The sedimentary data base: an appraisal of lake and reservoir sediment based studies of sediment yield.

This paper reviews the application of the lake-watershed ecosystem framework over the last decade, in studies reconstructing sediment yield histories in a wide variety of geographical environments from northwest Europe, Scandinavia, North America, North Africa and Asia. An attempt is made to identify some of the technical problems in sampling lake sediments, in methods of dating and core correlation and in the interpretation of the sediment yield information, once collected, in order to account for non-catchment contributions to the sedimentary record. The evidence obtained to date shows that lakes in most environments preserve a record sufficiently well for the reconstruction of quantitative sediment yields. Geomorphological implications of the development of lake catchment studies are highlighted. (from authors' abstract)