Assessing palaeochannel resources in the light of future environmental change
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 03/11/2015

Assessing palaeochannel resources in the light of future environmental change: a case study from the Trent Valley, UK

David Knight, Samantha Stein, Steve Malone
YORK ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST
Palaeochannels are one of the most common features of valley floors in temperate alluvial landscapes, and their value as natural sediment traps containing proxy records of climate, vegetation history and land-use is well known within the archaeological and geomorphological communities.
In the recent past, the most significant threats to these landforms have been associated with quarrying, but future climate change may bring new challenges, associated both with changing natural threshold conditions and with flood risk management. Mitigating and managing future threats to these important historic environment assets requires detailed knowledge of their extent and character. This paper outlines a multi-staged approach to evaluating the palaeochannel resource in the Nottinghamshire sector of the middle and lower Trent Valley, UK. The first stage of the project involved the mapping of features from a variety of remote-sensed imagery, including standard aerial photography, lidar and multispectral data, and assessing the efficacy of each methodology. However, producing a landform resource map is simply the first stage of this project, and this presentation will also explore future stages, including fieldwork strategies for assessing the chronology and preservation potential of these landforms at the macroscale and likely future threats associated with climate change. Whilst such research is important for heritage management, this approach can benefit the wider community. In particular, palaeochannels are key assets for nature conservation, and can play a key role in flood management strategies as a part of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.