10.1594/PANGAEA.729198
Castañeda, Isla S
Isla S
Castañeda
0000-0002-2524-9326
Mulitza, Stefan
Stefan
Mulitza
0000-0002-3842-1447
Schefuß, Enno
Enno
Schefuß
0000-0002-5960-930X
Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A
Raquel A
Lopes dos Santos
Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S
Jaap S
Sinninghe Damsté
0000-0002-8683-1854
Schouten, Stefan
Stefan
Schouten
Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes ratios of sediment core GeoB9528-3
PANGAEA
2009
Gravity corer (Kiel type)
M65/1
Meteor (1986)
2005-06-24T01:23:00
en
Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets
10.1073/pnas.0905771106
2 datasets
application/zip
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
The carbon isotopic composition of individual plant leaf waxes (a proxy for C3 vs. C4 vegetation) in a marine sediment core collected from beneath the plume of Sahara-derived dust in northwest Africa reveals three periods during the past 192,000 years when the central Sahara/Sahel contained C3 plants (likely trees), indicating substantially wetter conditions than at present. Our data suggest that variability in the strength of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a main control on vegetation distribution in central North Africa, and we note expansions of C3 vegetation during the African Humid Period (early Holocene) and within Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (approx. 50-45 ka) and MIS 5 (approx. 120-110 ka). The wet periods within MIS 3 and 5 coincide with major human migration events out of sub-Saharan Africa. Our results thus suggest that changes in AMOC influenced North African climate and, at times, contributed to amenable conditions in the central Sahara/Sahel, allowing humans to cross this otherwise inhospitable region.
Supplement to: Castañeda, Isla S; Mulitza, Stefan; Schefuß, Enno; Lopes dos Santos, Raquel A; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S; Schouten, Stefan (2009): Wet phases in the Sahara/Sahel region and human migration patterns in North Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(48), 20159-20163
-17.6635
9.165999999999999