocene (last 4000 years) river floods and mass movements from glacier fluctuations, the sedimentary record from Russvatnet was analysed for grain-size distribution and minerogenic content, which allowed for discrete mass-movement and river-flood deposits to be recognized. Twenty-two such episodic events were identified; 11 mass movement events and 11 river-flood events. Enhanced river-flood and colluvial activity are observed at 4000–3400, 2900–2500, 2000–1400 and 1000– 500 cal. years BP, suggesting a decreasing trend over the last 4000 years. At c. 2300 cal. years BP a shift in sedimentation regime from a paraglacial to a glacially dominated regime was observed, followed by a Neoglacial expansion period after 2300 cal. years BP. In Paper II we examine the possibility for objectively identifying flood deposits in lake sediments and hence construct Holocene flood records that may reveal changes in the long-term frequency of river floods. The method for identifying flood deposits was successfully applied to a high-resolution lake sediment core retrieved from Meringsdalsvatnet in eastern Jotunheimen (61′ N 9′ E) resulting in a detailed record of river-flood activity covering the last c. 10,000 years, including floods that have also been recorded by instrumental and historical data. The minimum number of individual floods recorded for this period is c. 100. On centennial timescales significant change in flood frequency is observed that arguably can be attributed to large-scale climatic changes such as the varying amount of winter precipitation and number of summer rainstorms. The flood frequency was low during the early Holocene (9770–7700 cal. years BP), and was even lower for the period that followed, lasting until 5500 cal. years BP. For the next 2500 years, a modest increase in flood activity followed. This trend was truncated at 2500 cal. years BP by a sudden shift towards increased flooding frequency. With the exception of a short interval around 1000 cal. years BP, when the number of floods was again low, this tendency of increased flood activity prevailed until the present day; including Stor-Ofsen, a large flood that occurred in AD 1789, and also three other historically documented river floods. In Parer III we compared the record from Jotunheimen to a second continuous, highresolution palaeoflood record from Butjønna (62′ N 10′ E) and found that both the frequency and distribution of flood events over southern Norway has changed significantly during the Holocene. The present regional-discharge regime is dominated by spring–summer snowmelt, and results indicate that the changing flood frequency cannot be explained by local conditions associated with the respective catchments of the two lakes, but rather by long-term variations of solid winter precipitation and related snowmelt. Applying available instrumental winterprecipitation data and associated sea-level pressure re-analysis data as a modern analogue, we document that atmospheric-circulation anomalies, significantly different from the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), have some potential in explaining the variability of the two different palaeoflood records. Centennial-scale patterns in shifting flood frequency might be indicative of shifts in atmospheric circulation and can shed light on past pressure variations in the North Atlantic region, in areas not dominated by the NAO. Major shifts were found at about 2300, 1200 and 200 cal. years BP. This thesis presents and applies approaches to detect rapid geological events in lake sediment archives, and indicates that there have been significant changes in the frequency of floods and possibly debris flows over the Holocene. These changes may partly be linked to climatic, particularly precipitation, fluctuations, but also to other mechanisms such as land uplift, changing seasons and vegetation changes

Mapping of the Subglacial Topography of Folgefonna Ice Cap in Western Norway—Consequences for Ice Retreat Patterns and Hydrological Changes

Folgefonna consists of three ice caps which are rapidly retreating in response to warmer temperatures. The melting of Folgefonna has implications for meltwater drainage and hydropower production, as well as the potential for geohazards and impacts to tourism, the communities and infrastructures surrounding the glacier. To support future adaptation strategies, we need to know the subglacial topography of the ice caps to identify water divides and possible areas for geohazards. Therefore, we mapped the subglacial topography at Sørfonna, the largest of the Folgefonna ice caps, using an ice-penetrating radar (2.5 MHz antennas; 1,000 × 500 m grid). The results show a highly irregular subglacial landscape, with deep valleys and high mountain peaks. The maximum ice thickness is 570 m and the mean ice thickness is 190 m. We examined the retreat pattern of Sørfonna using the subglacial topography map in combination with a simple ice flow model and simulated the ice retreat 150 years into the future. We used two climate scenarios (one with a 1.5°C warming and a 3% increase in precipitation, and a second with a 3.5°C warming together with 15% increase in precipitation) and focused on how the glacial retreat will cause hydrological changes in the catchments surrounding the glacier. The main drainage pattern shifts during glacial retreat, with a larger proportion of southward drainage compared to the present day. The ice flow modelling also reveals that the southern part of Sørfonna is more durable during climate change whereas the thinner part of the ice cap, in the north, melts faster. We suggest that increased winter precipitation in a future warmer climate makes the southern part of Sørfonna more resilient than many other glaciers in southern Norway. The subglacial topography map and the retreat pattern also reveal areas that may accumulate water and could potentially generate a future glacial outburst flood. Sediments from distal glacier-fed lakes around Sørfonna have been used to constrain the thresholds identified on the subglacial topography map. Combining sedimentological evidence from distal glacier-fed lakes with the new subglacial topography map confirms that the retreat of specific outlet glaciers, such as Bondhusbreen, Buerbreen, and Møsevassbreen, will have a large impact on meltwater routing, as they are situated behind bedrock thresholds in the upper part of the glacier’s catchment area.publishedVersio

Reconstructing Paleoflood Occurrence and Magnitude from Lake Sediments

Lake sediments are a valuable archive to document past flood occurrence and magnitude, and their evolution over centuries to millennia. This information has the potential to greatly improve current flood design and risk assessment approaches, which are hampered by the shortness and scarcity of gauge records. For this reason, paleoflood hydrology from lake sediments received fast-growing attention over the last decade. This allowed an extensive development of experience and methodologies and, thereby, the reconstruction of paleoflood series with increasingly higher accuracy. In this review, we provide up-to-date knowledge on flood sedimentary processes and systems, as well as on state-of-the-art methods for reconstructing and interpreting paleoflood records. We also discuss possible perspectives in the field of paleoflood hydrology from lake sediments by highlighting the remaining challenges. This review intends to guide the research interest in documenting past floods from lake sediments. In particular, we offer here guidance supported by the literature in how: to choose the most appropriate lake in a given region, to find the best suited sedimentary environments to take the cores, to identify flood deposits in the sedimentary sequence, to distinguish them from other instantaneous deposits, and finally, to rigorously interpret the flood chronicle thus produced.publishedVersio

Heads and tails: The notochord develops differently in the cranium and caudal fin of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar, L.)

While it is well known that the notochord of bony fishes changes over developmental time, less is known about how it varies across different body regions. In the development of the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., cranial and caudal ends of the notochord are overlaid by the formation of the bony elements of the neurocranium and caudal fin, respectively. To investigate, we describe how the notochord of the cranium and caudal fin changes from embryo to spawning adult, using light microscopy, SEM, TEM, dissection, and CT scanning. The differences are dramatic. In contrast to the abdominal and caudal regions, at the ends of the notochord vertebrae never develop. While the cranial notochord builds a tapering, unsegmented cone of chordal bone, the urostylic notochordal sheath never ossifies: adjacent, irregular bony elements form from the endoskeleton of the caudal fin. As development progresses, two previously undescribed processes occur. First, the bony cone of the cranial notochord, and its internal chordocytes, are degraded by chordoclasts, an undescribed function of the clastic cell type. Second, the sheath of the urostylic notochord creates transverse septae that partly traverse the lumen in an irregular pattern. By the adult stage, the cranial notochord is gone. In contrast, the urostylic notochord in adults is robust, reinforced with septae, covered by irregularly shaped pieces of cellular bone, and capped with an opistural cartilage that develops from the sheath of the urostylic notochord. A previously undescribed muscle, with its origin on the opistural cartilage, inserts on the lepidotrich ventral to it.publishedVersio

Climate adaptation of pre-Viking societies

Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they adapted to it has hardly been investigated. Here, we have carried out a new multi-proxy investigation of lake sediments, including geochemical and palynological analyses, to reconstruct past changes in temperature and agricultural practices of pre-Viking and Viking societies in Southeastern Norway during the period between 200 and 1300 CE. The periods 200–300 and 800–1300 CE were warmer than the 300–800 CE period, which is known as the “Dark Ages Cold Period”. This cold period was punctuated by century-scale more temperate intervals, which were dominated by the cultivation of cereals and hemp (before 280 CE, 420–480 CE, 580–700 CE, and after 800 CE). In between, cold intervals were dominated by livestock farming. Our results demonstrate that the pre-Viking societies changed their agricultural strategy in response to climate variability during the Late Antiquity.publishedVersio

Identifying flood deposits in lake sediments: Changing frequencies and potential links to long-term climate change

This thesis consists of an introduction and three individual papers that investigate the possibility for identifying the sedimentary imprint of catchment processes in lake sediments, emphasising on extreme events and in particular those deposited by river floods. Three individual lake sediment basins in southern Norway have been studied and changes in the frequency of such events are reconstructed for the last c. 10,000 years. In Paper I, the sediments of the glacier-fed Lake Russvatnet in eastern Jotunheimen (61′ N 8′ E) were studied. The record comprises a combination of glacier-derived material produced by the glacier Blackwellbreen and also several episodic processes in the catchment area such as floods and debris flows. In order to distinguish late- Holocene (last 4000 years) river floods and mass movements from glacier fluctuations, the sedimentary record from Russvatnet was analysed for grain-size distribution and minerogenic content, which allowed for discrete mass-movement and river-flood deposits to be recognized. Twenty-two such episodic events were identified; 11 mass movement events and 11 river-flood events. Enhanced river-flood and colluvial activity are observed at 4000–3400, 2900–2500, 2000–1400 and 1000– 500 cal. years BP, suggesting a decreasing trend over the last 4000 years. At c. 2300 cal. years BP a shift in sedimentation regime from a paraglacial to a glacially dominated regime was observed, followed by a Neoglacial expansion period after 2300 cal. years BP. In Paper II we examine the possibility for objectively identifying flood deposits in lake sediments and hence construct Holocene flood records that may reveal changes in the long-term frequency of river floods. The method for identifying flood deposits was successfully applied to a high-resolution lake sediment core retrieved from Meringsdalsvatnet in eastern Jotunheimen (61′ N 9′ E) resulting in a detailed record of river-flood activity covering the last c. 10,000 years, including floods that have also been recorded by instrumental and historical data. The minimum number of individual floods recorded for this period is c. 100. On centennial timescales significant change in flood frequency is observed that arguably can be attributed to large-scale climatic changes such as the varying amount of winter precipitation and number of summer rainstorms. The flood frequency was low during the early Holocene (9770–7700 cal. years BP), and was even lower for the period that followed, lasting until 5500 cal. years BP. For the next 2500 years, a modest increase in flood activity followed. This trend was truncated at 2500 cal. years BP by a sudden shift towards increased flooding frequency. With the exception of a short interval around 1000 cal. years BP, when the number of floods was again low, this tendency of increased flood activity prevailed until the present day; including Stor-Ofsen, a large flood that occurred in AD 1789, and also three other historically documented river floods. In Parer III we compared the record from Jotunheimen to a second continuous, highresolution palaeoflood record from Butjønna (62′ N 10′ E) and found that both the frequency and distribution of flood events over southern Norway has changed significantly during the Holocene. The present regional-discharge regime is dominated by spring–summer snowmelt, and results indicate that the changing flood frequency cannot be explained by local conditions associated with the respective catchments of the two lakes, but rather by long-term variations of solid winter precipitation and related snowmelt. Applying available instrumental winterprecipitation data and associated sea-level pressure re-analysis data as a modern analogue, we document that atmospheric-circulation anomalies, significantly different from the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), have some potential in explaining the variability of the two different palaeoflood records. Centennial-scale patterns in shifting flood frequency might be indicative of shifts in atmospheric circulation and can shed light on past pressure variations in the North Atlantic region, in areas not dominated by the NAO. Major shifts were found at about 2300, 1200 and 200 cal. years BP. This thesis presents and applies approaches to detect rapid geological events in lake sediment archives, and indicates that there have been significant changes in the frequency of floods and possibly debris flows over the Holocene. These changes may partly be linked to climatic, particularly precipitation, fluctuations, but also to other mechanisms such as land uplift, changing seasons and vegetation changes

Rekonstruksjon av sen-holosene brevariasjoner og skråningsprosesser - En studie av innsjøsedimenter fra Russvatn i Øst-Jotunheimen

This study considers an area located around the western part of lake Russvatn in eastern Jotunheimen, centralsouthern Norway. I have mapped processes in the catchment of this lake, and tried to connect these processes tothe sedimentation in the lake. To do this, a 293 cm long sediment core (BL1-05) was taken from the westernmostpart of lake Russvatn. The coring site is situated at a place where it is likely to get a signal from both glacial andnon-glacial processes that have been active throughout the Holocene.A multiproxy approach with signals from magnetic susceptibility, bulk density, loss on ignition andgrain-size distribution in the core has been used to analyse the BL1-05 core. I have done a brief evaluation of allthe methods used in the core analysis.There are nine episodic sedimentation events related to debris flows in the core. These events arerecognized mostly by their grain-size distribution, sorting and grading, and coupled with facies-models such asthe Bouma sequence. On the basis of mean grain-size, degree of sorting, and the amount of macrofossils, sevenflooding events are recognized in BL1-05. From these episodic events I have suggested a debris flowchronology, and thus an interpretation of extreme rainfall episodes in the area. The debris flow episodes wasmost frequent at 3850-4000 cal. yr BP, 2500-2600 cal. yr BP and around 1000 cal. yr BP. There were alsosmaller episodes at 685 and 520 cal. yr BP.The debris flow episodes seem to have a tendency to occur in periods with high ELA on the glacierBlackwellbreen. This could indicate the importance permafrost degradation in relation to these events.The properties of the sediments deposited at a more or less continuous rate throughout the Holocene arebelieved to reflect variations in the extent of the glacier Blackwellbreen. With the use of the analytic parametersmagnetic susceptibility, loss on ignition, bulk density, and coarse silt in these sediments, a late-Holocene glacierfluctuation-curve has been constructed. From this curve it is suggested that there was no glaciers in thecatchment in three periods at 3935-4037 cal. yr BP, 3630-3782 cal. yr BP, and 1878-2854 cal. yr BP. There washigher glacial activity than at present in the periods at 0-130 cal. yr BP, 450-575 cal. yr BP, 600-605 cal. yr BP,900-1050 cal. yr BP, 1080-1410 cal. yr BP, 1610-2200 cal. yr BP, 2530-2650 cal. yr BP, 2950-3070 cal. yr BP,3250-3670 cal. yr BP, and 3800-3930 cal. yr BP.In an attempt to determine the dominant thermal regime for each glacial period I have sketched amethod that with by use of grain size distribution in a proglacial lake can indicate the thermal regime of glaciersin the catchment. This method is at this point tentative, and has elements of uncertainty. However, to investigatethe potential of this method, it was used in a reconstruction of former glacier properties at Blackwellbreen. Onthe basis of this method it seems that periods at 3800-4000 cal. yr BP, 2850-3000 cal. yr BP, and also shortperiods around 630 cal yr BP and 100 cal. yr BP, have been dominated by a cold based thermal regime.This study demonstrates the importance of having a good understanding of the catchment, before doingany climatic interpretation based on lake sediments

New flood frequency estimates for the largest river in Norway based on the combination of short and long time series

The Glomma River is the largest in Norway, with a catchment area of 154 450 km2. People living near the shores of this river are frequently exposed to destructive floods that impair local cities and communities. Unfortunately, design flood predictions are hampered by uncertainty since the standard flood records are much shorter than the requested return period and the climate is also expected to change in the coming decades. Here we combine systematic historical and paleo information in an effort to improve flood frequency analysis and better understand potential linkages to both climate and non-climatic forcing. Specifically, we (i) compile historical flood data from the existing literature, (ii) produce high-resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF), magnetic susceptibility (MS), and computed tomography (CT) scanning data from a sediment core covering the last 10 300 years, and (iii) integrate these data sets in order to better estimate design floods and assess non-stationarities. Based on observations from Lake Flyginnsjøen, receiving sediments from Glomma only when it reaches a certain threshold, we can estimate flood frequency in a moving window of 50 years across millennia revealing that past flood frequency is non-stationary on different timescales. We observe that periods with increased flood activity (4000–2000 years ago and <1000 years ago) correspond broadly to intervals with lower than average summer temperatures and glacier growth, whereas intervals with higher than average summer temperatures and receding glaciers overlap with periods of reduced numbers of floods (10 000 to 4000 years ago and 2200 to 1000 years ago). The flood frequency shows significant non-stationarities within periods with increased flood activity, as was the case for the 18th century, including the 1789 CE (“Stor-Ofsen”) flood, the largest on record for the last 10 300 years at this site. Using the identified non-stationarities in the paleoflood record allowed us to estimate non-stationary design floods. In particular, we found that the design flood was 23 % higher during the 18th century than today and that long-term trends in flood variability are intrinsically linked to the availability of snow in late spring linking climate change to adjustments in flood frequency

New flood frequency estimates for the largest river in Norway based on the combination of short and long time series

Abstract. The Glomma River is the largest in Norway, with a catchment area of 154 450 km2. People living near the shores of this river are frequently exposed to destructive floods that impair local cities and communities. Unfortunately, design flood predictions are hampered by uncertainty since the standard flood records are much shorter than the requested return period and the climate is also expected to change in the coming decades. Here we combine systematic historical and paleo information in an effort to improve flood frequency analysis and better understand potential linkages to both climate and non-climatic forcing. Specifically, we (i) compile historical flood data from the existing literature, (ii) produce high-resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF), magnetic susceptibility (MS), and computed tomography (CT) scanning data from a sediment core covering the last 10 300 years, and (iii) integrate these data sets in order to better estimate design floods and assess non-stationarities. Based on observations from Lake Flyginnsjøen, receiving sediments from Glomma only when it reaches a certain threshold, we can estimate flood frequency in a moving window of 50 years across millennia revealing that past flood frequency is non-stationary on different timescales. We observe that periods with increased flood activity (4000–2000 years ago and &lt;1000 years ago) correspond broadly to intervals with lower than average summer temperatures and glacier growth, whereas intervals with higher than average summer temperatures and receding glaciers overlap with periods of reduced numbers of floods (10 000 to 4000 years ago and 2200 to 1000 years ago). The flood frequency shows significant non-stationarities within periods with increased flood activity, as was the case for the 18th century, including the 1789 CE (“Stor-Ofsen”) flood, the largest on record for the last 10 300 years at this site. Using the identified non-stationarities in the paleoflood record allowed us to estimate non-stationary design floods. In particular, we found that the design flood was 23 % higher during the 18th century than today and that long-term trends in flood variability are intrinsically linked to the availability of snow in late spring linking climate change to adjustments in flood frequency

Mapping of the Subglacial Topography of Folgefonna Ice Cap in Western Norway—Consequences for Ice Retreat Patterns and Hydrological Changes

Folgefonna consists of three ice caps which are rapidly retreating in response to warmer temperatures. The melting of Folgefonna has implications for meltwater drainage and hydropower production, as well as the potential for geohazards and impacts to tourism, the communities and infrastructures surrounding the glacier. To support future adaptation strategies, we need to know the subglacial topography of the ice caps to identify water divides and possible areas for geohazards. Therefore, we mapped the subglacial topography at Sørfonna, the largest of the Folgefonna ice caps, using an ice-penetrating radar (2.5 MHz antennas; 1,000 × 500 m grid). The results show a highly irregular subglacial landscape, with deep valleys and high mountain peaks. The maximum ice thickness is 570 m and the mean ice thickness is 190 m. We examined the retreat pattern of Sørfonna using the subglacial topography map in combination with a simple ice flow model and simulated the ice retreat 150 years into the future. We used two climate scenarios (one with a 1.5°C warming and a 3% increase in precipitation, and a second with a 3.5°C warming together with 15% increase in precipitation) and focused on how the glacial retreat will cause hydrological changes in the catchments surrounding the glacier. The main drainage pattern shifts during glacial retreat, with a larger proportion of southward drainage compared to the present day. The ice flow modelling also reveals that the southern part of Sørfonna is more durable during climate change whereas the thinner part of the ice cap, in the north, melts faster. We suggest that increased winter precipitation in a future warmer climate makes the southern part of Sørfonna more resilient than many other glaciers in southern Norway. The subglacial topography map and the retreat pattern also reveal areas that may accumulate water and could potentially generate a future glacial outburst flood. Sediments from distal glacier-fed lakes around Sørfonna have been used to constrain the thresholds identified on the subglacial topography map. Combining sedimentological evidence from distal glacier-fed lakes with the new subglacial topography map confirms that the retreat of specific outlet glaciers, such as Bondhusbreen, Buerbreen, and Møsevassbreen, will have a large impact on meltwater routing, as they are situated behind bedrock thresholds in the upper part of the glacier’s catchment area