Wet phases in the Sahara/Sahel region and human migration patterns in North Africa

摘要: The carbon isotopic composition of individual plant leaf waxes (a proxy for C3 vs. C4 vegetation) in a marine sediment core collected from beneath the plume Sahara-derived dust northwest Africa reveals three periods during past 192,000 years when central Sahara/Sahel contained plants (likely trees), indicating substantially wetter conditions than at present. Our data suggest that variability strength Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is main control on vegetation distribution North Africa, and we note expansions African Humid Period (early Holocene) within Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (≈50–45 ka) MIS 5 (≈120–110 ka). wet coincide with major human migration events out sub-Saharan Africa. results thus changes AMOC influenced climate and, times, contributed to amenable Sahara/Sahel, allowing humans cross this otherwise inhospitable region.