Combined sediment grain size and silici-clastic element ratios represent the provenance signal – A reply to the comment of T. Matys Grygar (2022) on Ballasus et al. (2022)

In our original study, we used sediment element contents, a standardized mesoscale grid approach and a geochemical-statistical fingerprinting mixing model to reconstruct Holocene hydrosedimentary processes in the catchment of the Weiße Elster River in Central Germany. Tomas Matys Grygar pointed out in his constructive comment on our study that sediment element contents result from the interplay of sediment provenance, weathering processes and grain-size effects. We should note that we did not use the geochemical-statistical fingerprinting mixing model as a black box, choosing to rely instead on extensive geomorphological, lithological and geochemical preliminary work and findings, which we would like to take up again in this correspondence. For further validation of our original findings, we have carried out new grain-size-specific analyses of element ratios from Weiße Elster overbank silt-clay deposition (German: Auelehm) and new grain-size analyses of floodplain deposits from Weiße Elster tributaries. These new data are discussed and are made available in the supplementary online material.