Abstract
Playa lake systems tend to be overlooked archives of paleoenvironmental change due to the likelihood of a short and intermittent record of deposition. Groundwater-fed wetlands associated with these climate-sensitive playas, however, preserve changes in hydrologic budget and are thus valuable archives for semiarid regions. This study examines the paleoecological record of a groundwater-fed wetland from Lake Solai, Kenya. Biological proxies are used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental change and climate impacts over the past millennium. Dry conditions persisted between CE 1115 and 1490, followed by wetter conditions during the Little Ice Age. Near surface sediments indicate increasing anthropogenic impact through pastoralism.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 438-454 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Professional Geographer |
Volume | 69 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Jul 2017 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Earth-Surface Processes
User-Defined Keywords
- biological proxies
- East African Rift
- groundwater-fed wetlands
- land degradation
- paleoenvironmental change