Historical morphogenesis of the Turia River coastal flood plain in the Mediterranean littoral of Spain

The cross-referencing of sedimentological, stratigraphic, geoarchaeological and radiocarbon data enables us to establish the geomorphologic evolution of the Late Holocene coastal flood plain of the Turia River. The Holocene marine transgression formed a coastal barrier lagoon environment in the coastal plain. During the Late Holocene, increased sediments supplied to the low reach of the river promoted: (a): the progradation of deltaic coastal sandy ridges on the coastline and (b): the aggradation of the floodplain on top of the sedimentary sequence. Four phases are clearly recognised in the geoarchaeological record of the flood plain. (1): High magnitude flooding events (2800 BP to 3rd century BC). (2): Slow riverbed aggradation and progressive levee formation (low energy flood regime) in Roman times (2nd century BC to 5th century AD). (3): Swampy environmental processes (6th to 9th centuries). (4): Second high-magnitude flooding phase (11th century). The navigable channel of the Roman and early Islamic periods became a wide and shallow braided channel in Medieval times. These phases are correlated with others detected by researchers in many areas of the Mediterranean region and with global Holocene climate events.

Research highlights► We analyze the geomorphological evolution of a Mediterranean coastal floodplain. ► Increased sediments supplied to the low reach of the river promoted progradation of coastal ridges and floodplain aggradation. ► Four alluvial phases identified in the sedimentary record are related to Holocene global climatic events.