Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:20:42.111Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Paleoclimates of Southern Arabia from Lacustrine Deposits of the Dhamar Highlands, Yemen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Caroline Pickens Davies
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents new evidence from the Dhamar highlands, Yemen, of paleohydrologic response to fluctuations in Holocene climate. Stratigraphic, geochemical, and chronological analyses of highland peat and lacustrine deposits contribute to knowledge of the timing of early Holocene moisture changes on the Arabian Peninsula, providing a backdrop to understanding early cultural development in the Arabian highlands. The location of the Dhamar highlands, characterized by intermontane valleys surrounded by the highest mountains on the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent to the Indian Ocean is ideal for examining the influence of the Indian Ocean Monsoon (IOM) on the moisture history of this region. Fluctuations in the lacustrine and paleosol records of the Dhamar highlands reflect both local changes in paleohydrology and regional influences on the Holocene paleoclimatic conditions in southwest Arabia. In addition, a peat deposit with a radiocarbon age of 10,253 ± 10,560 cal yr BP documents some of the earliest Holocene high moisture conditions on the Arabian Peninsula.

Keywords

PaleohydrologyPaleoclimateLacustrinePeatPaleosolHoloceneDhamar highlandsYemen
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , November 2006 , pp. 454 - 464
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acres, B.D., (1982). Soil classification and correlation in the montane plains. Yemen Arab Republic, report of Project Record 72.Google Scholar
Avery, B.W., and Bascomb, C.L. Soil Survey Laboratory Methods. Soil Survey Technical Monograph No. 6. (1982). Soil survey of England and Wales, Harpendon. 83 Google Scholar
Aviation Authority, (1986–1993). Meteorological Yearbooks. Sana'a, Yemen.Google Scholar
Bard, K.A., Coltorti, M., Diblasi, D.C., Dramis, F., and Fattovich, R. The environmental history of Tigray (northern Ethiopia) in the middle and late Holocene: a preliminary outline. African Archaeological Review 17, (2000). 65–86.Google Scholar
Beck, R. Environmental Profile Dhamar Governorate, Yemen Arab Republic. Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation, DHV Consultants. (1990). Amersfoot, The Netherlands. 1–48.Google Scholar
Bengtsson, L., and Enell, M. Chemical analysis. Berglund, B.E. Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology. (1986). John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. 423–451.Google Scholar
Birkland, P.W. Soils and Geomorphology. (1999). Oxford Univ. Press, London. 430 Google Scholar
Brinkman, R. Pedological characteristics of anthrosols in the al-Jadidah basin of Wadi al-Jubah, and native sediments in Wadi al-Ajwirah Yemen Arab Republic. Grolier, M.J., Brinkman, R., and Blakely, J.A. Environmental Research in Support of Archaeological Investigations in the Yemen Arab Republic, 1982–1987. (1996). Foundation for the Study of Early Man, Washington, DC. 45–211.Google Scholar
Bond, G., Showers, W., Cheseby, M., Lotti, R., Almasi, P., deMenocal, P., Priore, P., Cullen, H., Hajdas, I., and Bonani, G. A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in north Atlantic Holocene and glacial climates. Science 278, (1997). 1257–1266.Google Scholar
Bookman, R., Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., and Stein, M. Late Holocene lake levels of the Dead Sea. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116, (2004). 555–571.Google Scholar
Boyle, J.F. Inorganic geochemical methods in paleolimnology. Last, W.M., and Smol, J.P. Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Physical and Geochemical Methods vol.2, (2001). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. 83–142.Google Scholar
Burns, S.J., Fleitmann, D., Matter, A., Neff, U., and Mangini, A. Speleothem evidence from Oman for continental pluvial events during interglacial periods. Geology 29, (1998). 623–626.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleuziou, S., and Tosi, M. Hommes, climates et environnements de la Péninsule arabique à l'Holocène. Paléorient 23, (1998). 121–135.Google Scholar
Cullen, H., Kaplan, A., Arkin, P., and deMenocal, P. Impact of the North Atlantic oscillation on Middle Eastern climate and streamflow. Climate Change 55, (2002). 315–338.Google Scholar
DeMenocal, P., Ortiz, J., Guilderson, T., Sarnthein, M., Baker, L., and Yarunsinsky, M. Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid period: rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 347–361.Google Scholar
Edens, C. The Rub al-Khali ‘Neolithic’ revisited: the view from Nadqan. Potts, D.T. Araby the Blessed: Studies in Arabian Archaeology. (1988). University of Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanam Press, Copenhagen. 15–43.Google Scholar
Edens, C., and Wilkinson, T.J. Southwest Arabia during the Holocene: recent archaeological developments. Journal of World Prehistory 12, (1998). 55–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
el-Nakhal, H.A. The Pleistocene cold episode in the Republic of Yemen. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 100, (1993). 303–307.Google Scholar
el-Moslimany, A. Evidence of early Holocene summer precipitation in the continental Middle East. Bar-Yosef, O., and Kra, R. Late Quaternary Chronology and Paleoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean. (1994). University of Arizona, Tucson. 121–130.Google Scholar
Engstrom, D.R., and Wright, H.E. Chemical stratigraphy of lake sediments as a record of environmental change. Haworth, E.Y., and Lund, J.W.G. Lake Sediment and Environmental History. (1984). University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 1–68.Google Scholar
Enzel, Y. Late Pleistocene east Mediterranean atmospheric patterns and hyperarid soils, loess sequences, and dune migration in the Negev and Sinai Deserts. Farouk El-Baz Award paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Geologic Society of America, Salt Lake City, UT, October 18, 2005. (2005). Google Scholar
Enzel, Y., Ken-Tor, R., Sharon, D., Stein, M., Gvirtzman, H., and Dayan, U. Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall. Quaternary Research 60, (2003). 263–273.Google Scholar
Fleitmann, D., Burns, S.J., Mudelsee, M., Neff, U., Kramers, J., Mangini, A., and Matter, A. Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalactite from Southern Oman. Science 300, (2003). 1737–1739.Google Scholar
Fleming, D., and Barnes, N. The worldwide distribution of filtration gallery systems and the social mechanisms underlying their construction and management, culture and environment: a fragile coexistence. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Chacmool Conference, 1991, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. (1993). 363–369.Google Scholar
Garcia, J.F., Mestres, J.S., and Rauret, G. Comparing continental carbonates with other materials in dating a paleolake. Radiocarbon 34, (1992). 619–625.Google Scholar
Gasse, F., and van Campo, E. Abrupt post-glacial climate events in West Asian and North Africa monsoon domains. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126, (1994). 435–456.Google Scholar
Gupta, A., Anderson, D.M., and Overpeck, J.T. Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic ocean. Nature 421, (2003). 354–356.Google Scholar
Hepper, F.N., and Wood, J.R.I. Were there forests in the Yemen?. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 9, (1979). 65–71.Google Scholar
Hodgson, J.M. Soil Survey Field Book. Soil Survey Technical Monograph vol. 5, (1976). Bartholowmew Press, Dorking. 99 Google Scholar
Hurni, H. Late Quaternary of Simen and other mountains of Ethiopia. Mahaney, W.C. Quaternary and Environmental Research on East African Mountains. (1989). Balkema, Rotterdam. 105–120.Google Scholar
Jones, B.F., and Bowser, C.J. The mineralogy and related chemistry of lake sediments. Lerman, A. Lakes—Chemistry, Geology, and Physics. (1978). Springer, New York. 363 Google Scholar
Last, W.M. Textural analysis of lake sediments. Last, W.M., and Smol, J.P. Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Physical and Geochemical Methods vol. 2, (2001). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. 41–82.Google Scholar
Lezine, A.M., Saliege, J.F., Robert, C., Wertz, F., and Inizan, M.L. Holocene lakes from Ramlat as Sab'atayn (Yemen) illustrate the impact of monsoon activity in Southern Arabia. Quaternary Research 50, (1998). 290–299.Google Scholar
Machette, M.N. Calcic soils of the Southwestern United States. Geological Society of America Special Paper 203, (1985). 1–21.Google Scholar
McClure, H.A. Radiocarbon chronology of late Quaternary lakes in the Arabian Desert. Nature 263, (1976). 755 Google Scholar
McCorriston, J. Early settlement in Hadramawt: preliminary report on prehistoric occupation at Shi'b Munayder. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11, (2000). 129–153.Google Scholar
McCorriston, J., Oches, E., Walter, D., and Cole, K. Holocene paleoecology and prehistory in highland Southern Arabia. Paléorient 28, (2002). 61–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, U., Burns, S.J., Mudelsee, M., Fleitmann, D., and Matter, A. Strong coherence between solar variability and the monsoon in Oman between 9 and 6 kyr ago. Nature 411, (2001). 290–293.Google Scholar
Parker, A.G., Eckersley, L., Smith, M.M., Goudie, A.S., Stokes, S., White, K., and Hodson, M.J. Holocene vegetation dynamics in the northeastern Rub' al-Khali desert, Arabian Peninsula: a pollen, phytolith and carbon isotope study. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, (2004). 665–676.Google Scholar
Parker, A., Davies, C., Wilkinson, T., in press. The Early-Mid Holocene Moist Period in Arabia: Some Recent Evidence from Lacustrine Sequences in Eastern and Southwestern Arabia. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 2005.Google Scholar
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Shahanan, T.M., Haynes, C.V. Jr. Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of late Quaternary spring-discharge deposits in Southern Arizona. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204, (2004). 33–45.Google Scholar
Overstreet, W.C., and Grolier, M.J. Summary of environmental background for the human occupation of the al-Jadidah basin Wadi al-Jubah, Yemen Arab Republic. Grolier, M.J., Brinkman, R., and Blakely, J.A. Environmental Research in support of Archaeological Investigations in the Yemen Arab Republic, 1982–1987. (1996). Foundation for the Study of Early Man, Washington, DC. 337–429.Google Scholar
Ramshaw, M. Geochemical Procedure-ME-ICP61, Trace Level Methods Using Conventional ICP-AES Analysis. (2003). ALS Chemex, Vancover, Ca.Google Scholar
Singh, G., Joshi, R.D., Chopra, S.K., and Singh, A.B. Late Quaternary history of vegetation and climate of the Rajasthan desert, India. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London B 267, (1974). 467–501.Google Scholar
Singh, G., Wasson, R.J., and Agrawal, D.P. Vegetational and seasonal climatic changes since the last full glacial in the Thar Desert, northwestern India. Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology 64, (1990). 351–358.Google Scholar
Sirocko, F., Sarntheim, M., Lange, H., and Erlenkeuser, H. Atmospheric summer circulation and coastal upwelling in the Arabian Sea during the Holocene and the last glaciation. Quaternary Research 36, (1991). 72–93.Google Scholar
Sirocko, F. The evolution of the monsoon climate over the Arabian Sea during the last 24,000 years. Palaeoecology of Africa 24, (1996). 53–60.Google Scholar
Sirocko, F., Arnold, M., Duplessy, J.C., Sarnthein, M., Erlenkeuser, H., and Lange, H. Century-scale events in monsoonal climate over the past 24,000 years. Nature 364, (1993). 322–324.Google Scholar
Sirocko, F., Garbe-Schonberg, D., and Devey, C. Processes controlling trace element geochemistry of Arabian Sea sediments during the last 25,000 years. Global and Planetary Change 26, (2002). 217–303.Google Scholar
Sly, P.G. Sedimentary processes in lakes. Lerman, A. Lakes: Chemistry, Geology, Physics. (1978). Springer, Berlin. 65–89.Google Scholar
Spiers, G.A., Dudas, M.J., and Hodgins, L.W. Simultaneous multielement analysis of clays by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy using suspension aspiration. Clays and Clay Minerals 31, (1983). 397–400.Google Scholar
Sporry, R.J. Groundwater exploration on the mountain plains of Dhamar and Rada in the Yemen Arabic Republic. Geoexploration 27, (1991). 135–164.Google Scholar
Staubwasser, M., Sirocko, F., Grootes, P.M., and Erlenkeuser, H. South Asian monsoon climate change and radiocarbon in the Arabian Sea during the early and mid Holocene. Paleoceanography 17, (2002). 1063 Google Scholar
Staubwasser, M., Sirocko, F., Grootes, P.M., and Segl, M. Climate change at the 4.2 ka B.P. termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene South Asian monsoon variability. Geophysical Research Letters 30, (2003). 1425 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Plicht, J.V.D., and Spurk, M. INTCAL98 Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, (1998). 1041–1083.Google Scholar
Weiss, H., and Bradley, R.S. What drives societal collapse?. Science 291, (2001). 609–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigley, T.M.L., and Farmer, G. Climate of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Bintliff, J.L., van Zeist, W. Paleoclimates, Paleoenvironments and Human Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Later Prehistory vol. 133, (1982). BAR International Series, 3–39.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T.J. Holocene environments of the high plateau Yemen: recent geoarchaeological investigations. Geoarchaeology 12, (1997). 833–864.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T.J. Settlement, soil erosion and terraced agriculture in highland Yemen: a preliminary statement. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 29, (1999). 183–191.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T.J. The organization of settlement in highland Yemen during the Bronze z and Iron Ages. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33, (2003). 157–168.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T.J., Edens, C., and Gibson, M. The archaeology of the Yemen high plains: a preliminary chronology. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8, (1997). 99–142.Google Scholar
Williams, M.A.J., Street, F.A., and Dakin, F.M. Fossil periglacial deposits in the Semien highlands, Ethiopia. Erdkunde 32, (1978). 40–46.Google Scholar
Wood, J.R.I. A Handbook of the Yemen Flora. (1997). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Publication, Google Scholar
Zonneveld, K.A.F., Ganssen, G., Troelstra, S., Versteegh, G., and Visscher, H. Mechanisms forcing abrupt fluctuations of the Indian Ocean summer monsoon during the last glaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews 16, (1997). 187–201.Google Scholar