The concept of legacy sediments, introduced in the early 2010s, is increasingly common to refer to sediment produced in watersheds within a limited period by anthropogenic disturbances. Primarily applied for cases in the USA, legacy sediment is a key concept to characterize the health of river corridors and design relevant restoration schemes. Surprisingly, examples of legacy sediments in European rivers remain scarce in the literature, despite the long history of human influences in this part of the world. In this viewpoint paper, we argue that reach-scale engineering during the “Anthropocene” is the main driver of legacy sedimentation along large Alpine rivers. We give an example of legacy sediments induced by navigation infrastructures along the Rhône River downstream of Lyon (France). We surmise that analogous legacy sedimentation likely exists in most engineered rivers. Those infrastructure-induced sediments differ from the classic examples of American legacy sediments in terms of formation mechanisms and characteristics. We therefore suggest a broadened definition of legacy sediments in order to make the concept more applicable to the European context.

在2010年代初期引入的传统沉积物概念越来越普遍，指的是在短时期内由于人为干扰在流域中产生的沉积物。遗留沉积物主要用于美国的情况，是表征河流走廊健康状况和设计相关修复方案的关键概念。出乎意料的是，尽管人类在这一地区的影响历史悠久，但欧洲河流中传统沉积物的例子仍然很少。在这篇观点论文中，我们认为“人类世”期间的规模工程是造成大型阿尔卑斯河沿岸传统沉积的主要驱动力。我们举一个由里昂（法国）下游罗纳河沿岸航行基础设施诱发的传统沉积物的例子。我们推测大多数工程河流中可能存在类似的传统沉积物。这些基础设施诱发的沉积物在形成机理和特征方面与美国传统沉积物的经典实例不同。因此，我们建议扩大对遗留沉积物的定义，以使该概念更适用于欧洲。