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Abrupt or gradual? Change point analysis of the late Pleistocene–Holocene climate record from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2018

Martin H. Trauth ,
Verena Foerster ,
Annett Junginger ,
Asfawossen Asrat ,
Henry F. Lamb  and
Frank Schaebitz
Martin H. Trauth*
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Verena Foerster
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931 Köln, Germany
Annett Junginger
Affiliation:
Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP), Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
Asfawossen Asrat
Affiliation:
Addis Ababa University, School of Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Henry F. Lamb
Affiliation:
Aberystwyth University, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, United Kingdom
Frank Schaebitz
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931 Köln, Germany
*
*Corresponding author at: Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany. E-mail address: trauth@uni-potsdam.de (M.H. Trauth).
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Abstract

We used a change point analysis on a late Pleistocene–Holocene lake-sediment record from the Chew Bahir basin in the southern Ethiopian Rift to determine the amplitude and duration of past climate transitions. The most dramatic changes occurred over 240 yr (from ~15,700 to 15,460 yr) during the onset of the African Humid Period (AHP), and over 990 yr (from ~4875 to 3885 yr) during its protracted termination. The AHP was interrupted by a distinct dry period coinciding with the high-latitude Younger Dryas stadial, which had an abrupt onset (less than ~100 yr) at ~13,260 yr and lasted until ~11,730 yr. Wet-dry-wet transitions prior to the AHP may reflect the high-latitude Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles, as indicated by cross-correlation of the potassium record with the NorthGRIP ice core record between ~45–20 ka. These findings may contribute to the debates regarding the amplitude, and duration and mechanisms of past climate transitions, and their possible influence on the development of early modern human cultures.

Keywords

Late PleistoceneHoloceneChange point analysisPrincipal component analysisPaleoclimatologySouthern Ethiopian RiftAfrican Humid PeriodYounger DryasDansgaard-Oeschger cycles
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , September 2018 , pp. 321 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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