Quantifying historical gully erosion in northern Bavaria

The Wolfsgraben is one of many ravines that cut into the silty–sandy material of the Triassic benchlands of northern Bavaria, Germany. Within the research area, a gully—several meters in depth—has carved in to a bluff 500 m west of the upper Main valley. An analysis of 17 exposures and 30 drillings was conducted within the gully and its colluvial fan in order to reconstruct the soil formation, extreme rainfall events and land use changes throughout history. ed field studies, chemical soil analysis, dating methods of charcoal and pottery, as well as written documents were combined to produce a high-resolution stratigraphy. ain phases of landscape evolution, caused by extreme rainfall, runoff and soil erosion in agriculturally used areas, have been identified since the medieval period. The highest amount of soil loss occurred during 14th, 18th and 19th centuries, a result of intensive land use. Climate changes affected the intensity of rainfall and the magnitude of soil loss during these periods.