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Niedermeyer, Eva M; Schefuß, Enno; Sessions, Alex L; Mulitza, Stefan; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Schulz, Michael; Wefer, Gerold (2010): Stable hydrogen isotopic composition (dD) and stable carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C) of sediment core GeoB9508-5 off Senegal [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756999, Supplement to: Niedermeyer, EM et al. (2010): Orbital- and millennial-scale changes in the hydrologic cycle and vegetation in the western African Sahel: Insights from individual plant wax delta D and d13C. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(23-24), 2996-3005, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.039

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Abstract:
To reconstruct variability of the West African monsoon and associated vegetation changes on precessional and millennial time scales, we analyzed a marine sediment core from the continental slope off Senegal spanning the past 44,000 years (44 ka). We used the stable hydrogen isotopic composition (dD) of individual terrestrial plant wax n-alkanes as a proxy for past rainfall variability. The abundance and stable carbon isotopic composition (d13C) of the same compounds were analyzed to assess changes in vegetation composition (C3/C4 plants) and density. The dD record reveals two wet periods that coincide with local maximum summer insolation from 38 to 28 ka and 15 to 4 ka and that are separated by a less wet period during minimum summer insolation. Our data indicate that rainfall intensity during the rainy season throughout both wet humid periods was similar, whereas the length of the rainy season was presumably shorter during the last glacial than during the Holocene. Additional dry intervals are identified that coincide with North Atlantic Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas interval, indicating that the West African monsoon over tropical northwest Africa is linked to both insolation forcing and high-latitude climate variability. The d13C record indicates that vegetation of the western Sahel was consistently dominated by C4 plants during the past 44 ka, whereas C3-type vegetation increased during the Holocene. Moreover, we observe a gradual ending of the Holocene humid period together with unchanging ratio of C3 to C4 plants, indicating that an abrupt aridification due to vegetation feedbacks is not a general characteristic of this time interval.
Related to:
Niedermeyer, Eva M (2009): Northwest African Sahel climate variations during Holocene/Late Pleistocene: Insights from plant wax stable hydrogen (dD) and carbon (d13C) isotopic composition and sea-surface temperature [dissertation]. Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen, Germany, urn:nbn:de:gbv:46-diss000116574
Project(s):
Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM)
Coverage:
Latitude: 15.498333 * Longitude: -17.948000
Date/Time Start: 2005-06-15T13:51:00 * Date/Time End: 2005-06-15T13:51:00
Event(s):
GeoB9508-5 (293) * Latitude: 15.498333 * Longitude: -17.948000 * Date/Time: 2005-06-15T13:51:00 * Elevation: -2384.0 m * Recovery: 9.56 m * Campaign: M65/1 * Basis: Meteor (1986) * Method/Device: Gravity corer (Kiel type) (SL) * Comment: geology, 956 cm
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0)
Size:
5 datasets

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Datasets listed in this publication series

  1. Niedermeyer, EM; Schefuß, E; Sessions, AL et al. (2010): (Figure 3b) Stable carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C) of the C31 n-alkane of sediment core GeoB9508-5. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756762
  2. Niedermeyer, EM; Schefuß, E; Sessions, AL et al. (2010): (Figure 3a) Sedimentary n-alkane concentration of sediment core GeoB9508-5. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756757
  3. Niedermeyer, EM; Schefuß, E; Sessions, AL et al. (2010): (Figure 3d) Insolation at 15°N on 21 July of sediment core GeoB9508-5. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756835
  4. Niedermeyer, EM; Schefuß, E; Sessions, AL et al. (2010): (Figure 3c) Stable hydrogen isotopic composition (dD) of the n-C31 alkane corrected for ice volume effects of sediment core GeoB9508-5. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756813
  5. Niedermeyer, EM; Schefuß, E; Sessions, AL et al. (2010): (Figure 4c) Stable hydrogen isotopic records of sediment core GeoB9508-5. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.756836