Natural and human forcing in recent geomorphic change; case studies in the Rio de la Plata basin Original Research Article

An analysis of geomorphic systemʹs response to change in human and natural drivers in some areas within the Río de la Plata basin is presented. The aim is to determine whether an acceleration of geomorphic processes has taken place in recent years and, if so, to what extent it is due to natural (climate) or human (land-use) drivers. Study areas of different size, socio-economic and geomorphic conditions have been selected: the Río de la Plata estuary and three sub-basins within its watershed. Sediment cores were extracted and dated (210Pb) to determine sedimentation rates since the end of the 19th century. Rates were compared with time series on rainfall as well as human drivers such as population, GDP, livestock load, crop area, energy consumption or cement consumption, all of them related to human capacity to disturb land surface. Data on river discharge were also gathered. Results obtained indicate that sedimentation rates during the last century have remained essentially constant in a remote Andean basin, whereas they show important increases in the other two, particularly one located by the São Paulo metropolitan area. Rates in the estuary are somewhere in between. It appears that there is an intensification of denudation/sedimentation processes within the basin.