Late Quaternary aeolian activity in the Southern Africa
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Summary of the temporal and spatial dynamics of Lake Tsodila, Botswana, showing the complex relationship of landscape to arid and humid events (Thomas et al 2003).
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Within both the winter and summer rainfall zones of Southern Africa are a range of geomorphic features indicative of aeolian activity, many of which are not presently active. Establishing the timing and regional significance of phases of activity will inform debates about the timing and extent of major Late Quaternary rainfall zone shifts. This work has formed the basis of seven printed journal articles with past funding from University Research fund and through SCIDR. Key outcomes - An understanding of sediment `memory´ and dune dynamic responses to climate changes is critical for the extension of the Kalahari palaeoenvironmental record to incorporate multiple phases of aridity within specific regions
- That complex environmental responses to climate within the summer rainfall zone can only be understood through the integration of humid-arid palaeorecords using detailed site investigations and lacustrine-aeolian sedimentary interfaces.
- The winter rainfall zone holds the potential to integrate aeolian dynamics into the wider regional climatic and the archaeological record of early modern people
- Past Sea-level fluctuations, coastal reconfigurations and changes in ocean circulation have had a major impact on dune dynamics in the Winter Rainfall zone over at least two glacial-interglacial cycles.
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Gullying on a sand ramp in the Great Karoo, South Africa showing previous more arid environmental conditions
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Late Pleistocene aeolianite coastal barrier dune (foreground) and Holocene climbing dune (background), southern Cape, South Africa
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200m+ barrier dunes on the southern cape built up over a number of glacial interglacial cycles with deposition occurring in periods of rapid sea-level oscillations associated with interglacialsl and interstadials.
Figure of dates v sea level (Bateman et al 2004)
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Recent papers - Bateman, M.D., Holmes, P.J., Carr, A.S., Horton, B. P. and Jaiswal, M.K. (2004). Aeolianite and Barrier Dune Construction Spanning the Last Two Glacial-Interglacial Cycles from the Southern Cape Coast, South Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23, 1681-1698.
 SHERPA Archive version (open access)
doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.02.001 - Bateman, M.D., Thomas, D.S.G. and Singhvi, A.K. (2003). Extending the aridity record of the Southwest Kalahari: current problems and future perspectives. Quaternary International, 111, 37-49.
SHERPA Archive version (open access)
doi:10.1016/S1040-6182(03)00013-2 - Thomas, D.S., Brook, G., Shaw, P., Bateman, M.D., Haberyan, K., Appleton, C., and Nash, D., McLaren, S., Davies, F. (2003). Late Pleistocene wetting and drying in the NW Kalahari: an integrated study from the Tsodilo Hills, Botswana. Quaternary International, 104, 53-67.
doi:10.1016/S1040-6182(02)00135-0
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