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A late Holocene paleoclimatic history of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J. Curt Stager ,
Christine Cocquyt ,
Raymonde Bonnefille ,
Constanze Weyhenmeyer  and
Nicole Bowerman
J. Curt Stager*
Affiliation:
Natural Sciences Division, Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths, NY 12970 USA Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469 USA
Christine Cocquyt
Affiliation:
National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Domein van Bouchout, B-1860 Meise, Belgium
Raymonde Bonnefille
Affiliation:
CEREGE, CNRS-UMR 6635, Europôle Méditerranéen de l'Arbois - BP 80-F. 13 545 Aix-en-Provence, Cedex 04, France
Constanze Weyhenmeyer
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 USA
Nicole Bowerman
Affiliation:
Western Washington University, Geology Department, Bellingham, WA 98225-9080 USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Natural Sciences Division, Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths, NY 12970 USA.

E-mail address:cstager@paulsmiths.edu (J.C. Stager).

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Abstract

A nearshore core (LT03-05) from the north basin of Lake Tanganyika provides diatom, pollen, and sedimentary time series covering the last ca. 3800 yr at 15–36 yr resolution. A chronology supported by 21 AMS dates on terrestrial and lacustrine materials allows us to account for ancient carbon effects on 14C ages and to propose refinements of the region's climatic history. Conditions drier than those of today were followed after ca. 3.30 ka by an overall wetting trend. Several century-scale climate variations were superimposed upon that trend, with exceptionally rainy conditions occurring 1.70–1.40 ka, 1.15–0.90 ka, 0.70–0.55 ka, and 0.35–0.20 ka. Around 0.55–0.35 ka, during the Spörer sunspot minimum, drier conditions developed in the northern Tanganyika basin while more humid conditions were registered at Lakes Victoria and Naivasha. This indicates significant variability in the nature and distribution of near-equatorial rainfall anomalies during much of the Little Ice Age.

Keywords

AfricaPaleoclimateDiatomsLake TanganyikaLate HolocenePollen
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , July 2009 , pp. 47 - 56
Copyright
University of Washington

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