Nonuniform late pleistocene glacier fluctuations in tropical Eastern Africa

Groos AR, Akçar N, Yesilyurt S, Miehe G, Vockenhuber C, Veit H (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Science Advances American Association for the Advancement of Science

Book Volume: 7

Article Number: eabb6826

Journal Issue: 11

DOI: 10.1126/SCIADV.ABB6826

Abstract

Today's ice caps and glaciers in Africa are restricted to the highest peaks, but during the Pleistocene, several mountains on the continent were extensively glaciated. However, little is known about regional differences in the timing and extent of past glaciations and the impact of paleoclimatic changes on the afro-alpine environment and settlement history. Here, we present a glacial chronology for the Ethiopian Highlands in comparison with other East African Mountains. In the Ethiopian Highlands, glaciers reached their maximum 42 to 28 ka thousand years ago before the global Last Glacial Maximum. The local maximum was accompanied by a temperature depression of 4.4° to 6.0°C and a ~700-m downward shift of the afro-alpine vegetation belt, reshaping the human and natural habitats. The chronological comparison reveals that glaciers in Eastern Africa responded in a nonuniform way to past climatic changes, indicating a regionally varying influence of precipitation, temperature, and orography on paleoglacier dynamics.

Authors with CRIS profile

Alexander Raphael Groos

Additional Organisation(s)

Institut für Geographie

Involved external institutions

Universität Bern CH Switzerland (CH) Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi TR Turkey (TR) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich CH Switzerland (CH) Philipps-Universität Marburg DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Groos, A.R., Akçar, N., Yesilyurt, S., Miehe, G., Vockenhuber, C., & Veit, H. (2021). Nonuniform late pleistocene glacier fluctuations in tropical Eastern Africa. Science Advances, 7(11). https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/SCIADV.ABB6826

MLA:

Groos, Alexander R., et al. "Nonuniform late pleistocene glacier fluctuations in tropical Eastern Africa." Science Advances 7.11 (2021).

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