A high-resolution paleoclimate record spanning the past 25,000 years in Southern East Africa

Thomas C. Johnson, Erik T. Brown, James McManus, Sylvia Barry, Philip Barker, Françoise Gasse

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

195 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-resolution profiles of the mass accumulation rate of biogenic silica and other geochemical proxies in two piston cores from northern Lake Malawi provide a climate signal for this part of tropical Africa spanning the past 25,000 years. The biogenic silica mass accumulation rate was low during the relatively dry late Pleistocene, when the river flux of silica to the lake was suppressed. Millennial-scale fluctuations, due to upwelling intensity, in the late Pleistocene climate of the Lake Malawi basin appear to have been closely linked to the Northern Hemisphere climate until 11 thousand years ago. Relatively cold conditions in the Northern Hemisphere coincided with more frequent north winds over the Malawi basin, perhaps resulting from a more southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)113-132
Number of pages20
JournalScience
Volume296
Issue number5565
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 5 2002

Continental Scientific Drilling Facility tags

  • M98

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