Holocene vegetation and climate records from Lake Sibaya, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)

Precipitation variability in the winter rainfall zone of South Africa during the last 1400 yr linked to the austral westerlies

“…The ages assigned to the depth intervals in which Pinus, Zea, Quercus and Casuarina first appeared were consistent with regional historical records of their arrival in South Africa (Neumann et al, 2008). These methods yielded a relatively smooth age-depth curve with a basal age of 685 cal yr BP (Fig.…”

Water-level variations in Lake Nhauhache, Mozambique, during the last 2,300 years

“…4) (Vogel et al 2001;Holmgren et al 2001;LeeThorp et al 2001;Norström et al 2005;Holmgren and Ö berg 2006;Neumann et al 2008Neumann et al , 2010Gillson and Ekblom 2009). In addition to these relatively long records, there are also a number of semi-continuous or shorter paleoclimate records that corroborate the Lake Nhauhache record.…”

“…Lake Sibaya is the only record that does not show dry conditions at the time corresponding to the LIA. This, however, is thought to be a consequence of anthropogenic activity affecting the vegetation and masking the climate signal (Neumann et al 2008). In the early centuries AD, many of the records suggest relatively wet climate, whereas later, between ca.…”

“…There is a paucity of data from the southern hemisphere low latitudes, but the number of studies is growing. Late Holocene records that include detailed paleoclimate information from the southern Africa summer rainfall region, derive from analyses of trees (Vogel et al 2001;Norström et al 2005Norström et al , 2008, lake sediments (Ekblom 2004(Ekblom , 2008Ekblom and Stabell 2008;Neumann et al 2008Neumann et al , 2010, pans (Gillson and Ekblom 2009;Ekblom and Gillson 2010) and speleothems Lee-Thorp et al 2001;Holmgren and Ö berg 2006). These studies provide a regional picture of highamplitude climate variability, especially with respect to precipitation.…”

Sedimentation on the narrow (8 km wide), oceanic current-influenced continental shelf off Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

“…1C) potentially dates as far back as the late Pleistocene (Grundling et al, 1998;Mazus, 2000;Finch, 2005;Roberts et al, 2006;Finch and Hill, 2008). Holocene pollen records from the region are available from Lake Sibaya, the Mfabeni peatlands close to St. Lucia, the Mdlanzi swamps and Lake Eteza (Scott and Steenkamp, 1996;Mazus, 2000;Turner and Plater, 2004;Finch, 2005;Finch and Hill, 2008;Neumann et al, 2008Neumann et al, , 2010Walther and Neumann, 2011). For details see Neumann et al (2010).…”