| Abstract: | A sediment budget for the Late Glacial and Holocene periods was calculated for the Lac Chambon watershed which is located in a formerly glaciated temperate crystalline mountain area. It appears that over 15 500 years: (1) 69 per cent of eroded particles have been displaced by gravity processes and then stored within the watershed, compared to 31 per cent that have been displaced by running water and evacuated outward; (2) the mean mechanical erosion due to gravity processes on the slopes amounted to 16·1 ±6 m and only developed on a quarter of the watershed surface, whereas the mean mechanical erosion due to running water amounted 1·24 ± 0·37 m and involved the whole watershed surface. The mean sediment yields due to gravity processes on slopes were 2300 ± 1360, 1770 ± 960 and 380 ± 100 m3 km?3 a?1, respectively, for basalts, and basic and acidic trachyandesites. Values of sediment yield due to running water were 49±15, 120±36 and 79±24 m3 km?2 a?1, respectively, during the Bôlling–Allerôd, the Younger Dryas and the Pre-Boreal–Boreal periods. They were 56±17 and 166±50 m3 km?2 a?1 during the Sub-Atlantic period before and after 1360 a BP , respectively. These values reflect variations in the natural environment and the impact of human-induced deforestation. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
