Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa
This study reviews the precipitation history of the winter and year-round rainfall zones in the Western Cape (South Africa) in light of its fossil ungulate communities. Fossil sequences spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Lateglacial through the Holocene document a decline in ungulate richne...
Published in: | Quaternary Science Reviews |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Pergamon
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:302479 |
id |
ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:302479 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:302479 2023-05-15T13:49:28+02:00 Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa Faith, J. Tyler 2013-05-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:302479 eng eng Pergamon doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.016 issn:0277-3791 issn:1873-457X orcid:0000-0002-1101-7161 Aridity Diversity Paleoclimate Southern Africa Winter rainfall Summer rainfall 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 1204 Archaeology 1907 Geology 2306 Global and Planetary Change 3302 Archaeology Journal Article 2013 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.016 2020-12-15T00:04:37Z This study reviews the precipitation history of the winter and year-round rainfall zones in the Western Cape (South Africa) in light of its fossil ungulate communities. Fossil sequences spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Lateglacial through the Holocene document a decline in ungulate richness through time. Based on the observed relationship between ungulate community richness and annual precipitation in Southern and East Africa, this implies increased effective precipitation during the LGM-Lateglacial at sites located in both the winter and year-round rainfall zones. These results are consistent with other lines of paleoenvironmental evidence from the winter rainfall zone, although they contradict records from the year-round rainfall zone that have been interpreted as reflecting aridity. A critical review of these records suggests that the patterns interpreted in terms of aridity can be explained by other mechanisms, including vegetation change. Current evidence is consistent with paleoclimatic models indicating that altered rainfall patterns during the LGM-Lateglacial were primarily related to the position of westerly frontal systems, which were displaced northward due to the expansion of Antarctic sea ice. Seasonal migration of these systems resulted in an expanded winter rainfall zone across much of southwestern Africa, but perhaps with some summer rains reaching the southern coast. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Antarctic Quaternary Science Reviews 68 191 199 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Aridity Diversity Paleoclimate Southern Africa Winter rainfall Summer rainfall 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 1204 Archaeology 1907 Geology 2306 Global and Planetary Change 3302 Archaeology |
spellingShingle |
Aridity Diversity Paleoclimate Southern Africa Winter rainfall Summer rainfall 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 1204 Archaeology 1907 Geology 2306 Global and Planetary Change 3302 Archaeology Faith, J. Tyler Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
topic_facet |
Aridity Diversity Paleoclimate Southern Africa Winter rainfall Summer rainfall 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 1204 Archaeology 1907 Geology 2306 Global and Planetary Change 3302 Archaeology |
description |
This study reviews the precipitation history of the winter and year-round rainfall zones in the Western Cape (South Africa) in light of its fossil ungulate communities. Fossil sequences spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Lateglacial through the Holocene document a decline in ungulate richness through time. Based on the observed relationship between ungulate community richness and annual precipitation in Southern and East Africa, this implies increased effective precipitation during the LGM-Lateglacial at sites located in both the winter and year-round rainfall zones. These results are consistent with other lines of paleoenvironmental evidence from the winter rainfall zone, although they contradict records from the year-round rainfall zone that have been interpreted as reflecting aridity. A critical review of these records suggests that the patterns interpreted in terms of aridity can be explained by other mechanisms, including vegetation change. Current evidence is consistent with paleoclimatic models indicating that altered rainfall patterns during the LGM-Lateglacial were primarily related to the position of westerly frontal systems, which were displaced northward due to the expansion of Antarctic sea ice. Seasonal migration of these systems resulted in an expanded winter rainfall zone across much of southwestern Africa, but perhaps with some summer rains reaching the southern coast. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Faith, J. Tyler |
author_facet |
Faith, J. Tyler |
author_sort |
Faith, J. Tyler |
title |
Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
title_short |
Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
title_full |
Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
title_fullStr |
Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Western Cape, South Africa |
title_sort |
ungulate diversity and precipitation history since the last glacial maximum in the western cape, south africa |
publisher |
Pergamon |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:302479 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice |
op_relation |
doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.016 issn:0277-3791 issn:1873-457X orcid:0000-0002-1101-7161 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.016 |
container_title |
Quaternary Science Reviews |
container_volume |
68 |
container_start_page |
191 |
op_container_end_page |
199 |
_version_ |
1766251415983882240 |