Interpreting and modelling late Quaternary dune accumulation in the southern Arabian Peninsula

Low‐latitude Holocene hydroclimate derived from lake sediment flux and geochemistry

“…Also emerging is a well‐dated record of multiple periods of dune activity during the Holocene, derived from accumulation luminescence chronologies from sediment cores in Oman (Preusser et al ., ), Liwa (Stokes and Bray, ), and major dune–sediment exposures throughout northern areas of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Atkinson et al ., , ). Gaps in dune accumulation cannot be interpreted, without other evidence, to represent wetter phases per se (Thomas and Burrough, ; Leighton et al ., ), and may be controlled by sediment supply rather than climate (Preusser, ). Thus, while a better framework of Arabian Holocene environments is emerging, the record, for the purposes of addressing critical questions relating to landscape response, is either spatially limited (and therefore at risk of over‐extrapolation) or difficult to reconcile as a clear proxy of hydrological change.…”

Climate-driven changes to dune activity during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation in the Mu Us dune field, north-central China

“…The relationship between OSL age clusters in dune field chronologies and past environmental or climatic change may not be straightforward (Thomas and Burrough, 2012;Telfer and Hesse, 2013;Thomas, 2013;Lancaster et al, 2013), because multiple environmental factors influence how and where the datable sand is preserved, and hence dune field chronologies (Leighton et al, 2014b(Leighton et al, , 2014aXu et al, 2015).…”

Fluvio-lacustrine deposits reveal precipitation pattern in SE Arabia during early MIS 3

“…Aeolian sediments have often been interpreted as indicators of phases of aridity in Arabia (Preusser et al, 2002Bray and Stokes, 2004;Radies et al, 2004;Stokes and Bray, 2005;Atkinson et al, 2011), but aeolian deposition also reflects other factors such as sediment availability and preservation (e.g. Preusser, 2009;Bailey and Thomas, 2014;Leighton et al, 2014). Past humid periods in Arabia have been identified by analysing speleothems (Burns et al, 1998Fleitmann et al, 2003) as well as relict lake deposits Rosenberg et al, 2011Rosenberg et al, , 2012; these pluvials concur with maxima in fluvial activity and alluvial fan generation (Maizels, 1990;Rodgers and Gunatilaka, 2003;Blechschmidt et al, 2009;Parker, 2009).…”