Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium

Yassine Ait Brahim; Hai Cheng; Abdelfettah Sifeddine; Jasper A. Wassenburg; Francisco W. Cruz; Myriam Khodri; Lijuan Sha; Núria Pérez-Zanón; El Hassane Beraaouz; James Apaéstegui; Jean Loup Guyot; Klaus Peter Jochum; Lhoussaine Bouchaou

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045

Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium

Yassine Ait Brahim, Hai Cheng, Abdelfettah Sifeddine, Jasper A. Wassenburg, Francisco W. Cruz, Myriam Khodri, Lijuan Sha, Núria Pérez-Zanón, El Hassane Beraaouz, James Apaéstegui, Jean Loup Guyot, Klaus Peter Jochum, Lhoussaine Bouchaou

Earth and Environmental Sciences-Twin Cities

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Abstract

This study presents the first well-dated high resolution stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) and trace element (Mg and Sr) speleothem records from southwestern Morocco covering the last 1000 yrs. Our records reveal substantial decadal to multidecadal swings between dry and humid periods, consistent with regional paleorecords with prevailing dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. These coherent regional climate signals suggest common climate controls. Statistical analyses indicate that the climate of southwestern Morocco remained under the combined influence of both the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) over the last millennium. Interestingly, the generally warmer MCA and colder LIA at longer multidecadal timescales probably influenced the regional climate in North Africa through the influence on Sahara Low which weakened and strengthened the mean moisture inflow from the Atlantic Ocean during the MCA and LIA respectively.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volume	476
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045
State	Published - Oct 15 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the CLIMACTE Tripartite Cooperative Project (IRD-France/CNPq-Brazil/APGMV-Africa grant 457400/2012-9), the PRIMO: IRD-CNPq project, and the German Research Foundation (DFG; WA3532/1-1) and the strong collaboration between the Laboratory of Speleological studies at the Institute of Geoscience in the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), the Isotope Laboratory in the University of Minnesota (U.S.A.), the Institute of Global Environmental Change in Xi'an Jiaotong University (China) and the Laboratory of Applied Geology and Geo-Environment in Ibn Zohr University (Morocco). We would like to express our gratitude to the CNRST-Morocco for the scholarship awarded to Yassine Ait Brahim. We are also grateful to Augusto Auler and the Associations of Speleologists in Agadir (ASS and ASA) for their help with the field work. The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments which helped improving the paper.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Atlantic Oscillation
Sahara Low
hydroclimate changes
last millennium
southwestern Morocco
speleothem

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045

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Ait Brahim, Y., Cheng, H., Sifeddine, A., Wassenburg, J. A., Cruz, F. W., Khodri, M., Sha, L., Pérez-Zanón, N., Beraaouz, E. H., Apaéstegui, J., Guyot, J. L., Jochum, K. P., & Bouchaou, L. (2017). Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 476, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045

Ait Brahim, Y, Cheng, H, Sifeddine, A, Wassenburg, JA, Cruz, FW, Khodri, M, Sha, L, Pérez-Zanón, N, Beraaouz, EH, Apaéstegui, J, Guyot, JL, Jochum, KP & Bouchaou, L 2017, 'Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 476, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045

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title = "Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium",

abstract = "This study presents the first well-dated high resolution stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) and trace element (Mg and Sr) speleothem records from southwestern Morocco covering the last 1000 yrs. Our records reveal substantial decadal to multidecadal swings between dry and humid periods, consistent with regional paleorecords with prevailing dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. These coherent regional climate signals suggest common climate controls. Statistical analyses indicate that the climate of southwestern Morocco remained under the combined influence of both the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) over the last millennium. Interestingly, the generally warmer MCA and colder LIA at longer multidecadal timescales probably influenced the regional climate in North Africa through the influence on Sahara Low which weakened and strengthened the mean moisture inflow from the Atlantic Ocean during the MCA and LIA respectively.",

keywords = "Atlantic Oscillation, Sahara Low, hydroclimate changes, last millennium, southwestern Morocco, speleothem",

author = "{Ait Brahim}, Yassine and Hai Cheng and Abdelfettah Sifeddine and Wassenburg, {Jasper A.} and Cruz, {Francisco W.} and Myriam Khodri and Lijuan Sha and N{\'u}ria P{\'e}rez-Zan{\'o}n and Beraaouz, {El Hassane} and James Apa{\'e}stegui and Guyot, {Jean Loup} and Jochum, {Klaus Peter} and Lhoussaine Bouchaou",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the CLIMACTE Tripartite Cooperative Project (IRD-France/CNPq-Brazil/APGMV-Africa grant 457400/2012-9), the PRIMO: IRD-CNPq project, and the German Research Foundation (DFG; WA3532/1-1) and the strong collaboration between the Laboratory of Speleological studies at the Institute of Geoscience in the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), the Isotope Laboratory in the University of Minnesota (U.S.A.), the Institute of Global Environmental Change in Xi'an Jiaotong University (China) and the Laboratory of Applied Geology and Geo-Environment in Ibn Zohr University (Morocco). We would like to express our gratitude to the CNRST-Morocco for the scholarship awarded to Yassine Ait Brahim. We are also grateful to Augusto Auler and the Associations of Speleologists in Agadir (ASS and ASA) for their help with the field work. The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments which helped improving the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier B.V.",

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T1 - Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium

AU - Ait Brahim, Yassine

AU - Cheng, Hai

AU - Sifeddine, Abdelfettah

AU - Wassenburg, Jasper A.

AU - Cruz, Francisco W.

AU - Khodri, Myriam

AU - Sha, Lijuan

AU - Pérez-Zanón, Núria

AU - Beraaouz, El Hassane

AU - Apaéstegui, James

AU - Guyot, Jean Loup

AU - Jochum, Klaus Peter

AU - Bouchaou, Lhoussaine

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the CLIMACTE Tripartite Cooperative Project (IRD-France/CNPq-Brazil/APGMV-Africa grant 457400/2012-9), the PRIMO: IRD-CNPq project, and the German Research Foundation (DFG; WA3532/1-1) and the strong collaboration between the Laboratory of Speleological studies at the Institute of Geoscience in the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), the Isotope Laboratory in the University of Minnesota (U.S.A.), the Institute of Global Environmental Change in Xi'an Jiaotong University (China) and the Laboratory of Applied Geology and Geo-Environment in Ibn Zohr University (Morocco). We would like to express our gratitude to the CNRST-Morocco for the scholarship awarded to Yassine Ait Brahim. We are also grateful to Augusto Auler and the Associations of Speleologists in Agadir (ASS and ASA) for their help with the field work. The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments which helped improving the paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2017/10/15

Y1 - 2017/10/15

N2 - This study presents the first well-dated high resolution stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) and trace element (Mg and Sr) speleothem records from southwestern Morocco covering the last 1000 yrs. Our records reveal substantial decadal to multidecadal swings between dry and humid periods, consistent with regional paleorecords with prevailing dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. These coherent regional climate signals suggest common climate controls. Statistical analyses indicate that the climate of southwestern Morocco remained under the combined influence of both the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) over the last millennium. Interestingly, the generally warmer MCA and colder LIA at longer multidecadal timescales probably influenced the regional climate in North Africa through the influence on Sahara Low which weakened and strengthened the mean moisture inflow from the Atlantic Ocean during the MCA and LIA respectively.

AB - This study presents the first well-dated high resolution stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) and trace element (Mg and Sr) speleothem records from southwestern Morocco covering the last 1000 yrs. Our records reveal substantial decadal to multidecadal swings between dry and humid periods, consistent with regional paleorecords with prevailing dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. These coherent regional climate signals suggest common climate controls. Statistical analyses indicate that the climate of southwestern Morocco remained under the combined influence of both the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) over the last millennium. Interestingly, the generally warmer MCA and colder LIA at longer multidecadal timescales probably influenced the regional climate in North Africa through the influence on Sahara Low which weakened and strengthened the mean moisture inflow from the Atlantic Ocean during the MCA and LIA respectively.

KW - Atlantic Oscillation

KW - Sahara Low

KW - hydroclimate changes

KW - last millennium

KW - southwestern Morocco

KW - speleothem

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Speleothem records decadal to multidecadal hydroclimate variations in southwestern Morocco during the last millennium

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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