首页|A 25,000 year record of climate and vegetation change from the southwestern Cape coast, South Africa

A 25,000 year record of climate and vegetation change from the southwestern Cape coast, South Africa

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  • NSTL
  • Cambridge Univ Press
Abstract The southwestern Cape of South Africa is a particularly dynamic region in terms of long-term climate change. We analysed fossil pollen from a 25,000 year sediment core taken from a near-coastal wetland at Pearly Beach that revealed that distinct changes in vegetation composition occurred along the southwestern Cape coast. From these changes, considerable variability in temperature and moisture availability are inferred. Consistent with indications from elsewhere in southwestern Africa, variability in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was identified as a strong determinant of regional climate change. At Pearly Beach, this resulted in phases of relatively drier conditions (~24–22.5 cal ka BP and ~22–18 cal ka BP) demarcated by brief phases of increased humidity from ~24.5–24 cal ka BP and 22.5–22 cal ka BP. During glacial Termination I (~19–11.7 ka), a marked increase in coastal thicket pollen from ~18.5 to 15.0 cal ka BP indicates a substantial increase in moisture availability, coincident, and likely associated with, a slowing AMOC and a buildup of heat in the southern Atlantic. With clear links to glacial and deglacial Earth system dynamics and perturbations, the Pearly Beach record represents an important new contribution to a growing body of data, providing insights into the patterns and mechanisms of southwestern African climate change.

Last glacial maximumHeinrich stadial 1Atlantic meridional overturning circulationClimate changeVegetation dynamicsSouth Africa

Quick Lynne J.、Chase Brian M.、Carr Andrew S.、Chevalier Manuel、Grobler B. Adriaan、Meadows Michael E.

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African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University

University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

University of Leicester, University Road

Institut für Geowissenschaften und Meteorologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universit?t Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 20, 53121 Bonn, Germany

University of Cape Town

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2022

10.1017/qua.2021.31

Quaternary Research

Quaternary Research

SCI
ISSN：0033-5894
年,卷(期)：2022.105
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