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Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 5BD, UK (e-mail: cvitafinzi{at}aol.com)
The fluvial history of the Mediterranean basin and the Near East includes depositional evidence for a latitudinally diachronous, locally bipartite, episode of aggradation by equable streams during the period AD 500–1900. According to the Leopold gullying model, the key requirement would have been an increase in the proportion of small, non-erosive rains. Theoretical considerations supported by general climate models suggest that a decrease in solar radiation at the UV wavelengths would lead to equatorward displacement of the subtropical jet streams and the associated mid-latitude depressions. Atmospheric
14C values show a gradual decline from c. 7000 BP followed by a temporary resurgence after AD 500 which includes peaks corresponding to the Oort, Wolf, Spörer, Maunder, Dalton and other solar minima. Reduced irradiance could account for channel aggradation by favouring cyclonic at the expense of convectional precipitation. Confirmation of a solar–fluvial link would benefit both solar history and flood forecasting.
