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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
arts and humanities
Siliceous microfossils as late-Quaternary paleo-environmental indicators at Braamhoek wetland, South Africa
Holocene, Volume 20, No. 5, Year 2010
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Description
A peat-sequence covering the last 16 ka (16 000 cal. yr BP) from Braamhoek wetland, eastern South Africa, was analysed in terms of phytolith and diatom composition. The fossil peat was rich in phytoliths, while diatoms were less prominent, probably as a result of degradation during wetland plant growth associated with silica uptake. With this study we present the first continuous phytolith and diatom record from South Africa covering the Late Pleistocene and Holocene period. The phytolith assemblages indicate a clear dominance of C3-grasses within the wetland throughout the sequence. The fossil diatom record infer changes in past moisture conditions. Unlike the modern wetland, which is dominated by benthic and aerophilic diatoms, the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene wetland favoured growth of planktonic species. Abundance of planktonic diatoms suggests three main phases when water depth was deeper than today; at c.13.6 ka, 11.3 ka and 10.4-10.0 ka. These indications of past fluctuations in humidity mostly provide confirmation of previously published indications of pollen, charcoal fragments and isotopes in the same core, but the siliceous microfossil data also help to refine the paleo-environmental interpretation of the sequence. © The Author(s) 2010.
Authors & Co-Authors
Finné, Martin
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Norström, Elin
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Risberg, Jan
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Scott, Louis
South Africa, Bloemfontein
University of the Free State
Statistics
Citations: 40
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1177/0959683610362810
ISSN:
09596836
e-ISSN:
14770911
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
South Africa