Interactive comment on “Proximate and ultimate controls on carbon and nutrient dynamics of small agricultural catchments” by Z. Thomas et al

This manuscript examines the geological and land use controls on the concentrations of nutrients in freshwaters in three contrasting study catchments in north-western France. The manuscript draws on a 5-year water quality monitoring data set in both base flow and storm flow conditions, collected between April 1996 and August 2000. The paper is well structured and clearly written, however, I’m concerned whether the overall conclusions as they stand at the moment are sufficiently novel, as the different effect of physical controls and land use on water quality at a catchment scale has been demonstrated in a number of previous studies, including some high frequency longterm monitoring experiments (for example, see papers related to the Irish Agricultural Catchments Program but also many others). I would encourage the authors to clarify