Sedimentary and geomorphic evidence of Saharan megalakes: A synthesis

Drake, Nick; Candy, Ian; Breeze, Paul S.; Armitage, Simon; Gasmi, Nabil; Schwenninger, J.-L.; Peat, Danielle; Manning, Katie

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107318

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(151 reference statements)

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“…To map paleohydrology we used techniques previously established by Breeze et al [48][49][50]. Former drainage systems and catchments were mapped using the HydroSHEDS dataset [51] to detect the topographic expression of the most recent configuration of former river channels, and then critiqued and augmented using PALSAR [52] radar data that allows the visual detection of shallow buried channels, and areas of earlier channel switching and drainage capture [53]. A rough determination of the age of the river systems of Iran was established using available data from dating of lava flows intruded along channels [54], and from timescales for the creation of the central Zagros spine basins [55], with results suggesting that in many areas of the country the principal current drainage configurations pre-date the Quaternary [56].…”

Section: Paleohydrological Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran

Shoaee

Breeze²,

Drake³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Fossil and archaeological evidence indicates that hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia occurred throughout the Pleistocene, including the expansion of Homo sapiens populations out of Africa. While there is evidence for hominin occupations in the Pleistocene in Iran, as evidenced by the presence of Lower to Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites, the extent to which humid periods facilitated population expansions into western Asia has remained unclear. To test the role of humid periods on hominin dispersals here we assess Paleolithic site distributions and paleoenvironmental records across Iran. We developed the first spatially comprehensive, high-resolution paleohydrological model for Iran in order to assess water availability and its influence on hominin dispersals. We highlight environmentally mediated routes which likely played a key role in Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals, including the expansion of H. sapiens and Neanderthals eastwards into Asia. Our combined analyses indicate that, during MIS 5, there were opportunities for hominins to traverse a northern route through the Alborz and Kopet Dagh Mountains and the Dasht-I Kavir desert owing to the presence of activated fresh water sources. We recognize a new southern route along the Zagros Mountains and extending eastwards towards Pakistan and Afghanistan. We find evidence for a potential northern route during MIS 3, which would have permitted hominin movements and species interactions in Southwest Asia. Between humid periods, these interconnections would have waned, isolating populations in the Zagros and Alborz Mountains, where hominins may have continued to have had access to water.

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Section: Paleohydrological Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran

Shoaee

Breeze²,

Drake³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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“…Libya) and the Arabian Peninsula is likely too small (Fig. 2a), with widespread evidence indicating regional river networks and lakes during the NAHPs [47][48][49][50][51][52][53] . In N.E.…”

Section: Timing Amplitude and Spatial Pattern Of The Nahpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

North African Humid Periods over the past 800000 years – Timing, Amplitude and Forcing

Armstrong

Tallavaara

Hopcroft

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The Sahara region has experienced periodic wet periods over the Quaternary and beyond. These North African Humid Periods (NAHPs) are astronomically paced by precession which controls the position of the African monsoon system. However, most IPCC-class climate models cannot generate enough precipitation to reconcile the magnitude of these events and so the driving mechanisms remain poorly constrained. Here, we present an 800kyr climate dataset produced using a recently developed version of the HadCM3B coupled climate model that simulates 20 NAHPs over the past 800kyr which have good agreement with the timing and amplitude of NAHPs identified in proxy data. Our results confirm that precession determines their pacing, but we identify that their amplitude is strongly linked to eccentricity via its control over ice sheet extent. During glacials, cooling due to enhanced ice-sheet albedo suppresses the amplitude of the NAHPs during periods of precession minima. Our results highlight the importance of both precession and eccentricity, and the role of high latitude processes in determining the timing and amplitude of the NAHPs. This may have implications for the out of Africa dispersal of plants and animals throughout the Quaternary.

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“…These rapid environmental changes had a strong impact on humans in northern Africa, as their preferred habitats of grasslands, open forests, and lakes disappeared 10 . They responded to increasing aridity by retreating to regions with better water availability, such as mountain refuges, oases and the Nile valley 11 , 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early warning signals of the termination of the African Humid Period(s)

Trauth,

Asrat,

Fischer

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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The transition from a humid green Sahara to today’s hyperarid conditions in northern Africa ~5.5 thousand years ago shows the dramatic environmental change to which human societies were exposed and had to adapt to. In this work, we show that in the 620,000-year environmental record from the Chew Bahir basin in the southern Ethiopian Rift, with its decadal resolution, this one thousand year long transition is particularly well documented, along with 20–80 year long droughts, recurring every ~160 years, as possible early warnings. Together with events of extreme wetness at the end of the transition, these droughts form a pronounced climate “flickering”, which can be simulated in climate models and is also present in earlier climate transitions in the Chew Bahir environmental record, indicating that transitions with flickering are characteristic of this region.

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Sedimentary and geomorphic evidence of Saharan megalakes: A synthesis

Cited by 25 publications

References 71 publications

Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran

Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran

North African Humid Periods over the past 800000 years – Timing, Amplitude and Forcing

Early warning signals of the termination of the African Humid Period(s)

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