The human impact on North American erosion, sediment transfer, and storage in a geologic context

Abstract

Humans are primary agents of geomorphic change, and rates of anthropogenic landscape change likely far exceed the pace of change expected from natural geologic processes. Nevertheless, our understanding of the impact of humans on the natural landscape is limited by difficulties in accurately comparing past and present rates of change across wide spatial and temporal scales. Here, we present a compilation of >4000 rates of alluvial sediment accumulation that provide an indirect record of North American erosion, mass transfer and sediment storage from the late Pleistocene to the present day. Continent-wide rates of alluvium accumulation were broadly stable for ~40,000 years, but increased 10-fold during the rapid expansion of agriculture and river system modification associated with European colonization. Interpreted in terms of mass transfer, humans have moved as much sediment in North America in the past century as natural processes can transfer in 700–3000 years.