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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Persistent millennial-scale climatic variability over the past 25,000 years in Southern Africa
Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 22, No. 21-22, Year 2003
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Description
Data from stalagmites in the Makapansgat Valley, South Africa, document regional climatic change in southern Africa in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. A new TIMS U-series dated stalagmite indicates speleothem growth from 24.4 to 12.7 ka and from 10.2 to 0 ka, interrupted by a 2.5 ka hiatus. High-resolution oxygen and carbon stable isotope data suggest that postglacial warming was first initiated ∑17 ka, was interrupted by cooling, probably associated with the Antarctic Cold Reversal, and was followed by strong warming after 13.5 ka. The Early Holocene experienced warm, evaporative conditions with fewer C4 grasses. Cooling is evident from ∼6 to 2.5 ka, followed by warming between 1.5 and 2.5 ka and briefly at ∼AD 1200. Maximum Holocene cooling occurred at AD 1700. The new stalagmite largely confirms results from shorter Holocene stalagmites reported earlier. The strongest variability superimposed on more general trends has a quasi-periodicity between 2.5 and 4.0 ka. Also present are weaker ∼1.0 ka and ∼100-year oscillations, the latter probably solar induced. Given similarities to the Antarctic records, the proximate driving force producing millennial- and centennial-scale changes in the Makapansgat record is postulated to be atmospheric circulation changes associated with change in the Southern Hemisphere circumpolar westerly wind vortex. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Holmgren, Karin
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Lee-Thorp, Julia A.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Cooper, G. R.J.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Lundblad, Katarina
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Partridge, Timothy C.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Scott, Louis
South Africa, Bloemfontein
University of the Free State
Sithaldeen, Riashna
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Talma, A. Siep
South Africa, Pretoria
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Tyson, Peter D.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Statistics
Citations: 370
Authors: 9
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00204-X
ISSN:
02773791
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
South Africa