Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave
ABSTRACT Pleistocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments of southernmost Africa are important for understanding southern hemisphere climate dynamics and for reconstructing human evolution and early human settlement in this region. Measurements of δ 13 C in tooth enamel of 136 faunal specimens from...
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crwiley:10.1002/jqs.2916 2024-06-23T07:46:34+00:00 Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave Sealy, Judith Lee‐Thorp, Julia Loftus, Emma Faith, J. Tyler Marean, Curtis W. National Science Foundation 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/jqs.2916 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Quaternary Science volume 31, issue 8, page 919-927 ISSN 0267-8179 1099-1417 journal-article 2016 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2916 2024-06-06T04:21:33Z ABSTRACT Pleistocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments of southernmost Africa are important for understanding southern hemisphere climate dynamics and for reconstructing human evolution and early human settlement in this region. Measurements of δ 13 C in tooth enamel of 136 faunal specimens from the archaeological site of Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, show significant shifts in proportions of C 3 and C 4 vegetation from the earliest deposits, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, to the late Holocene. Vegetation communities during the Last Glacial Maximum were strongly C 3 ‐dominated, indicating an eastward expansion of the winter rainfall zone at this time. This is consistent with climate models postulating northwards shift and/or intensification of the circumpolar westerly frontal systems during glacials. Winter rainfall and lower temperatures, both of which favour C 3 grasses, were clearly more important than lower p CO 2 (which favours C 4 grasses) in determining the nature of the vegetation. The intervals 40–36 and 17–14k cal a BP supported substantial quantities of C 4 grasses, indicating a greater proportion of summer rainfall at these times. These two intervals correspond with warmer climates as reflected in Antarctic ice cores. δ 13 C of an as yet unnamed caprine indicate that these animals were primarily C 3 grazers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Wiley Online Library Antarctic Journal of Quaternary Science 31 8 919 927 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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ABSTRACT Pleistocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments of southernmost Africa are important for understanding southern hemisphere climate dynamics and for reconstructing human evolution and early human settlement in this region. Measurements of δ 13 C in tooth enamel of 136 faunal specimens from the archaeological site of Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, show significant shifts in proportions of C 3 and C 4 vegetation from the earliest deposits, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, to the late Holocene. Vegetation communities during the Last Glacial Maximum were strongly C 3 ‐dominated, indicating an eastward expansion of the winter rainfall zone at this time. This is consistent with climate models postulating northwards shift and/or intensification of the circumpolar westerly frontal systems during glacials. Winter rainfall and lower temperatures, both of which favour C 3 grasses, were clearly more important than lower p CO 2 (which favours C 4 grasses) in determining the nature of the vegetation. The intervals 40–36 and 17–14k cal a BP supported substantial quantities of C 4 grasses, indicating a greater proportion of summer rainfall at these times. These two intervals correspond with warmer climates as reflected in Antarctic ice cores. δ 13 C of an as yet unnamed caprine indicate that these animals were primarily C 3 grazers. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sealy, Judith Lee‐Thorp, Julia Loftus, Emma Faith, J. Tyler Marean, Curtis W. |
spellingShingle |
Sealy, Judith Lee‐Thorp, Julia Loftus, Emma Faith, J. Tyler Marean, Curtis W. Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
author_facet |
Sealy, Judith Lee‐Thorp, Julia Loftus, Emma Faith, J. Tyler Marean, Curtis W. |
author_sort |
Sealy, Judith |
title |
Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
title_short |
Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
title_full |
Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
title_fullStr |
Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
title_full_unstemmed |
Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave |
title_sort |
late quaternary environmental change in the southern cape, south africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from boomplaas cave |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/jqs.2916 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/jqs.2916 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Journal of Quaternary Science volume 31, issue 8, page 919-927 ISSN 0267-8179 1099-1417 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2916 |
container_title |
Journal of Quaternary Science |
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31 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
919 |
op_container_end_page |
927 |
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1802646704730669056 |