Speleothem-based paleoclimate research in South Morocco: Interest and perspectives ...

• Main Author: Ait Brahim, Yassine
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers in Science and Engineering 2022
• Subjects: Speleothems, Paleoclimate, NAO, Monsoon, African Humid Period; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.34874/imist.prsm/fsejournal-v11i2.28990; https://revues.imist.ma/index.php/fsejournal/article/view/28990

Paleoclimate information is still lacking in key regions to understand the functioning of some of the main components of Earth’s climate system. In NW Africa, the use of speleothems as a natural archive of past environmental and climate change gained considerable interest during recent years. From South Morocco, the published speleothem records constitute the only terrestrial paleoclimate information, which spans the Holocene with a high resolution. A multi-proxy speleothem record fromIfoulki cave in SW Morocco indicates relatively dry conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), wetter conditions during the second part of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a trend towards dry conditions during the current warm period. The local climate variability was modulated by the combined influence of both the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the interactions with the Sahara Low which influenced the moisture flow from the Atlantic Ocean during the last 1000 years. ... : Frontiers in Science and Engineering, Vol 11, No 2 (2021): Climate variability, change and impact in southern Morocco: Evidence and understanding ...