Middle-to late-Holocene moisture changes in the desert of northwest Namibia derived from fossil hyrax dung pollen

New pollen results and radiocarbon dating from fossil hyrax middens derived from the edge of the northern Namib Desert address the shortage of continental palaeobotanical evidence in arid Namibia by providing evidence for the environmental conditions during the mid to late Holocene in the region. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Holocene (Sevenoaks) 2006-12, Vol.16 (8), p.1073-1084
Main Authors: Gil-Romera, Graciela, Scott, Louis, Marais, Eugène, Brook, George A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deserts
Fossils
Moisture
Paleontology
Pollen
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Summary:New pollen results and radiocarbon dating from fossil hyrax middens derived from the edge of the northern Namib Desert address the shortage of continental palaeobotanical evidence in arid Namibia by providing evidence for the environmental conditions during the mid to late Holocene in the region. The results obtained reflect long-term stability in the area throughout most of the sequence. Higher than modern moisture availability is suggested between c. 6 and 1 ka BP by the increased abundance of Poaceae, Cyperaceae or Chenopodiaceae, which respond rapidly by flowering after modest quantities of rainfall. Around 1 ka and recently arid conditions seem to have prevailed, with a decrease in Poaceae and an increase in Acanthaceae. Other palaeoecological evidence from the local and regional surroundings that focused on fluvial deposits, marine palynology and mineralogy confirms this mid-Holocene increase in more effective rainfall.
ISSN:0959-6836
1477-0911
DOI:10.1177/0959683606069397