Sahel environmental variability during the last millennium: Insight from a pollen, charcoal and algae record from the Niayes area, Senegal
Résumé
The pollen, algae and charcoal record from the “Baobab” depression near Mboro in the Niayes area of Senegal shows that the last millennium was characterized by a gradual aridification which started 1340 CE and culminated 1845 CE. The sub-Guinean gallery forests, which survived the previous environmental crisis dated from the end of the Holocene Humid Period, suddenly collapsed and the Niayes region suffered a dramatic loss of biodiversity. We show that the tipping point between a forested and non-forested state occurred ca 400 centuries after the onset of aridity recorded by the lowering of the water level and the progressive salinization of the aquatic environment.
Domaines
Sciences de la Terre| Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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