River-response and Terrace Agradation in the Mediterranean Iberian Peninsula during Historical Times

Mediterranean fluvial environments have responded sensitively to past changes in climate, physiographic conditions and human activity. Chronosequences of river terraces and alluvial deposits were established using morphologic, sedimentological and pedologic criteria, Cand Pb-dating techniques, historical data and pottery fragments. The objective of this study addresses the fluvial dynamic of several river systems focusing on the Vera basin and the lower Penedes basin over the last 1600 years. The correlation between 13 catchments of Southwest, Southeast and Northeast Spain, studied by this research and by various authors, shows that fluvial activity increased during the cooler Holocene climate events such as the Early Medieval Ice Advance (6 – 10 century) and the Little Ice Age (15 – 19 century). In contrast, fluvial dynamics during the Medieval Climate Optimum were insignificant.