This file was created by the TYPO3 extension publications --- Timezone: CEST Creation date: 2026-04-23 Creation time: 15:26:15 --- Number of references 24 article Johnson2016220 African climate is generally considered to have evolved towards progressively drier conditions over the past few million years, with increased variability as glacial-interglacial change intensified worldwide. Palaeoclimate records derived mainly from northern Africa exhibit a 100,000-year (eccentricity) cycle overprinted on a pronounced 20,000-year (precession) beat, driven by orbital forcing of summer insolation, global ice volume and long-lived atmospheric greenhouse gases. Here we present a 1.3-million-year-long climate history from the Lake Malawi basin (10°-14° S in eastern Africa), which displays strong 100,000-year (eccentricity) cycles of temperature and rainfall following the Mid-Pleistocene Transition around 900,000 years ago. Interglacial periods were relatively warm and moist, while ice ages were cool and dry. The Malawi record shows limited evidence for precessional variability, which we attribute to the opposing effects of austral summer insolation and the temporal/spatial pattern of sea surface temperature in the Indian Ocean. The temperature history of the Malawi basin, at least for the past 500,000 years, strongly resembles past changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and terrigenous dust flux in the tropical Pacific Ocean, but not in global ice volume. Climate in this sector of eastern Africa (unlike northern Africa) evolved from a predominantly arid environment with high-frequency variability to generally wetter conditions with more prolonged wet and dry intervals. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. 2016 English 00280836 10.1038/nature19065 Nature 537 Nature Publishing Group 220-224 Large Lakes Observatory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, United States; Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 257 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States; Departamento de Química Ambiental, Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ambientes Sustentables, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Casilla, 297, Chile; Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, United States; Earth Sciences Department, Syracuse University, Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; NIOZ Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Utrecht University, PO Box 591790, Netherlands; Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.0213508, Netherlands; Chevron Corporation, 1400 Smith Street, Houston, TX 77002, United States 7619 carbon dioxide; rain; alkane; calcium; carbon dioxide; dust; ice; rain; wax, arid environment; carbon dioxide; climate conditions; glacial-interglacial cycle; global climate; greenhouse gas; insolation; orbital forcing; paleoclimate; proxy climate record; sea surface temperature; spatiotemporal analysis; terrigenous deposit, Article; climate; climate change; Indian Ocean; interglacial; lake sediment; Malawi; Northern Hemisphere; paleoclimate; priority journal; sea surface temperature; summer; sunlight; thermoregulation; Africa; analysis; atmosphere; chemistry; desert climate; dust; history; lake; plant; plant leaf; season; temperature, East Africa; East African Lakes; Indian Ocean; Lake Malawi; Pacific Ocean, Africa, Eastern; Alkanes; Atmosphere; Calcium; Carbon Dioxide; Climate; Desert Climate; Dust; History, Ancient; Ice; Indian Ocean; Lakes; Malawi; Plant Leaves; Plants; Rain; Seasons; Temperature; Waxes https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84984661286&doi=10.1038%2fnature19065&partnerID=40&md5=a9ecdd27d64949e12065454dd4a6ec0e cited By 67 T.C. Johnson J.P. Werne E.T. Brown A. Abbott M. Berke B.A. Steinman J. Halbur S. Contreras S. Grosshuesch A. Deino C.A. Scholz R.P. Lyons S. Schouten J.S.S. Damsté article Mortimer2016110 The Cenozoic East African Rift System (EARS) is an exceptional example of active continental extension, providing opportunities for furthering our understanding of hydrocarbon plays within rifts. It is divided into structurally distinct western and eastern branches. The western branch comprises deep rift basins separated by transfer zones, commonly localised onto pre-existing structures, offering good regional scale hydrocarbon traps. At a basin-scale, local discrete inherited structures might also play an important role on fault localisation and hydrocarbon distribution. Here, we consider the evolution of the Central basin of the Malawi Rift, in particular the influence of pre-existing structural fabrics.Integrating basin-scale multichannel 2D, and high resolution seismic datasets we constrain the border, Mlowe-Nkhata, fault system (MNF) to the west of the basin and smaller Mbamba fault (MF) to the east and document their evolution. Intra basin structures define a series of horsts, which initiated as convergent transfers, along the basin axis. The horsts are offset along a NE-SW striking transfer fault parallel to and along strike of the onshore Karoo (Permo-Triassic) Ruhuhu graben. Discrete pre-existing structures probably determined its location and, oriented obliquely to the extension orientation it accommodated predominantly strike-slip deformation, with more slowly accrued dip-slip.To the north of this transfer fault, the overall basin architecture is asymmetric, thickening to the west throughout; while to the south, an initially symmetric graben architecture became increasingly asymmetric in sediment distribution as strain localised onto the western MNF. The presence of the axial horst increasingly focussed sediment supply to the west. As the transfer fault increased its displacement, so this axial supply was interrupted, effectively starving the south-east while ponding sediments between the western horst margin and the transfer fault. This asymmetric bathymetry and partitioned sedimentation continues to the present-day, overprinting the early basin symmetry and configuration. Sediments deposited earlier become increasingly dissected and fault juxtapositions changed at a small (10-100 m) scale. The observed influence of basin-scale transfer faults on sediment dispersal and fault compartmentalization due to pre-existing structures oblique to the extension orientation is relevant to analogous exploration settings. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. 2016 English 02648172 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.12.018 Marine and Petroleum Geology 72 Elsevier Ltd 110-121 Basin Structure Group, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; Department of Earth Sciences, 011a Heroy Geology Laboratory, University of SyracuseNY 13244, United States; Institut f. Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, Postdam, 14476, Germany Geologic models; Hydrocarbons; Sediments; Strike-slip faults, East African Rift; Existing structure; High resolution seismic; Hydrocarbon distribution; Normal faults; Sediment distribution; Strike-slip deformation; Structural inheritance, Fault slips, basin evolution; compartmentalization; deformation; extensional tectonics; hydrocarbon; normal fault; rift zone; sediment transport; strike-slip fault, East African Rift https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84955613486&doi=10.1016%2fj.marpetgeo.2015.12.018&partnerID=40&md5=74578c94e50a8e8b44c291f8b8b3153d cited By 21 E.J. Mortimer D.A. Paton C.A. Scholz M.R. Strecker article Wilke2016118 Sedimentary sequences in ancient or long-lived lakes can reach several thousands of meters in thickness and often provide an unrivalled perspective of the lake's regional climatic, environmental, and biological history. Over the last few years, deep-drilling projects in ancient lakes became increasingly multi- and interdisciplinary, as, among others, seismological, sedimentological, biogeochemical, climatic, environmental, paleontological, and evolutionary information can be obtained from sediment cores. However, these multi- and interdisciplinary projects pose several challenges. The scientists involved typically approach problems from different scientific perspectives and backgrounds, and setting up the program requires clear communication and the alignment of interests. One of the most challenging tasks, besides the actual drilling operation, is to link diverse datasets with varying resolution, data quality, and age uncertainties to answer interdisciplinary questions synthetically and coherently. These problems are especially relevant when secondary data, i.e., datasets obtained independently of the drilling operation, are incorporated in analyses. Nonetheless, the inclusion of secondary information, such as isotopic data from fossils found in outcrops or genetic data from extant species, may help to achieve synthetic answers. Recent technological and methodological advances in paleolimnology are likely to increase the possibilities of integrating secondary information. Some of the new approaches have started to revolutionize scientific drilling in ancient lakes, but at the same time, they also add a new layer of complexity to the generation and analysis of sediment-core data. The enhanced opportunities presented by new scientific approaches to study the paleolimnological history of these lakes, therefore, come at the expense of higher logistic, communication, and analytical efforts. Here we review types of data that can be obtained in ancient lake drilling projects and the analytical approaches that can be applied to empirically and statistically link diverse datasets to create an integrative perspective on geological and biological data. In doing so, we highlight strengths and potential weaknesses of new methods and analyses, and provide recommendations for future interdisciplinary deep-drilling projects. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. 2016 English 09218181 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.05.005 Global and Planetary Change 143 Elsevier B.V. 118-151 Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Collaborative Research Center 806 - Our Way to Europe, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Limnology Research Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Geological-Paleontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria; School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom; NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Institute of Biology, University Ss Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, North Macedonia; Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom; Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy; ACS Core Services, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands; Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover, Germany Biology; Geology; Paleolimnology, Analytical approach; Ancient lakes; Deep drilling; Evolutionary biology; Evolutionary information; Interdisciplinary project; Methodology; Sedimentary sequence, Lakes, biological survey; core analysis; data quality; deep drilling; evolutionary biology; fossil record; geological theory; integrated approach; lacustrine environment; outcrop; paleolimnology; technological change https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84975523752&doi=10.1016%2fj.gloplacha.2016.05.005&partnerID=40&md5=65b5fcf6cccc099d292cd51ee6749ff8 cited By 29 T. Wilke B. Wagner B. Van Bocxlaer C. Albrecht D. Ariztegui D. Delicado A. Francke M. Harzhauser T. Hauffe J. Holtvoeth J. Just M.J. Leng Z. Levkov K. Penkman L. Sadori A. Skinner B. Stelbrink H. Vogel F. Wesselingh T. Wonik article Mortimer201662 The evolution of through-going normal-fault arrays from initial nucleation to growth and subsequent interaction and mechanical linkage is well documented in many extensional provinces. Over time, these processes lead to predictable spatial and temporal variations in the amount and rate of displacement accumulated along strike of individual fault segments, which should be manifested in the patterns of footwall exhumation. Here, we investigate the along-strike and vertical distribution of low-temperature apatite (U–Th)/He (AHe) cooling ages along the bounding fault system, the Livingstone fault, of the Karonga Basin of the northern Malawi Rift. The fault evolution and linkage from rift initiation to the present day has been previously constrained through investigations of the hanging wall basin fill. The new cooling ages from the footwall of the Livingstone fault can be related to the adjacent depocentre evolution and across a relay zone between two palaeo-fault segments. Our data are complimented by published apatite fission-track (AFT) data and reveal significant variation in rock cooling history along-strike: the centre of the footwall yields younger cooling ages than the former tips of earlier fault segments that are now linked. This suggests that low-temperature thermochronology can detect fault interactions along strike. That these former segment boundaries are preserved within exhumed footwall rocks is a function of the relatively recent linkage of the system. Our study highlights that changes in AHe (and potentially AFT) ages associated with the along-strike displacement profile can occur over relatively short horizontal distances (of a few kilometres). This is fundamentally important in the assessment of the vertical cooling history of footwalls in extensional systems: temporal differences in the rate of tectonically driven exhumation at a given location along fault strike may be of greater importance in controlling changes in rates of vertical exhumation than commonly invoked climatic fluctuations. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. 2016 English 0012821X 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.08.040 Earth and Planetary Science Letters 455 Elsevier B.V. 62-72 Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, United Kingdom; School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, United Kingdom; Isotope Geosciences Unit, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, Scotland, United Kingdom Apatite; Cooling systems; Fission reactions; Geologic models; Phosphate minerals; Tectonics; Temperature, Apatite fission tracks; Climatic fluctuations; Displacement profiles; East African Rift; Normal faults; Spatial and temporal variation; Thermochronology; Vertical distributions, Fault slips, fault scarp; fault zone; footwall; hanging wall; normal fault; segmentation; spatiotemporal analysis; thermochronology, East African Rift https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84992386089&doi=10.1016%2fj.epsl.2016.08.040&partnerID=40&md5=a1759aebc85d984604d9f88d4c6e04c0 cited By 20 E. Mortimer L.A. Kirstein F.M. Stuart M.R. Strecker article Lyons201515568 The transport of moisture in the tropics is a critical process for the global energy budget and on geologic timescales, has markedly influenced continental landscapes, migratory pathways, and biological evolution. Here we present a continuous, first-of-its-kind 1.3-My record of continental hydroclimate and lake-level variability derived from drill core data from Lake Malawi, East Africa (9-15° S). Over the Quaternary, we observe dramatic shifts in effective moisture, resulting in large-scale changes in one of the world's largest lakes and most diverse freshwater ecosystems. Results show evidence for 24 lake level drops of more than 200 m during the Late Quaternary, including 15 lowstands when water levels were more than 400 m lower than modern. A dramatic shift is observed at the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), consistent with far-field climate forcing, which separates vastly different hydroclimate regimes before and after ∼800,000 years ago. Before 800 ka, lake levels were lower, indicating a climate drier than today, and water levels changed frequently. Following the MPT high-amplitude lake level variations dominate the record. From 800 to 100 ka, a deep, often overfilled lake occupied the basin, indicating a wetter climate, but these highstands were interrupted by prolonged intervals of extreme drought. Periods of high lake level are observed during times of high eccentricity. The extreme hydroclimate variability exerted a profound influence on the Lake Malawi endemic cichlid fish species flock; the geographically extensive habitat reconfiguration provided novel ecological opportunities, enabling new populations to differentiate rapidly to distinct species. 2015 English 00278424 10.1073/pnas.1512864112 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112 National Academy of Sciences 15568-15573 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States; Large Lakes Observatory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Institute at Brown for the Study of the Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States; Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, United States; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States; Chevron Corporation, Houston, TX 77002, United States; BP L48, Onshore, Houston, TX 77079, United States 51 water, Article; atmospheric moisture; biodiversity; catchment; cichlid; climate change; clinical effectiveness; East African; freshwater environment; hydroclimate; lake; Middle Pleistocene; molecular evolution; nonhuman; paleoclimate; priority journal; species diversity; tropic climate; Africa; animal; climate; ecosystem; evolution; history; paleontology; time factor, Africa, Eastern; Animals; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Cichlids; Climate; Climate Change; Ecosystem; History, Ancient; Lakes; Paleontology; Time Factors https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84952684824&doi=10.1073%2fpnas.1512864112&partnerID=40&md5=13f4bc8c908d5027581c476536c082d5 cited By 86 R.P. Lyons C.A. Scholz A.S. Cohen J.W. King E.T. Brown S.J. Ivory T.C. Johnson A.L. Deino P.N. Reinthal M.M. McGlue M.W. Blome article Cohen20123 Scientific drilling to recover sediment core and fossil samples is a promising approach to increasing our understanding of species evolution in ancient lakes. Most lake drilling efforts to date have focused on paleoclimate reconstruction. However, it is clear from the excellent fossil preservation and high temporal resolution typical of lake beds that significant advances in evolutionary biology can be made through drill core studies coordinated with phylogenetic work on appropriate taxa. Geological records can be used to constrain the age of specific lakes and the timing of evolutionarily significant events (such as lake level fluctuations and salinity crises). Fossil data can be used to test speciation and biogeographic hypotheses and flesh out phylogenetic trees, using a better-resolved fossil record to estimate timing of phylogenetic divergences. The extraordinary preservation of many fossils in anoxic lake beds holds the hope of collecting fossil DNA from the same body fossils that improve our understanding of morphological character evolution and adaptation. Moreover, fossils allow calibration of molecular clocks, which are currently largely inferential. Lake Malawi Drilling Project results provide some guideposts on what might be expected in a drilling project for studies of evolution. The extreme variability in lake level and environmental history that most ancient lakes experience (exemplified by the Lake Malawi record) demonstrates that no one drilling locality is likely to provide a complete record of phylogenetic history for a radiating lineage. Evolutionary biologists should take an active role in the design of drilling projects, which typically have interdisciplinary objectives, to ensure their sampling needs will be met by whatever sites in a lake are ultimately drilled. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 English 00188158 10.1007/s10750-010-0546-7 Hydrobiologia 682 3-25 Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States 1 adaptation; biogeography; divergence; drilling; fossil record; interdisciplinary approach; lake; paleoclimate; paleoenvironment; paleolimnology; phylogenetics; reconstruction; resolution; salinity; sediment core; speciation (biology) https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84856228169&doi=10.1007%2fs10750-010-0546-7&partnerID=40&md5=b8c44e8f257de637e6500e71f0bc31dc cited By 25 A.S. Cohen article Burnett2011155 Forcing mechanisms of tropical climate in continental areas remain poorly understood, due in large part to a lack of continuous, long-term, high-fidelity records. Sediment core T97-52V from Lake Tanganyika provides new insight into the timing and mechanisms behind East African climate change over the past 90+. kyr. This record is particularly important, because, other than a recently recovered scientific drill core from Lake Malawi, there are no other continuous, well-dated records from East Africa prior to 60. ka. The high resolution age model presented here provides a large degree of age certainty for the past 45+. kyr, and our suite of proxies allows a thorough examination of Lake Tanganyika's dynamics. From core stratigraphy and chemical analyses, we present evidence of a lake level drop greater than 400. m sometime prior to ~. 90. ka, much greater than that inferred for the LGM, suggesting a period of intense aridity sometime around 100. ka. Additionally, core T97-52. V preserves evidence of worm burrows detected by X-radiographic imagery as indicated by burrow-shaped deposits of iron oxide, indicating a shallow lake at the time of deposition of that material. Intermittently high lake levels between ~. 78. ka and ~. 72. ka developed at the same time as a weakened Asian monsoon and a pluvial phase in Northeast Brazil, suggesting a global reorganization of climate, possibly forced by a reduction in orbital eccentricity. Over the past 60. ka this core preserves the same events recorded in a core collected ~. 100. km away in the southern basin of Lake Tanganyika, including an unexplained increase in biogenic silica at ~. 37. ka, suggesting that this vast lake is responding coherently across both major bathymetric basins to regional and global climate forcing. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.02.011 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 155-167 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, New York 13244, United States; School of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Oklahoma, 100 East Boyd Street Suite 810, Norman, OK 73019, United States; Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota, 2205 E. 5th St., Research Laboratory Building 207, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 biogenic deposit; climate change; intertropical convergence zone; lake level; Last Glacial Maximum; paleolimnology; proxy climate record; sediment core; tropical region; X-ray fluorescence, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi; Lake Tanganyika https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953152440&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.02.011&partnerID=40&md5=5adb7fca39e6c2f682566f76a2d7d82e cited By 96 A.P. Burnett M.J. Soreghan C.A. Scholz E.T. Brown article Scholz20111 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.01.001 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 1-2 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953163231&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2011.01.001&partnerID=40&md5=5ddd855e479b9bef7d3408fd20086ed9 cited By 4 C.A. Scholz A.S. Cohen T.C. Johnson article Scholz20113 The recovery of detailed and continuous paleoclimate records from the interior of the African continent has long been of interest for understanding climate dynamics of the tropics, and also for constraining the environmental backdrop to the evolution and spread of early Homo sapiens. In 2005 an international team of scientists collected a series of scientific drill cores from Lake Malawi, the first long and continuous, high-fidelity records of tropical climate change from interior East Africa. The paleoclimate records, which include lithostratigraphic, geochemical, geophysical and paleobiological observations documented in this special issue of Palaeo3, indicate an interval of high-amplitude climate variability between 145,000 and ~60,000years ago, when several severe arid intervals reduced Lake Malawi's volume by more than 95%. These intervals of pronounced tropical African aridity in the early Late Pleistocene around Lake Malawi were much more severe than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), a well-documented period of drought in equatorial and Northern Hemisphere tropical east Africa. After 70,000years ago climate shifted to more humid conditions and lake levels rose. During this latter interval however, wind patterns shifted rapidly, and perhaps synchronously with high-latitude shifts and changes in thermohaline circulation. This transition to wetter, more stable conditions coincided with diminished orbital eccentricity, and a reduction in precession-dominated climatic extremes. The observed climate mode switch to decreased environmental variability is consistent with terrestrial and marine records from in and around tropical Africa. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.10.030 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 3-19 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, 13244, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States; Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway 1-4 climate variation; lake level; Last Glacial Maximum; marine record; paleobiology; paleoclimate; rift zone; Southern Hemisphere; thermohaline circulation; tropical region, East African Lakes; Kenya; Lake Malawi; Rift Valley, Homo sapiens https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953164615&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.10.030&partnerID=40&md5=3514d04173bb8c399f7b33863f0d9ced cited By 76 C.A. Scholz A.S. Cohen T.C. Johnson J. King M.R. Talbot E.T. Brown article Powers2011133 We have applied the TEX86 paleothermometer to produce a surface water temperature record for Lake Malawi spanning the past 700years. Over much of the record temperature fluctuates from ~24-27°C with a mean of ~25°C; however, there has been a substantial increase in temperature of ~2.0°C during the past ~ 100years. The TEX86 temperature record reveals a strong similarity to the instrumental record; both records demonstrate warming (~0.7-1.4°C) over the past ~50years as well as a cooling anomaly around 1959. Comparison of the TEX86 temperature record with the proxy records of primary productivity suggests that wind induced upwelling and/or precipitation have a strong influence on the surface temperature of Lake Malawi. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.09.006 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 133-139 Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, 10 University Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1114 Kirby Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1039 University Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; NIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, PO Box 59, 1790 Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands; Department of Geosciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands 1-4 geochemical method; paleoclimate; paleotemperature; primary production; prokaryote; proxy climate record; surface temperature; surface water; water temperature, East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Archaea https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953162990&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.09.006&partnerID=40&md5=e24034ca360f8adc75a21343276c6573 cited By 37 L.A. Powers T.C. Johnson J.P. Werne I.S. Castañeda E.C. Hopmans J.S. Sinninghe Damsté S. Schouten article Castañeda2011140 Relatively few well-dated and high-resolution paleoclimate records of the past few centuries presently exist from tropical East Africa. Here, we examine the bulk and molecular geochemical records of two varved sediment cores from Lake Malawi, which together provide a continuous record of environmental variability in East Africa of the last 730years. We observe a number of changes in the aquatic ecosystem of Lake Malawi, which are likely attributed to both natural climatic forcing and anthropogenic activities. Biomarkers of dinoflagellates (dinosterol) and bacterivorous ciliates (tetrahymanol) display increased accumulation rates from ~1900AD to the present, while a simultaneous decrease in accumulation rates of diatom biomarkers (isololiolide/loliolide) is observed. Increased accumulation rates of retene, a compound derived from conifers, are also noted since ~1930AD and likely reflect increased soil erosion due to deforestation of the Lake Malawi watershed. Spectral analysis of the high-resolution TOC record indicates a periodicity of 204years, similar to the 206year cycle noted in 14C and 10Be records, suggesting a link between East African climate and solar forcing. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.006 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 140-154 Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2205 E. 5th St., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1114 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1039 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 accumulation rate; biomarker; ciliate; climate variation; deforestation; dinoflagellate; geochemical method; paleoclimate; phytoplankton; primary production; proxy climate record; sediment core; soil erosion; spectral analysis; tropical region, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Bacillariophyta; Ciliophora; Coniferophyta; Dinophyceae https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953161076&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.01.006&partnerID=40&md5=12e53126aea4b486743132f69a9debf6 cited By 42 I.S. Castañeda J.P. Werne T.C. Johnson L.A. Powers article McHargue2011110 The cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be was measured from drill core sediments from Lake Malawi in order to help construct a chronology for the study of the tropical paleoclimate in East Africa. Sediment samples were taken every 10m from the core MAL05-1C to 80m in depth and then from that depth in core MAL05-1B to 382m. Sediment samples were then later taken at a higher resolution of every 2m from MAL05-1C. They were then leached to remove the authigenic fraction, the leachate was processed to separate out the beryllium isotopes, and 10Be was measured at the TAMS Facility at the University of Arizona. The 10Be/9Be profile from Lake Malawi sediments is similar to those derived from marine sediment cores for the late Pleistocene, and is consistent with the few radiocarbon and OSL IR measurements made from the same core. Nevertheless, a strong correlation between the stable isotope 9Be and the cosmogenic isotope 10Be suggests that both isotopes have been well mixed before deposition unlike in some marine sediment cores. In addition, the correlation of beryllium isotopes to a proxy of lake level TOC (Total Organic Matter) from Lake Malawi indicates that the concentrations of 10Be in the lake sediments result from the combined effects of global and local climates on lake level, local hydrology, and sediment transport in the Lake Malawi basin rather than as a direct response to its production in the atmosphere modulated by the intensity of the Earth's dipole. Therefore, a direct correlation of the 10Be/9Be to a chronology derived from the paleomagnetic variations measured from marine sediments was not possible. Nevertheless, a comparison of the 10Be/9Be chronology, allowing for decay, at Lake Malawi to that of the global marine paleomagnetic record suggests that the bottom of core MAL05-1B is no more than 750ka in age. © 2010. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.02.012 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 110-119 Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 E. Fourth Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; NSF Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1118 E. Fourth Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States 1-4 beryllium isotope; cosmogenic radionuclide; geochronology; lacustrine deposit; lake level; marine record; marine sediment; paleoclimate; paleomagnetism; radiocarbon dating; sediment core; sediment transport, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953162198&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.02.012&partnerID=40&md5=4e48d675f841125de47e5f887e6447e3 cited By 10 L.R. McHargue A.J.T. Jull A. Cohen article Scholz201138 Scientific drill cores recovered from Lake Malawi exhibit a remarkable down-core lithologic variability, and are indicative of radically changing environmental conditions forced by large-amplitude lake-level shifts over the past 150kyr. Here we present detailed lithologic and sedimentary fabric descriptions of the key sedimentary units, along with down-core physical properties data, down-core organic matter geochemistry (TOC, C/N, and δ13C data sets), and images and descriptions from core sections and from sediment smear slide microscopy. These data reveal a fundamental change in Lake Malawi's limnology and regional climate at ca. 60-70ka. Prior to this time the lake was characterized by large-amplitude variations in lake level and water chemistry, but after 60ka the lake remained comparatively high, and the central basin drill site accumulated mainly organic-rich, laminated sediments. Organic matter sources changed dramatically during the different lake stages. During major lake high stands, a mixed assemblage of algal (diatom-dominated), woodland and aquatic macrophyte (C4-pathway), and grassland (C3-pathway) organic matter was deposited, whereas during extreme low lake stages (water depths <200m), when saline, alkaline lakes persisted in the basin, sediments with minimal amounts of algal-dominated organic matter accumulated and were preserved. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.10.028 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 38-50 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, 13244, United States; Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 diatom; fossil record; hydrochemistry; lithostratigraphy; macrophyte; organic matter; paleoclimate; paleolimnology; Pleistocene; sediment core, East African Lakes; East African Rift; Lake Malawi, algae; Bacillariophyta https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953157977&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.10.028&partnerID=40&md5=810de2fcf6c00c63136a5f6574039365 cited By 18 C.A. Scholz M.R. Talbot E.T. Brown R.P. Lyons article Lyons201120 Lake Malawi contains a long continuous sedimentary record of climate change in the southern hemisphere African tropics. We develop a stratigraphic framework of this basin over the last ~. 150 ka by integrating several vintages of seismic-reflection data with recently acquired drill cores. In the seismic-reflection data set, we document three lake-level cycles where progradational delta seismic facies and erosional truncation surfaces mark the basal boundary of each sequence. The clinoform packages and their down-dip, time-equivalent surfaces can be mapped throughout each basin, where each major lowstand surface was followed by a transgression and highstand. On several occasions, lake level dropped as much as 500 m below present lake level (BPLL) in the North Basin and 550 m BPLL in the Central Basin, resulting in a 97% reduction of water volume and 89% reduction of water surface area relative to modern conditions. Evidence for these lake-level fluctuations in the drill cores includes major changes in saturated bulk density, natural gamma ray values, and total organic carbon. During lowstands, density values doubled, while total organic carbon values dropped from ~. 5% to 0.2%. Coarse-grained sediment and organic matter flux into the basin were higher during transgressions, when precipitation, runoff, sediment supply, and nutrient input were high. This sedimentation pattern is also observed in seismic-reflection profiles, where coarse-grained seismic facies occur at the bases of sequences, and in the drill-core data where the highest total organic carbon values are observed immediately above lowstand surfaces. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.04.014 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 20-37 Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Chevron Corporation, 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA 94583, United States; Newfield Exploration Company, 363 North Sam Houston Parkway East, Suite 2020, Houston, TX 77060, United States 1-4 data set; lake level; paleoclimate; sedimentary sequence; sedimentation rate; seismic reflection; seismic stratigraphy; Southern Hemisphere; surface water; total organic carbon, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953153752&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2009.04.014&partnerID=40&md5=b288c7083c6e2bde25d429357b68ae16 cited By 93 R.P. Lyons C.A. Scholz M.R. Buoniconti M.R. Martin article Woltering201193 We present a TEX86-derived surface water temperature record for Lake Malawi that provides the first continuous continental record of temperature variability in the continental tropics spanning the past ~74kyr with millennial-scale resolution. Average temperature during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5A was 26.5°C, with a range from 25.7 to 27.3°C, comparable to Holocene temperatures. MIS 4 was a relatively cold period with temperatures generally decreasing from 25.5°C at 68ka to a minimum of 20°C at ~60ka, 1.5-2°C colder than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Termination of MIS 4 is characterized by a rapid increase of 3-4°C in only ~0.5kyr. Temperatures were relatively stable throughout MIS 3 at the resolution of this study, with an average of 23.8°C and a range from 25.1 to 22.9°C. The lack of millennial-scale temperature variability during MIS 3 suggests that Lake Malawi's documented response to the bipolar seesaw (Brown et al., 2007) is not reflected in its thermal history. Our temperature estimates for the LGM and Holocene are consistent with a previously published TEX86 record from Lake Malawi with a temperature of ~22.6°C for the LGM, ~25-26°C in the mid Holocene and ~25-28 for the late Holocene. In general the present extended TEX86 record indicates that temperature variability in tropical East Africa during late MIS 5 and MIS 4 was as great as that associated with the deglaciation and Holocene. A decrease in Southern Hemisphere insolation between 70 and 60ka may have played an important role in forcing temperatures during MIS 4, but after 60ka other factors, such as the extent of the polar ice sheets, or atmospheric CO2 may have forced temperature in tropical Africa to a greater extent than local summer insolation. © 2010. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.02.013 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 93-102 Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, 10 University Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Minnesota Duluth, 10 University Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, 10 University Dr., Duluth, MN 55812, United States; NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, PO Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands; Department of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, Netherlands 1-4 deglaciation; Holocene; ice sheet; lacustrine deposit; Last Glacial Maximum; marine isotope stage; surface water; temperature inversion; temperature profile; tropical region; water temperature, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953161143&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.02.013&partnerID=40&md5=08f66321f80ab6e892bf79064d91235b cited By 59 M. Woltering T.C. Johnson J.P. Werne S. Schouten J.S. Sinninghe Damsté article Stone201151 Analysis of sedimentary diatom assemblages (10 to 144. ka) form the basis for a detailed reconstruction of the paleohydrography and diatom paleoecology of Lake Malawi. Lake-level fluctuations on the order of hundreds of meters were inferred from dramatic changes in the fossil and sedimentary archives. Many of the fossil diatom assemblages we observed have no analog in modern Lake Malawi. Cyclotelloid diatom species are a major component of fossil assemblages prior to 35. ka, but are not found in significant abundances in the modern diatom communities in Lake Malawi. Salinity- and alkalinity-tolerant plankton has not been reported in the modern lake system, but frequently dominant fossil diatom assemblages prior to 85. ka. Large stephanodiscoid species that often dominate the plankton today are rarely present in the fossil record prior to 31. ka. Similarly, prior to 31. ka, common central-basin aulacoseiroid species are replaced by species found in the shallow, well-mixed southern basin. Surprisingly, tychoplankton and periphyton were not common throughout prolonged lowstands, but tended to increase in relative abundance during periods of inferred deeper-lake environments. A high-resolution lake level reconstruction was generated by a principle component analysis of fossil diatom and wet-sieved fossil and mineralogical residue records. Prior to 70. ka, fossil assemblages suggest that the central basin was periodically a much shallower, more saline and/or alkaline, well-mixed environment. The most significant reconstructed lowstands are ~. 600. m below the modern lake level and span thousands of years. These conditions contrast starkly with the deep, dilute, dysaerobic environments of the modern central basin. After 70. ka, our reconstruction indicates sustained deeper-water environments were common, marked by a few brief, but significant, lowstands. High amplitude lake-level fluctuations appear related to changes in insolation. Seismic reflection data and additional sediment cores recovered from the northern basin of Lake Malawi provide evidence that supports our reconstruction. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.012 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 51-70 Department of Geosciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 214 Bessey Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588, United States; Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, 901 87, Sweden; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building #77, 1040 E 4th St., Tucson, AZ, 85721, United States 1-4 deep water; diatom; fossil assemblage; fossil record; lake level; paleoclimate; paleoecology; paleohydrology; periphyton; Pleistocene; seismic reflection, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Bacillariophyta https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953161494&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.01.012&partnerID=40&md5=fdc880d49ab74cd71939258d81222f62 cited By 59 J.R. Stone K.S. Westover A.S. Cohen article Brown2011120 Sediment records from the northern basin of Lake Malawi provide a means of evaluating the lake basin's response to climate change over the past 75. ky, notably to increased precipitation at the terminations of droughts. Transitions from drier to wetter conditions provide an opportunity to evaluate the system's response to climate shifts. Upon termination of drought episodes at 62 and 72. ka, enhanced precipitation and an associated increase in streampower led to enhanced physical erosion and landscapes were flooded by rising lake waters. These processes appear to have left their mark in the sedimentary record, bringing about a spike of deposition of organic matter (probably of terrestrial origin) at times of increased rainfall. This was immediately followed by a period of deposition of chemically-weathered material that had been retained on the landscape during arid times and mobilized in response to increased precipitation. After this altered material was removed (perhaps a thousand years after the transition to wetter conditions), fresher material, richer in soluble elements including nutrients, was exposed to chemical weathering, leading to substantial diatom blooms. The lag between the onset of wetter conditions and the diatom blooms is inconsistent with significant storage of bioavailable silica in soils in this system. However, biological cycling of silica, including formation and dissolution of phytoliths, may have played a role in mobilization of the silica necessary for the diatom productivity. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.038 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 120-125 Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 biogenic deposit; chemical weathering; climate change; diatom; dissolution; drought; erosion rate; flooding; lacustrine deposit; lake water; paleoclimate; phytolith; precipitation (climatology); silica; weathering, East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Bacillariophyta https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953154159&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.01.038&partnerID=40&md5=8f5c88c5b5a18c25972c1d5f1f1a37d9 cited By 34 E.T. Brown article Reinthal2011126 Numerous biological and chemical paleorecords have been used to infer paleoclimate, lake level fluctuation and faunal composition from the drill cores obtained from Lake Malawi, Africa. However, fish fossils have never been used to examine changes in African Great Lake vertebrate aquatic communities nor as indicators of changing paleolimnological conditions. Here we present results of analyses of a Lake Malawi core dating back ~144ka that describe and quantify the composition and abundance of fish fossils and report on stable carbon isotopic data (δ13C) from fish scale, bone and tooth fossils. We compared the fossil δ13C values to δ13C values from extant fish communities to determine whether carbon isotope ratios can be used as indicators of inshore versus offshore pelagic fish assemblages. Fossil buccal teeth, pharyngeal teeth and mills, vertebra and scales from the fish families Cichlidae and Cyprinidae occur in variable abundance throughout the core. Carbon isotopic ratios from numerous fish fossils throughout the core range between -7.2 and -27.5%, similar to those found in contemporary Lake Malawi benthic and pelagic fish faunas. These results are the first paleo-record of fish fossils from a Lake Malawi sediment core and the first reported δ13C values from Lake Malawi fish fossils. This approach provides a new methodology and framework for interpreting pelagic versus inshore fish faunas, lake level fluctuations and the evolution of the Lake Malawi fish assemblages. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.004 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 126-132 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States 1-4 carbon isotope; cichlid; climate change; cyprinid; fossil assemblage; fossil record; ichthyofauna; lake level; paleoclimate; paleolimnology; pelagic fish; sediment core; stable isotope, Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Cichlidae; Cyprinidae; Cypriniformes; Vertebrata https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953164040&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.01.004&partnerID=40&md5=3b12c24cf252da3285db14e1be95bab7 cited By 17 P.N. Reinthal A.S. Cohen D.L. Dettman article Johnson2011103 We report a 150,000. year record of the abundance of biogenic silica (BSi) in drill cores from the northern and central basins of Lake Malawi. The periods of highest diatom burial at both sites occurred around 65-69 and 51-60. thousand years ago (ka) after the termination of prolonged, intense drought in the region. These peaks are believed to reflect elevated delivery of dissolved silica to the lake due to acceleration of chemical weathering in the drainage basin. The droughts that preceded these BSi depositional episodes occurred at precessional frequency, corresponding to times of minimum austral spring (or summer?) insolation in the region prior to 60. ka. Subsequent arid spells have not been as severe due to the reduced amplitude of precessional forcing as a result of the superimposed effect of eccentricity. However, biogenic silica records do not show significant sensitivity to precessional forcing. The BSi burial flux in the north basin displays strong millennial-scale variability since 50. ka, with peak values occurring during cold times in the Northern Hemisphere, as reflected in the Greenland ice core records. We observe no relationship between BSi and deposition of volcanic tephras in this system. The central basin core also displays millennial-scale variability in BSi abundance during the past 50. ky, of comparable magnitude to that in the north basin, but without systematic correlation to the north basin BSi or Greenland ice core records. In general, we conclude that BSi profiles from the north and (probably) south basins are more readily interpreted in terms of regional climate dynamics than are BSi profiles from more central locations in long, narrow tropical rift lakes. Diatom burial rates are suspected to be too influenced by silica limitations imposed by diatom production and burial in the upwelling systems at either end of these low-latitude lacustrine systems. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. 2011 English 00310182 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.024 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 303 103-109 Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, United States 1-4 biogenic deposit; chemical weathering; diatom; drainage basin; ice core; lacustrine deposit; paleoclimate; sediment core; silica; tephra; tropical region, East Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi, Bacillariophyta https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79953151026&doi=10.1016%2fj.palaeo.2010.01.024&partnerID=40&md5=778145b48a142be1462394462fd74e8a cited By 39 T.C. Johnson E.T. Brown J. Shi article Scholz200716416 The environmental backdrop to the evolution and spread of early Homo sapiens in East Africa is known mainly from isolated outcrops and distant marine sediment cores. Here we present results from new scientific drill cores from Lake Malawi, the first long and continuous, high-fidelity records of tropical climate change from the continent itself. Our record shows periods of severe aridity between 135 and 75 thousand years (kyr) ago, when the lake's water volume was reduced by at least 95%. Surprisingly, these intervals of pronounced tropical African aridity in the early late-Pleistocene were much more severe than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the period previously recognized as one of the most arid of the Quaternary. From these cores and from records from Lakes Tanganyika (East Africa) and Bosumtwi (West Africa), we document a major rise in water levels and a shift to more humid conditions over much of tropical Africa after ≈70 kyr ago. This transition to wetter, more stable conditions coincides with diminished orbital eccentricity, and a reduction in precession-dominated climatic extremes. The observed climate mode switch to decreased environmental variability is consistent with terrestrial and marine records from in and around tropical Africa, but our records provide evidence for dramatically wetter conditions after 70 kyr ago. Such climate change may have stimulated the expansion and migrations of early modern human populations. © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 2007 English 00278424 10.1073/pnas.0703874104 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104 16416-16421 Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, United States; Large Lakes Observatory, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, United States; Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States; Department of Geology and Environmental Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, United States; Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Malawi Geological Survey Department, Zomba, Malawi; Geological Survey Department of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607, United States; Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QF, United Kingdom; Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau-Claire, WI 54702, United States 42 Africa; article; climate change; drought; environment; evolution; human; migration; nonhuman; Pleistocene; priority journal, Africa, Eastern; Animals; Evolution; Hominidae; Humans; Natural Disasters; Paleontology; Population; Tropical Climate, Homo sapiens https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-36749081537&doi=10.1073%2fpnas.0703874104&partnerID=40&md5=f40e36c3f7331068c1f45b8461f35257 cited By 332 C.A. Scholz T.C. Johnson A.S. Cohen J.W. King J.A. Peck J.T. Overpeck M.R. Talbot E.T. Brown L. Kalindekafe P.Y.O. Amoako R.P. Lyons T.M. Shanahan I.S. Castañeda C.W. Heil S.L. Forman L.R. McHargue K.R. Beuning J. Gómez J. Pierson article Mortimer2007393 The East African Rift system has long been considered the best modern example of the initial stages of continental rifting. The Malawi Rift is characteristic of the western branch of the East African Rift system, composed of half-grabens of opposing asymmetry along its length. There are striking similarities between basins within the Malawi Rift, and others along the western branch. Each exhibits similar bathymetry, border-fault length, rift zone width and fault segment length. The North Basin of the Malawi Rift differs from others in the rift only in its orientation: trending NW-SE as opposed to N-S. Although there is general agreement as to the geometry of the Malawi Rift; debate as to the amount of strike-slip vs. dip-slip deformation and the influence of underlying Pan-African foliation remains. This study presents new data from a closely spaced shallow [2 s two-way travel time (TWT)] seismic reflection data set integrated with basin-scale deeper (6 s TWT) seismic reflection data that document the structural evolution of the border and intra-basin faults. These data reveal that the different trend of the North Basin, most likely to have been influenced by the underlying Pan-African foliation, has played an extremely important role in the structural style of basin evolution. The border-fault and intra-basin structures nucleated during extension that was initially orthogonal (ENE). During this time (>8.6 to ∼0.5-0.4 Ma) intra-basin faults synthetic to the west-dipping border-fault nucleated, whereas strain was localised on the segmented border-fault early on. A later rotation of extension orientation (to NW) led to these established faults orienting oblique to rifting. This generated an overall dextral strike-slip setting that led to the development of transfer faults adjacent to the border-fault, and the generation of flower structures and folds over the greater displacement intra-basin faults. © © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2007 English 0950091X 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2007.00332.x Basin Research 19 393-407 Institute für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht Straße 24/25, Potsdam 14476, Germany; Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States; Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States 3 basin evolution; displacement; rift zone; rifting; seismic data; strike-slip fault, Africa; East Africa; Malawi; Sub-Saharan Africa https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-34548316616&doi=10.1111%2fj.1365-2117.2007.00332.x&partnerID=40&md5=117ce36fb1455284fd7e289f81ecb4ff cited By 57 E. Mortimer D.A. Paton C.A. Scholz M.R. Strecker P. Blisniuk article Moran200629 A new deep water drilling system was developed and applied to recover deeply buried sediments for scientific analyses in one of the deep rift valley lakes of Africa - Malawi. This approach overcame the difficulty of maintaining position over a drill site in a remotely located, large, deep lake. Environmental conditions in Lake Malawi are similar to deep water marine settings and, as such, a marine approach was adopted for the Lake Malawi Drilling Project (LMDP). In February and March 2005, the modified pontoon, Viphya, successfully completed a scientific drilling expedition in Lake Malawi. This expedition recovered core at depths greater than 380 m below lake-floor in water depths as great as 600 m. The major refit of Viphya included installation of a moonpool, bridge, crew accommodations, mess, washroom, power system, dynamic positioning, and a drilling system. These major modifications required early pontoon surveys and naval architectural analyses and design work prior to their commencement. The expedition also used modified scientific coring tools with a marine geotechnical drilling rig for the first time, resulting in excellent core recovery and quality. 2006 English 00253324 10.4031/002533206787353637 Marine Technology Society Journal 40 Marine Technology Society Inc. 29-35 University of Rhode Island, United States; Lengkeek Vessel Engineering, Inc.; Seacore Ltd. 1 Dynamic positioning; Environmental engineering; Lakes; Sediments, Geotechnical drilling; Pontoon surveys, Underwater drilling, Dynamic positioning; Environmental engineering; Lakes; Sediments; Underwater drilling, deep drilling; deep sea; drilling rig; environmental conditions, Africa; East African Lakes; Lake Malawi; Sub-Saharan Africa https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33845639952&doi=10.4031%2f002533206787353637&partnerID=40&md5=f3d98410e98f3bc79c7c8d3bf395331a cited By 0 K. Moran M. Paulson M. Lengkeek P. Jeffery A. Frazer article sd-2-17-2006 2006 10.2204/iodp.sd.2.04.2006 Scientific Drilling 2 17-19 https://sd.copernicus.org/articles/2/17/2006/ C. A. Scholz A. S. Cohen T. C. Johnson J. W. King K. Moran article Finney1991351 A suite of piston cores recovered from Lake Malawi (9-14°S, 34-35°E), east Africa in 1986 has been analyzed for major and minor elements, organic C and N, calcium carbonate and diatoms. An internally consistent stratigraphy was constructed from calcium carbonate abundance and variations in the two most abundant diatom genera, Stephanodiscus and Melosira, with age control obtained primarily from 14C dating of the carbonate. Differences with time in Fe abundance in a transect of cores from different water depths have been interpreted to reflect changes in chemocline depth. The depth to the chemocline was on the order of 100 m shallower than present prior to 3500 yr B.P., indicating less seasonality. Carbonate production and preservation appears to be related to climatically induced changes in both salinity and chemical distributions in the water column. The carbonate, which precipitates from surface waters, is most abundant during the interval from about 10,000 to 6000 yr B.P. This micrite most likely represents periods of low lake level when salinity increased and carbonate precipitation was enhanced. Sedimentary evidence suggests that lake levels were 100-150 m lower than present during this period. This record is different from climatic trends in northern intertropical Africa, but appears to also be related to changes in insolation and monsoon circulation. This is the northernmost basin in Africa reported to exhibit a "southern hemisphere" response to the early Holocene northern hemisphere summer insolation maximum. The climatic hingeline north of Lake Malawi (∼ 9°S) implied by our results is significantly south of that indicated by general-circulation model simulations, however. The cores show evidence for periods of abrupt climate change during the interval of generally arid climate. © 1991. 1991 English 00310182 10.1016/0031-0182(91)90167-P Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 85 351-366 Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, United States 3-4 carbonate precipitation; chemocline depth; climate; climate trend; diatom; Holocene; lake level; micrite; palaeoclimate; palaeoclimate record; salinity; sedimentation, Malawi, Lake Malawi https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0026305665&doi=10.1016%2f0031-0182%2891%2990167-P&partnerID=40&md5=a8608bf6105d6592ac38727ddd47bbfe cited By 76 B.P. Finney T.C. Johnson