Biochemostratigraphy of the Eger floodplain (Southern Germany) – detection and quantification of heavy metal contamination and paleoenvironmental conditions: the basic dataset

Abstract

The current state of floodplains – their morphology, sedimentation regimes and rates, biochemistry and ecosystem health – highlights the interconnectedness of human activities and natural ecosystems. Over the centuries, floodplains have been used for and transformed by many anthropogenic purposes including agriculture, industry and urban development. These activities have resulted in the accumulation of pollutants in highly vulnerable floodplains, yet we understand little about the historical evolution of fluvial anthropospheres. The Eger floodplain study site is located 2 km downstream of the mediaeval city walls of Nördlingen in southern Germany. In the Middle Ages, the city became an important and prosperous urban trade and craft centre due to its location at the crossroads of two major trade routes (Frankfurt-Würzburg-Augsburg and Nürnberg-Ulm). This data manuscript documents four alluvial soil-sediment profiles, NEP 1 to NEP 4, that were excavated and investigated in the floodplain section. The dataset includes grain-size data, element-specific X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) data, anthracological data, quantitative data of mollusc and microfossil assemblages from the sand-sized sediment fraction, pedological field parameters, biogeochemical soil properties and numerical data relating to radiocarbon and luminescence dating. These data provide the basis for reconstructing the Late Holocene biochemostratigraphy of the Eger River floodplain with respect to anthropogenic impacts and paleoenvironmental history.