Record of the Sedimentary Dynamics and Climatic Variability Within the Sedimentary Filling of Mchiguig Wetland During the Late Holocene

2022 ◽  
pp. 252-266
Author(s):  
Elhoucine Essefi

This work aimed to study the cyclicity of the geochemical chemical parameters and the carbonate percentages along a 59 cm core from the sebkha of Mchiguig, Central Tunisia. In fact, from the bottom upwards, six climatic phases were recorded including the Warming Present (Great Acceleration), the Late Little Ice Age (Anthropocene), the Early Little Ice Age, the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, the Dark Age, and the Roman Warm Period. In fact, the spectral analysis of the studied parameters visualized many cycles. Those cycles are related to sun activity, oceanographic, and atmospheric factors. Solar activity generated 500 yr cycles; however, the oceanographic circulation generated other cycles of 1500 yr and 700-800 yr. The 1500 yr cycle may be the result of the solar activity and NAO-like circulation.

ISRN Geology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elhoucine Essefi ◽  
Jamel Touir ◽  
Mohamed Ali Tagorti ◽  
Chokri Yaich

This paper aimed to study the record of the climatic variability during the last two millennia within the sebkha of Dkhila. Six climatic stages were recognized along the 104 cm core: the Warming Present (WP), the Late Little Ice Age (Late LIA), the Early Little Ice Age (ELIA), the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA), the Dark Age (DA), and the Roman Warm Period (RWP). The WP stretches along the uppermost 1 cm with a high grey scale as sign of a dry climate. The Late LIA is located between 1 cm and 6 cm. The ELIA is located between 6 cm and 40 cm. The MCA spanning from 40 cm to 72 cm is marked by a sharp increase of the GS revealing a wet period. The DA appears along the part between 72 cm and 84 cm; a shift from light to dark sediments is recorded. The RWP appears between 84 cm and 104 cm. Based on the grain size distribution, two low frequency cycles were identified indicating radical global changes of climatic conditions, the differential tectonics, and the groundwater fluctuations. On the other hand, high frequency cycles indicate local modifications of the climatic conditions.


2022 ◽  
pp. 235-259
Author(s):  
Elhoucine Essefi ◽  
Soumaya Hajji ◽  
Mohamed Ali Tagorti

The Sidi El Hani Wetland is located in Eastern Tunisia. It represents the natural outlet of an endorheic system, Mechertate-Chrita-Sidi El Hani, and it collects all the eroded sediment from this watershed. In this chapter, the visual core description focused on three reference sandy bands and on the concept of grey scale variability in order to infer the clay pan response to the climatic variability and erosion during the last two millennia. First, in the uppermost part, the stage Warming Present (WP) stretches from (1954-80= 1874) to 1993, i.e. ≈120yrs; the establishment of modern conditions is characterized by stable conditions with high grey scale. Added to a small salt crust, this period is dominated by a clayey sedimentation. Second, the stage C4 is called the Late Little Ice Age (Late LIA); it stretches between the 80yrBP and 400yrBP, i.e., 320yrs. It is characterized by intermediate GS values; the clayey sedimentation makes up the twofold and threefold laminates. Based on laser granulometer, the genetic approach shows the interplay of eolian and hydraulic erosion.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elhoucine Essefi ◽  
Hayet Ben Jmaa ◽  
Jamel Touir ◽  
Mohamed Ali Tagortig ◽  
Chokri Yaicha

AbstractThis paper covers work intended to study the interplay of sedimentary dynamics and climatic variability over the last two millennia within Tunisia’s sebkha Souassi. Based on the Visual Core Description, and magnetic susceptibility, we date the core from sebkha Souassi to the last two millennia. Genetic grain-size distribution then provided a basis for the identification of six climatic stages, i.e. the Warming Present (WP), the Late Little Ice Age (Late LIA), the Early Little Ice Age (ELIA), the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA), the Dark Ages (DA), and the Roman Warm Period (RWP). The WP stretches across the uppermost 3 cm, with a high grey scale indicating a dry climate. The Late LIA is located between 3 and 7 cm, and the ELIA between 7 and 28 cm. Intermediate values for GS indicate that this stage may be classified as moderate. The MCA spanning from 28 to 40 cm is marked by a sharp decrease in GS indicative of a wet period. The DA appear along the part between 40 and 79 cm, a shift from light to dark sediments being recorded. The RWP in turn appears between 79 and 114 cm. Based on the grain-size distribution, two low-frequency cycles were identified, indicating radical global changes in climatic conditions, differential tectonics and groundwater fluctuations. High-frequency cycles in turn attest to local modifications of climatic conditions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Moreno ◽  
Francisco Fatela ◽  
Eduardo Leorri ◽  
José M. De la Rosa ◽  
Inês Pereira ◽  
...  

AbstractA high-resolution study of a marsh sedimentary sequence from the Minho estuary provides a new palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from NW Iberian based on geological proxies supported by historical and instrumental climatic records. A low-salinity tidal flat, dominated by Trochamminita salsa, Haplophragmoides spp. and Cribrostomoides spp., prevailed from AD 140–1360 (Roman Warm Period, Dark Ages, Medieval Climatic Anomaly). This sheltered environment was affected by high hydrodynamic episodes, marked by the increase in silt/clay ratio, decrease of organic matter, and poor and weakly preserved foraminiferal assemblages, suggesting enhanced river runoff. The establishment of low marsh began at AD 1380. This low-salinity environment, marked by colder and wet conditions, persisted from AD 1410–1770 (Little Ice Age), when foraminiferal density increased significantly. Haplophragmoides manilaensis and Trochamminita salsa mark the transition from low to high marsh at AD 1730. Since AD 1780 the abundances of salt marsh species (Jadammina macrescens, Trochammina inflata) increased, accompanied by a decrease in foraminiferal density, reflecting climate instability, when droughts alternate with severe floods. SW Europe marsh foraminifera respond to the hydrological balance, controlled by climatic variability modes (e.g., NAO) and solar activity, thus contributing to the understanding of NE Atlantic climate dynamics.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1239-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rodríguez-Ramírez ◽  
M. Caballero ◽  
P. Roy ◽  
B. Ortega ◽  
G. Vázquez-Castro ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present results of analysis of biological (diatoms and ostracodes) and non-biological (Ti, Ca / Ti, total inorganic carbon, magnetic susceptibility) variables from an 8.8 m long, high-resolution (~ 20 yr sample−1) laminated sediment sequence from Lake Santa María del Oro (SMO), western Mexico. This lake lies at a sensitive location between the dry climates of northern Mexico, under the influence of the North Pacific subtropical high-pressure cell and the moister climates of central Mexico, under the influence of the seasonal migration of the intertropical convergence zone and the North American monsoon (NAM). The sequence covers the last 2000 years and provides evidence of two periods of human impact in the catchment, shown by increases in the diatom Achnanthidium minutissimum. The first from AD 100 to 400 (Early Classic) is related to the shaft and chamber tombs cultural tradition in western Mexico, and the second is related to Post-Classic occupation from AD 1100 to 1300. Both periods correspond to relatively wet conditions. Three dry intervals are identified from increased carbonate and the presence of ostracodes and aerophilous Eolimna minima. The first, from AD 500 to 1000 (most intense during the late Classic, from AD 600 to 800), correlates with the end of the shaft and chamber tradition in western Mexico after ca. AD 600. This late Classic dry period is the most important climatic signal in the Mesoamerican region during the last 2000 years, and has been recorded at several sites from Yucatan to the Pacific coast. In the Yucatan area, this dry interval has been related with the demise of the Maya culture at the end of the Classic (AD 850 to 950). The last two dry events (AD 1400 to 1550 and 1690 to 1770) correspond with the onset of, and the late, Little Ice Age, and follow largely the Spörer and Maunder minima in solar radiation. The first of these intervals (AD 1400 to 1550) shows the most intense signal over western Mexico; however this pattern is different at other sites. Dry/wet intervals in the SMO record are related with lower/higher intensity of the NAM over this region, respectively.


Author(s):  
Adam Sookdeo ◽  
Bernd Kromer ◽  
Florian Adolphi ◽  
Jürg Beer ◽  
Nicolas Brehm ◽  
...  

<p>The Younger Dryas stadial (YD) was a return to glacial-like conditions in the North Atlantic region that interrupted deglacial warming around 12900 cal BP (before 1950 AD). Terrestrial and marine records suggest this event was initiated by the interruption of deep-water formation arising from North American freshwater runoff, but the causes of the millennia-long duration remain unclear. To investigate the solar activity, a possible YD driver, we exploit the cosmic production signals of tree-ring radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) and ice-core beryllium-10 (<sup>10</sup>Be). Here we present the highest temporally resolved dataset of <sup>14</sup>C measurements (n = 1558) derived from European tree rings that have been accurately extended back to 14226 cal BP (±8, 2-σ), allowing precise alignment of ice-core records across this period. We identify a substantial increase in <sup>14</sup>C and <sup>10</sup>Be production starting at 12780 cal BP is comparable in magnitude to the historic Little Ice Age, being a clear sign of grand solar minima. We hypothesize the timing of the grand solar minima provides a significant amplifying factor leading to the harsh sustained glacial-like conditions seen in the YD.</p>


The Holocene ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitri Mauquoy ◽  
Bas van Geel ◽  
Maarten Blaauw ◽  
Johannes van der Plicht

Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 987-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
F B Knox ◽  
B G McFadgen

Least-squares fitted smooth curves to radiocarbon versus tree-ring calibration data for the period AD 1140 to 1950 are compared with climatic warming and cooling of the North Atlantic (Little Ice Age), and with recorded sunspot numbers over the period AD 1670 to 1950.Calibration curves from different parts of the globe are not identical, and appear to be determined by a combination of variable solar activity and variable oceanic upwelling of 14C-depleted water, with the variable upwelling itself partly determined by solar activity.


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