Century scale changes in hydrological balance in Africa

Modified from Gasse and van Campo (1994) EPSL 126, 435-456.

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Caption: Century scale variations in hydrologic balance reconstructed for two widely separated lakes in tropical Africa from sediment records and dated shorelines. The observed palaeohydro-logical changes imply shifts in the precipitation/evaporation balance much greater any to be found in the modern instrumental record. They show that dramatic, abrupt shifts in hydrologic balance have occurred on societally relevant timescales. Abrupt changes in the North African monsoon may have taken place in response to changes in the North Atlantic, represented here by sea surface density reconstructed from marine faunal and isotopic records in sediment cores.

Gasse and van Campo (1994) "Abrupt post-glacial climate events in West Asia and North Africa monsoon domains" Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 126, 435-456