Lower Danube Floodplain: Middle to Late Holocene sedimentation rates and organic matter sink (processes and patterns)

Abstract

The stratigraphy of the lower reaches and floodplains store both mineral sediments and organic matter (which has almost 50% of organic carbon) which are very important for understanding the environmental evolution and organic carbon storage over time. By deciphering the sedimentation patterns of floodplains, we can understand how they adapt to Holocene sea level (and climate) changes.

The present study is based on 10 cores from the Lower Danube floodplain between Braila and Tulcea, 50 14C ages and over 1000 granulometry and LOI samples analyses. These data allowed us to build sedimentation and environmental evolution patterns of the floodplain in the Middle and Late Holocene that is dominated by two major phases.