Book Description
This thesis is devoted to reconstruct the Quaternary history of African monsoon and its influences on suspended loads of the Nile River and dust production in Sahara. The materials used in this study come from two sites (MD90-964 in the eastern Levantine Basin and ODP Site 964 in the Ionian Sea) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Based on clay mineralogy, grain sizes, carbonate and Corg contents, and XRF core scanning analyses of Core MD90-964, we have reconstructed history of the Nile suspended discharges, precipitation in North Africa, and Nile paleoflood events during the last 1.75 Ma. On the basis of the planktonic foraminiferal Delta(18)O record of Core MD90-964, we have established for the first time in the eastern Mediterranean Sea a high-resolution planktonic foraminiferal (G. ruber) Delta(18)O record that penetrates the Quaternary period. The ODP Site 964 allows us to establish the variations of Saharan dust inputs to the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the last 1.5 Ma. Our results indicate that both fluvial sediments from the Nile and Saharan eolian dust inputs to the eastern Mediterranean Sea are greatly influenced by the variability of African monsoon. The glacial/interglacial cycles and other orbital-scale climatic events, such as the “Mid-Pleistocene Transition”, can also affect climate changes in North Africa to a minor extent.