The development of the Ohře River near Žatec between the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) and present time was studied to obtain its natural trajectory and thus to understand the role of human impact on floodplain development. The study was based on geomorphic research, sampling and dating fluvial sediments by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and anthropogenic contamination by Sn since 16th century. During the LGM and the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (P/H), the river valley was shaped by large, incising meanders creating the entire valley floor. The Holocene river, due to decreased channel forming discharges, only slowly continued the LGM and P/H trajectory by cut-offs of the large palaeomeander necks and channel belt narrowing and incision. The last Holocene incision step was likely triggered by hydrological extremes of the Little Ice Age. The LGM and P/H Ohře River consequently changed from meandering to low sinuous, incised in the valley floor; this incision was completed by river engineering in the 20th century. The Ohře River development can thus be rationalised neither by traditional terrace-step formation model nor by model of the Anthropogenic aggradation.
Dating the Holocene Incision of the Danube in Southern Hungary
