Another drought or more pesky humans? Anthropogenic impacts leave drought-like sedimentological signatures in offshore sediments

Worldwide, rivers deliver sediments and nutrients into the marine system, and this discharge is naturally variable due to fluctuations in precipitation, climate, and the shifting morphology of river channels. The sedimentological fingerprint of these variations from cores has been used to reconstruct past trends and conditions. Today, many coastal rivers have been heavily altered by dam construction, flood control, harbors, irrigation canals, …