TY - JOUR
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 - 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
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027229429&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045
DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.045
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85027229429
SN - 0012-821X
VL - 476
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
ER -
