Spatio-temporal evolution of the West African monsoon during the last deglaciation
Spatio-temporal evolution of the West African monsoon during the last deglaciation
On the basis of a multi-proxy data set from the Gulf of Guinea (eastern equatorial Atlantic) we reconstruct the spatio-temporal evolution of the West African monsoon (WAM) and present evidence for a decoupling between latitudinal shifts of the rain belt and WAM intensification. The onset of deglacial monsoon invigoration at ?16,600 years before present lagged northward migration of a weak rainfall zone by ?2800 years. Conversely, during the Younger Dryas (YD) time interval, WAM precipitation was severely reduced but we find no evidence for a large-scale retreat of the rainfall front. This observation is not in agreement with the hypothesis of a large-scale shift of the intertropical convergence zone south of the tropical WAM region during the YD. Our results can be better reconciled with the newly emerging concept of a strong influence of Tropical Easterly and African Easterly Jets on modern WAM.
ITCZ, Rainfall shift, Sr and Nd isotopes, West African monsoon, deglaciation, paleoclimate
L13703
Weldeab, Syee
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Frank, Martin
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Stichel, Torben
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Haley, Brian
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Sangen, Mark
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July 2011
Weldeab, Syee
c1bb0462-e3ac-4664-b898-c5bea023fb7a
Frank, Martin
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Stichel, Torben
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Haley, Brian
edc3444f-978a-465e-ae7e-18276b3d601c
Sangen, Mark
dacbb01c-b8a9-459c-8565-c8a401b1ef1a
Weldeab, Syee, Frank, Martin, Stichel, Torben, Haley, Brian and Sangen, Mark
(2011)
Spatio-temporal evolution of the West African monsoon during the last deglaciation.
Geophysical Research Letters, 38 (13), .
(doi:10.1029/2011GL047805).
Abstract
On the basis of a multi-proxy data set from the Gulf of Guinea (eastern equatorial Atlantic) we reconstruct the spatio-temporal evolution of the West African monsoon (WAM) and present evidence for a decoupling between latitudinal shifts of the rain belt and WAM intensification. The onset of deglacial monsoon invigoration at ?16,600 years before present lagged northward migration of a weak rainfall zone by ?2800 years. Conversely, during the Younger Dryas (YD) time interval, WAM precipitation was severely reduced but we find no evidence for a large-scale retreat of the rainfall front. This observation is not in agreement with the hypothesis of a large-scale shift of the intertropical convergence zone south of the tropical WAM region during the YD. Our results can be better reconciled with the newly emerging concept of a strong influence of Tropical Easterly and African Easterly Jets on modern WAM.
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Published date: July 2011
Keywords:
ITCZ, Rainfall shift, Sr and Nd isotopes, West African monsoon, deglaciation, paleoclimate
Organisations:
Geochemistry
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Local EPrints ID: 368788
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/368788
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: f1536385-75f7-46d7-b6d7-5e83c42bd7fd
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Date deposited: 16 Sep 2014 09:46
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 17:53
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Author:
Syee Weldeab
Author:
Martin Frank
Author:
Torben Stichel
Author:
Brian Haley
Author:
Mark Sangen
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