Holocene Climate Development of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

2018 ◽  
pp. 507-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lüning ◽  
F. Vahrenholt
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Holocene Climate

scholarly journals The influence of land cover change in the Asian monsoon region on present-day and mid-Holocene climate

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1499-1519 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dallmeyer ◽  
M. Claussen
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Precipitation Change ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Local Climate

Abstract. Using the general circulation model ECHAM5/JSBACH, we investigate the biogeophysical effect of large-scale afforestation and deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain on present-day and mid-Holocene climate. We demonstrate that the applied land cover change does not only modify the local climate but also change the climate in North Africa and the Middle East via teleconnections. Deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain enhances the rainfall in North Africa. In parts of the Sahara summer precipitation is more than doubled. In contrast, afforestation strongly decreases summer rainfall in the Middle East and even leads to the cessation of the rainfall-activity in some parts of this region. Regarding the local climate, deforestation results in a reduction of precipitation and a cooler climate as grass mostly has a higher albedo than forests. However, in the core region of the Asian monsoon the decrease in evaporative cooling in the monsoon season overcompensates this signal and results in a net warming. Afforestation has mainly the opposite effect, although the pattern of change is less clear. It leads to more precipitation in most parts of the Asian monsoon domain and a warmer climate except for the southern regions where a stronger evaporation decreases near-surface temperatures in the monsoon season. When prescribing mid-Holocene insolation, the pattern of local precipitation change differs. Afforestation particularly increases monsoon rainfall in the region along the Yellow River which was the settlement area of major prehistoric cultures. In this region, the effect of land cover change on precipitation is half as large as the orbitally-induced precipitation change. Thus, our model results reveal that mid- to late-Holocene land cover change could strongly have contributed to the decreasing Asian monsoon precipitation during the Holocene known from reconstructions.

Systematics of reptile-associated scale mites of the genus Pterygosoma (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae) derived from external morphology

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4603 (3) ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
MONIKA FAJFER
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Mite Species ◽  
South American ◽  
The Family ◽  
Outgroup Species ◽  
Tree Lizards ◽  
Species Groups

The phylogeny of the mite genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae), permanent parasites of lizards of the families Agamidae, Gerrhosauridae and Liolaemidae (Reptilia: Squamata), was inferred with maximum parsimony, successive weighting and implied weighting approaches based on 182 characters of 48 ingroup and 12 outgroup species. All undertaken analyses questioned the monophyly of the genus. Based on this research, Pterygosoma includes 56 mite species associated with agamas from Africa and Asia (Sauria: Agamidae). Within the genus seven natural species groups were found: mutabilis, inermis, melanum, caucasica, fimbriata, singularis and foliosetis; 13 species of the genus were not assigned to any of the groups due to their unique morphological characters. For the ligare group of the subgenus Pterygosoma s. str. (7 species) associated with the South American tree lizards from the family Liolaemidae, a new genus, Neopterygosoma gen. nov., is established. The subgenus Gerrhosaurobia Lawrence, 1959 (3 species) associated with the African plated lizards of the family Gerrhosauridae is elevated to the genus rank. Diagnoses for the three genera are presented. Historical associations are reconstructed by fitting the obtained mite tree into the host topology on the family level. Results of coevolutionary analysis highlight the coincidence of both trees. The studies suggest that the ancestor of the genus Pterygosoma switched from the hosts of Gerrhosaurobia i.e. from the plated lizards (Gerrhosauridae) to the agamas (Agamidae), and the genus Pterygosoma has its biogeographic origin in North Africa, and colonized Asia via the Arabian Peninsula, which is congruent with the historical biogeography of its hosts.

scholarly journals The influence of land cover change in the Asian monsoon region on present-day and mid-Holocene climate

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1693-1731 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dallmeyer ◽  
M. Claussen
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Precipitation Change ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Local Climate

Abstract. Using the general circulation model ECHAM5/JSBACH, we investigate the biogeophysical effect of large-scale afforestation and deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain on present-day and mid-Holocene climate. We demonstrate that the applied land cover change does not only modify the local climate but also change the climate in North Africa and the Middle East via teleconnections. Deforestation in the Asian monsoon domain enhances the rainfall in North Africa. In parts of the Sahara summer precipitation is more than doubled. In contrast, afforestation strongly decreases summer rainfall in the Middle East and even leads to the cessation of the rainfall-activity in some parts of this region. Regarding the local climate, deforestation results in a reduction of precipitation and a cooler climate as grass mostly has a higher albedo than forests. However, in the core region of the Asian monsoon the decrease of evaporative cooling in the monsoon season overcompensates this signal and results in a net warming. Afforestation has mainly the opposite effect, although the pattern of change is less clear. It leads to more precipitation in most parts of the Asian monsoon domain and a warmer climate except for the southern regions where a stronger evaporation decreases near-surface temperatures in the monsoon season. When prescribing mid-Holocene insolation, the pattern of local precipitation change differs. Afforestation particularly increases monsoon rainfall in the region along the Yellow River which was the settlement area of major prehistoric cultures. In this region, the effect of land cover change on precipitation is half as large as the orbitally-induced precipitation change. Thus, our model results reveal that mid- to late-Holocene land cover change could strongly have contributed to the decreasing Asian monsoon precipitation during the Holocene known from reconstructions.

North Africa and the Middle East

2020 ◽  
pp. 194-206
Author(s):  
Sam Hellmuth ◽  
Mary Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Word Prosody ◽  
Typological Variation

This chapter provides an overview of the prosodic systems of languages spoken in North Africa and the Middle East, taking in North Africa and the Horn of Africa, plus the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East (but excluding Kurdish). The survey sketches the nature and scope of typological variation—in respect to prosody—across the whole of the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan language families, addressing, within the limits of the existing literature: word prosody, prosodic phrasing, melodic structure, and prosodic expression of meaning (sentence modality, focus, and information structure). The survey is organized around language sub-families, reporting what is known about the different aspects of prosody for each sub-family, together with a brief discussion of priorities for future research.

scholarly journals The impact of Pacific Decadal Oscillation on springtime dust activity in Syria

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Pu ◽  
Paul Ginoux
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Pacific Decadal Oscillation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Deep Blue ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The increasing trend of aerosol optical depth in the Middle East and a recent severe dust storm in Syria have raised questions as whether dust storms will increase and promoted investigations on the dust activities driven by the natural climate variability underlying the ongoing human perturbations such as the Syrian civil war. This study examined the influences of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) on dust activities in Syria using an innovative dust optical depth (DOD) dataset derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep Blue aerosol products. A significantly negative correlation is found between the Syrian DOD and the PDO in spring from 2003–2015. High DOD in spring is associated with lower geopotential height over the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, accompanied by near surface anomalous westerly winds over the Mediterranean basin and southerly winds over the eastern Arabian Peninsula. These large-scale patterns promote the formation of the cyclones over the Middle East to trigger dust storms and also facilitate the transport of dust from North Africa, Iraq, and Saudi Arabian to Syria, where the transported dust dominates the seasonal mean DOD in spring. A negative PDO not only creates circulation anomalies favorable to high DOD in Syria but also suppresses precipitation in dust source regions over the eastern and southern Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa. On the daily scale, in addition to the favorable large-scale condition associated with a negative PDO, enhanced atmospheric instability in Syria associated with increased precipitation in Turkey and northern Syria is also critical for the development of strong springtime dust storms in Syria.

“Arab” Textiles in the Near East

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Lee Eiland
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Near East ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Arabian Population

Beginning in the seventh century, the expansion of Islam brought with it an outpouring of peoples from the Arabian Peninsula. While the composition of these Islamic armies became more diverse as the religion spread through the Near East and across North Africa to Western Europe, there were clearly elements of both the urban Arabian population, of which the Prophet was a member, and the rural Bedouins, whose migrations from their original homeland continued sporadically for several centuries. This slowed during the period of Turkish hegemony, but it left a scattering of enclaves identifying themselves as ethnic Arabs throughout the Islamic world.

Late Cretaceous (Campanian—Maastrichtian) marine reptiles from the Adaffa Formation, NW Saudi Arabia

2008 ◽  
Vol 145 (5) ◽  
pp. 648-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. P. KEAR ◽  
T. H. RICH ◽  
M. A. ALI ◽  
Y. A. AL-MUFARRIH ◽  
A. H. MATIRI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Detailed Report ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Lower Maastrichtian ◽  
Marine Reptile ◽  
Lower Campanian

AbstractMarine reptile remains occur in the Upper Cretaceous (lower Campanian to lower Maastrichtian) Adaffa Formation of NW Saudi Arabia. This is the first detailed report of late Mesozoic marine reptiles from the Arabian Peninsula. The fossils include bothremydid (cf. Taphrosphyini) turtles, dyrosaurid crocodyliforms, elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, mosasaurs (Prognathodon, plioplatecarpines) and an indeterminate small varanoid. The assemblage is compositionally similar to contemporary faunas from elsewhere in the Middle East/North Africa, and comprises taxa that are typical of the southern margin of the Mediterranean Tethys.

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