A pluvial episode identified in arid Australia during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from a relict shoreline on Lake Callabonna record a major pluvial episode in southern central Australia between 1050 ± 70 and 1100 ± 60 Common Era (CE), within the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). During this pluvial interval Lake Callabonna filled to 10-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Cohen, T. J., Nanson, G. C., Jansen, J. D., Gliganic, L. A., May, J. -H., Larsen, J. R., Goodwin, I. D., Browning, S., Price, D. M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Pergamon 2012
Subjects:
Mega-lake
Lake Callabonna
Medieval Climatic Anomaly
OSL
Palaeoshoreline
Indian
Southern Ocean
Online Access:https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:303534
Description
Summary:Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from a relict shoreline on Lake Callabonna record a major pluvial episode in southern central Australia between 1050 ± 70 and 1100 ± 60 Common Era (CE), within the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). During this pluvial interval Lake Callabonna filled to 10-12 times the volume of the largest historical filling (1974) and reached maximum depths of 4-5 m, compared to the 0.5-1.0 m achieved today. Until now there has been no direct evidence for the MCA in the arid interior of Australia. A multi-proxy, analogue-based atmospheric circulation reconstruction indicates that the pluvial episode was associated with an anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation pattern over the Southern extratropics, with high sea-level pressure ridges in the central Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea, and a trough extending from the Southern Ocean into central Australia. A major decline in the mobility of the Australian aboriginal hunter-gatherer coincides with this MCA period, in southern central Australia.

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