Carbonate, lipids, pollen and spores, charcoal of sediment core GeoB7929-2 during the Holocene from the NE Atlantic

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Main Authors: Dupont, Lydie M, Schefuß, Enno
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2017
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author Dupont, Lydie M
Schefuß, Enno
author_facet Dupont, Lydie M
Schefuß, Enno
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents The climate changes associated with the Holocene wet phase in the Sahara, the African Humid Period (AHP), are subject to ongoing debate discussing interactions between climate and vegetation and possible feedbacks between vegetation, albedo, desertification, and dust. However, very little attention has been given to the role of fire in shaping the land cover, although in is known that fires are important in the formation and consolidation of the African savanna. To fill this gap, we investigated the interaction between precipitation changes, vegetation shifts, and fire occurrence in West Africa by combining stable isotope measurements on plant waxes with pollen and micro-charcoal counts of marine sediments retrieved offshore of Cape Blanc. Our study focusses on the roles of fire at the dry limit of savanna during the Holocene evolution of precipitation changes indicating that the impact of fire during a relative wet climate differs from that during aridification. During the humid early Holocene, increased savanna extension and diversification ran parallel to increased fire occurrence. In contrast, after aridification of northern Africa started at the end of the AHP, a maximum in fire occurrence correlated with a deterioration of the vegetation promoting desertification.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_877709
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2017
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Carbonate, lipids, pollen and spores, charcoal of sediment core GeoB7929-2 during the Holocene from the NE Atlantic
Dupont, Lydie M
Schefuß, Enno
Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM
The climate changes associated with the Holocene wet phase in the Sahara, the African Humid Period (AHP), are subject to ongoing debate discussing interactions between climate and vegetation and possible feedbacks between vegetation, albedo, desertification, and dust. However, very little attention has been given to the role of fire in shaping the land cover, although in is known that fires are important in the formation and consolidation of the African savanna. To fill this gap, we investigated the interaction between precipitation changes, vegetation shifts, and fire occurrence in West Africa by combining stable isotope measurements on plant waxes with pollen and micro-charcoal counts of marine sediments retrieved offshore of Cape Blanc. Our study focusses on the roles of fire at the dry limit of savanna during the Holocene evolution of precipitation changes indicating that the impact of fire during a relative wet climate differs from that during aridification. During the humid early Holocene, increased savanna extension and diversification ran parallel to increased fire occurrence. In contrast, after aridification of northern Africa started at the end of the AHP, a maximum in fire occurrence correlated with a deterioration of the vegetation promoting desertification.
title Carbonate, lipids, pollen and spores, charcoal of sediment core GeoB7929-2 during the Holocene from the NE Atlantic
topic Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.877709