Orbital scale vegetation change in Africa |
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| Authors: | Lydie Dupont |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 23187, USA;2. Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062, USA;3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA;4. College of Earth Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, China;5. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Hidden Metallic Ore Deposits Exploration, Guilin, 541004, China;1. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10025, USA;3. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY 10964, USA;4. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel, The Netherlands;5. MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany;6. Department of Environmental Studies, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA;1. Institute of Plant Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland;2. Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium;3. Palynology and Palaeobotany Section, Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O.Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya |
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| Abstract: | Palynological records of Middle and Late Pleistocene marine sediments off African shores is reviewed in order to reveal long-term patterns of vegetation change during climate cycles. Whether the transport of pollen and spores from the source areas on the continent to the ocean floor is mainly by wind or predominantly by rivers depends on the region. Despite the differences in transportation, accumulation rates in the marine sediments decline exponentially with distance to the shore. The marine sediments provide well-dated records presenting the vegetation history of the main biomes of western and southern Africa. The extent of different biomes varied with the climate changes of the glacial interglacial cycle. The Mediterranean forest area expanded during interglacials, the northern Saharan desert during glacials, and the semi-desert area in between during the transitions. In the sub-Saharan mountains ericaceous scrubland spread mainly during glacials and the mountainous forest area often increased during intermediate periods. Savannahs extended or shifted to lower latitudes during glacials. While the representation of the tropical rain forest fluctuated with summer insolation and precession, that of the subtropical biomes showed more obliquity variability or followed the pattern of glacial and interglacials. |
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