Submitted by Biblioteca de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica BGQ (bgq@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-06-27T15:43:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO MESTRADO RENATA LIMA DA COSTA.pdf: 3354797 bytes, checksum: 32c50ae4ec262f98d3a557ed8afe9eaa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-27T15:43:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO MESTRADO RENATA LIMA DA COSTA.pdf: 3354797 bytes, checksum: 32c50ae4ec262f98d3a557ed8afe9eaa (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / nstitut de Recherche pour le Développement / Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica, Niterói, RJ / Sabendo-se que as condições hidrológicas de um sistema flu vial depende diretamente do clima regional, e que as mudanças climáticas do Holoceno atingiram várias regiões da Amazônia de diferentes formas, este trabalho visa r econstituir, através de estudos de sondagem lacustre, o cenário paleoambiental e as condi ções hidrológicas atuantes durante o Holoceno no lago Acarabixi, localizado na p lanície sedimentar do médio Rio Negro. A caracterização das unidades litológicas foi real izada através de medidas de densidade, teor em água, matéria orgânica, granulomet ria, e lâminas de material sedimentar bruto . A origem da matéria orgânica foi avaliada a partir da relação entre carbono e nitrogênio orgânicos e seus isótopos estáveis ( δ 13 C e δ 15 N), e de petrografia. A quantificação das frações minerais foi realizada atrav és de espectrometria de infravermelho, e a identificação através de análises de difração de raios X na fração argilosa. A cronologia foi realizada a partir de data ções radiocarbônicas ( 14 C) AMS. Os registros sedimentares de ambos os testemunhos analisados m ostraram a alternância entre ambientes de características deposicionais de maior e de menor energia hidrodinâmica. As diferenças apresentadas na sedimenta ção dos testemunhos estão relacionadas com a migração lateral do canal principal de um braço do Rio Negro que passa pelo Lago Acarabixi. Esses registros mostraram quatro fases de sedimentação: 9500-8100 14 C AP; 8100-7400 14 C AP; 7400-1600 14 C AP, e 1600 14 C AP–Presente. A ausência de registro sedimentar na terceira fase pelo test emunho ACA 02/03, está relacionada a fortes eventos de inundação, teriam remo vido o sedimento no testemunho ACA 02/03, que se localizava neste período m ais próximo do canal principal de corrente. A análise da matéria orgânica i ndicou origem pedogênica. Ela seria oriunda da lixiviação de solos podzólicos da bacia do Rio Negro, e transportada pelo Rio Negro e depositada junto com o sedimento no L ago Acarabixi. De modo geral, a planície de sedimentação estudada no Rio Negro demon strou ser um ambiente em que os centros de sedimentação variam ao longo do temp o. Estes centros de sedimentação estariam relacionados ao deslocamento latera l dos canais principais de correntes dos rios, além de seu preenchimento pelas ench entes. Podem ser reconhecidas duas fases neste preenchimento: uma fase de for te deposição com migração lateral dos canais até 8000 anos e uma fase de sedimentação mais lenta com características mais lacustres após 8000 anos AP / Knowing that the hydrologic conditions of a fluvial sy stem depends directly on the regional climate, and that the Holocene climatic chang es reached several areas of Amazonia in different ways, this work seeks to reconstitute , through studies of lacustrine survey, the paleoenvironment and the hydrologic condit ions active during Holoceno in the lake Acarabixi, located in the sedimentary plain of medium Rio Negro. The characterization of the litologics units was accomplished th rough density measures, % in water, organic matter, granulometry, and material she ets to silt up rude. The origin of the organic matter was evaluated starting from the relatio nship between carbon and organic nitrogen and δ 13 C and δ 15 N, and of petrografy. The quantification of the mine ral fractions was accomplished through infrared-espectrometry, and the identification through analyses of diffraction of rays X in the loamy fractio n. The chronology was accomplished starting from datings radiocarbônicas ( 14 C) AMS. The sedimentary registrations of both analyzed core showed the alternation among environmen ts from smaller and bigger hydrodynamic energy. The differences presented in the sedimentation of the core are related with the lateral migration of the main chann el of an arm of Rio Negro that goes by the Lago Acarabixi. Those registrations showed four sedimentation phases: 9500- 8100 14 C AP; 8100-7400 14 C AP; 7400-1600 14 C AP, and 1600 14 C AP-present. The absence of sedimentary registration in the third phase for the core ACA 02/03, is related to strong flood events, they would have removed the se diment in the core ACA 02/03, that was located closer of the main channel of current i n this period. The analysis of the organic matter indicated pedogenic origin. The organic matter would be originating from of the ‘ lixiviação’ of podzóls of Rio Negro basin, and transported by Rio Negro and deposited with the sediment in the Lago Acarabixi. In general, the sedimentation plain studied in Rio Negro demonstrated to be an environme nt in that the sedimentation centers vary along the time. These sedimentation cente rs would be related to the lateral displacement of the main channels of currents of the riv ers, besides it’s completion for the flooding. Two phases can be recognized in this comple tion: a phase of strong deposition with lateral migration of the channels to 8 000 years and a phase of slower sedimentation with more lacustrine characteristics after 8000 years AP.

Multi-proxy approach for the reconstruction of paleo-redox conditions is attempted on a radiocarbon (C-14) dated sediment core near the equatorial Indian Ocean. Based on the behavior and distribution of redox sensitive and productivity proxies, study demonstrates prevalence of anoxic bottom water conditions during LGM due to poorly ventilated bottom waters augmented by high surface productivity resulting in better preservation of organic carbon (OC). During early Holocene, the equatorial Indian Ocean witnessed high sedimentation rates resulting in high organic carbon (OC) with depleted redox sensitive elements thereby causing better preservation of OC. The study underscores poor bottom water ventilation during LGM and preservation of OC as a result of high sedimentation rate in early Holocene.

Contemporary a geographical imbalance of where palaeoclimatological studies have been undertaken exists, where the majority of palaeodata is based on studies from the northernhemisphere. Multiproxy analysis was performed on a peat core from Lydenburg, north-eastern Mpumalanga, covering the last 1.600 years. Proxy focus was put on fossil grassphytoliths. A general drying trend can be noted from AD 400 to 1000, followed by moremesic conditions around AD 1200. The increasingly mesic conditions were interrupted by asignificantly drier period between c. AD 1250 to 1350. This part of the Lydenburg sequenceoccurs in the end of a climate event termed “Medieval warm period” (MWP), suggested tohave been warmer and variable but mostly wetter in southern Africa. The results are in lineregarding the increased temperature and suggested variability. However, in contrast withearlier findings, significantly drier conditions seem to have prevailed at the Lydenburg fenat the end of “MWP” as interpreted by multiple proxies. Following AD 1400 increasinglymesic conditions was recorded as interpreted by several of the analysed proxies. Morepalaeoenvironmental studies needs to be performed in the area in order to elaborate on thedriving factors of palaeoenvironmental change in the region, as well as to establish if thesignals from the Lydenburg fen record local or regional changes. The results support earlierphytolith studies suggesting that small rondels should be excluded from phytolithassemblages in tropical and sub-tropical areas in Africa. / People, Land, and Time in Africa (PLATINA) / Bokoni project. This MA thesis is part of a transdisciplinary project involving scholars from Sweden and South Africa aiming to understand traces of pre-colonial terraces found in north-easter Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Finely laminated sediments within Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galapagos, provide a record of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events over the Holocene. Despite the importance of this sediment record, hypotheses for how climate variability is preserved in the lake sediments have not been tested. Here we present results of long-term monitoring of the local climate and limnology and a revised interpretation of the sediment record. Brown-green, organic-rich, siliciclastic laminae reflect warm, wet conditions typical of El Nino events, whereas carbonate and gypsum precipitate during cool, dry La Nina events and persistent dry periods, respectively. Applying this new interpretation, we find that ENSO events of both phases were generally less frequent during the mid-Holocene (similar to 6100-4000 calendar years B.P.) relative to the last similar to 1500 calendar years. Abundant carbonate laminations between 3500 and 3000 calendar years B.P. imply that conditions in the Galapagos region were cool and dry during this period when the tropical Pacific E-W sea surface temperature (SST) gradient likely strengthened. The frequency of El Nino and La Nina events then intensified dramatically around 1750-2000 calendar years B.P., consistent with a weaker SST gradient and an increased frequency of ENSO events in other regional records. This strong interannual variability persisted until similar to 700 calendar years B.P., when ENSO-related variability at the lake decreased as the SST gradient strengthened. Persistent, dry conditions then dominated between 300 and 50 calendar years B.P. (A.D. 1650-1900, +/- similar to 100 years), whereas wetter conditions and frequent El Nino events dominated in the most recent century. Plain Language Summary Sediments accumulating at the bottom of Bainbridge Crater Lake have provided a record of Galapagos climate and the frequency of El Nino events over the past similar to 6000 years. Motivated by the importance of this lake for our understanding of climate in the tropical Pacific Ocean, we have been monitoring the link between climate, lake conditions, and the physical and chemical properties of the lake sediments since 2009. Based on this long-term monitoring, we find that the Bainbridge sediment record preserves both El Nino and La Nina events. This makes Bainbridge a particularly valuable archive of past climate, as most sediment-based records typically preserve only one or the other key phase of tropical Pacific climate.

L’oasis de Kharga, est située au cœur du Sahara oriental, l’occupation humaine de cette région est strictement corrélée à un facteur limitant : l’eau, dont la présence ancienne est perceptible à travers des formes géomorphologiques telles que les playas et les sources artésiennes fossiles. Les données étudiées dans le cadre de cette recherche doctorale ont été rassemblées au cours de dix années de recherches dans le cadre de la mission archéologique de Douch (IFAO). La prospection systématique a permis de dresser la carte archéologique de ce territoire et mis en évidence plus de 84 sites composés de 359 ensembles attribués à la Préhistoire récente. Fouilles stratigraphiques, sondages et collectes de surface ont livré un matériel dont l’étude est au cœur de notre recherche. L’analyse est ici guidée par plusieurs axes de réflexion. Établir les jalons d’une périodisation des installations humaines par la caractérisation et l’étude comparative des assemblages archéologiques axée sur les industries lithiques taillées s’avère un préalable nécessaire. Un programme de datation radiocarbone permet d’esquisser les contours d’une chronologie absolue pour cette séquence culturelle. Sur cette base, il devient possible de saisir l’articulation diachronique qui s’opère entre les installations humaines et les différentes formes de paysage reflétant des stratégies d’occupation du territoire adaptatives. Cette approche permet de questionner la singularité de l’oasis dans les scénarios de mobilité et de dynamiques de peuplement à l’échelle macro-régionale dans une période marquée par des phénomènes de transition majeurs tant climatiques que techno-économiques. / Kharga oasis is located in the heart of the eastern Sahara. In this region, human occupation is linked to a limiting factor: water, whom former presence is attested by geomorphological forms as playas and artesian fossil springs. The data studied here were gathered in the course of 10 years of fieldwork during the Douch archaeological mission (IFAO). A systematic survey permitted to draw the archaeological map of this area and revealed 84 sites including 359 clusters attributed to Holocene Prehistory. The archaeological material coming from stratigraphic excavations, tests and collections serve as a basis for our work. The analyse is guided by several lines of thought. Establishing the archaeological sequence thanks to lithic industries and radiocarbon dating is the first step. It is then possible to understand the relationship between landscape, environment and human occupation’s strategies. This approach allows us to question the place of Kharga at a regional scale during times of technologic, economic and climatic change.

Le changement climatique au cours de l’Holocène est un événement majeur, qui a bien influencé sur le développement d’activité de subsistance. Cette interaction entre l’Homme et son environnement a pu être aperçu par l’analyse de la faune de quatre gisements étendus chronologiquement du Capsien au Néolithique. Les gisements BH et SHM1, reflètent une vie fondée sur la chasse, la pêche et la collecte des escargots terrestres. Les gisements les plus récents sont ceux K.Ag et DK, traduisent le passage à une activité de production manifesté par l’élevage des ovicaprins, sans exclure l’apport de la chasse et de la pêche dans l’alimentation des occupants. Les bovidés ont été toujours la source principale dans leur apport alimentaire, mais avec une dominance de mouflon à manchettes à BH, de l’antilope bubale à SHM1 et des Caprini domestiques dans les deux gisements néolithiques (K.Ag et DK). La présence des Caprini domestiques était antérieure à celle des bovins. La fréquence du mouton par rapport à la chèvre était observée dans les deux sites néolithiques.L’étude archéozoologique illustre une faible présence des parties squelettiques les plus nutritives suite à une forte intensité anthropique, dans tous les sites. La richesse spécifique ainsi que la variabilité spécifique est à l’origine de la nature du climat ainsi qu’à la position géographique du site. / Climate change during the Holocene is a major event. It had a great influence on the development of the movement of subsistence. This interaction between human being and his environment may be seen by the analysis of faunal remains of four deposits chronologically extended from Caspian to Neolithic.Both BH and SHM1 deposits, reflect a way of life based on hunting, fishing and the collection of land snails. The most recent deposits, are of K.Ag and DK, translates the move to an activity of production shown by the goat breeding, without excluding the contribution of hunting and fishing of the occupants’ food supply.The Bovids has been always the main source of their own food intake, but with the dominance of the barbary sheep in BH, the hartebeest to SHM1 and domestic goats within the two Neolithic deposits (K.Ag and DK).The presence of the local ovicaprids preceded the cattle. The frequency of sheep versus goats was observed within the two Neolithic sites.The Archeozoologic study illustrates a weak presence of the most nutritious skeletal elements after a strong intensive anthropic in all sites. The Specific richness as well as the specific variable is the origin of the climatic nature even the geographic position of the site.

The archaeological sites that inform the hypothesized coastal route of entry to the Americas are limited, with fewer than twenty sites older than 11,500 years before present on the Northwest Coast of North America. Late Pleistocene and early Holocene archaeological sites are hard to find in this expansive, remote, and heavily forested area due to the complexity of paleoenvironmental change since the last glacial maximum. The study area for this thesis, Quadra Island, in the Discovery Islands, lies in the middle of a gap in knowledge about this time period. Changes in relative sea level have proven to be especially important for early site location on the coast. Predictive modelling has been used to search for new archaeological sites on the Northwest Coast, and is a basic component of cultural resource management practices in British Columbia. Such quantitative modelling can aid in archaeological site survey, but must be used critically. This study integrates quantitative and qualitative modelling with a heuristic method to incorporate more humanistic modelling theory and address some critiques of a traditional predictive modelling approach. In this study, quantitative modelling highlighted target areas which were then evaluated by qualitative modelling. A selection of targets were then subjected to focussed archaeological survey to evaluate methodology, results, and search for new sites. This method is important theoretically because modelling is explicitly used only as a tool and does not label the landscape with values of potential. Modelling was applied in two areas of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data which collectively host more than 4,000 kilometres of potential paleo-coastline. Fifteen new archaeological sites were found during this study, with at least two sites radiocarbon dated to ca. 9,500 calibrated years ago. This methodology could be applied in different archaeological contexts, such as underwater and in different coastal regions. The results of this study have important implications for coastal First Nations and implications for cultural resource management in the province. / Graduate / 2018-11-30

Palaeobotanical records of Holocene climate change in the southern Coast Mountains identify a cooler/wetter Neoglacial period subsequent to 6600 BP. Geomorphic evidence of alpine glacier advance suggests that there were three distinct cooler/wetter periods during the Neoglacial, but this pattern has not been identified in palaeobotanical studies. By careful selection of a sensitive alpine site this thesis has recognised this structure in a palynological record of Neoglacial climate. This continuous record of Neoglacial climate which has the same basis as records of early Holocene climate (i.e. palynological) and hence allows more direct comparisons of the two periods. Pollen spectra, conifer needle macrofossils, organic matter content, and magnetic susceptibility were assessed for a 4800 year continuous sequence of sediment from an alpine lake. Calibration of the Picea/Pinus pollen ratio by using an altitudinal transect of surface pollen samples allowed partial quantification of shifts in treeline. Treeline at the site was at least 85 m above the present level from 4800-3800 BP, suggesting that summer temperatures were at least 0.6°C above the present. High treeline until 3800 BP indicates a relatively late date for the Hypsithermal/Neoglacial transition at this site. Alternatively, the apparent complexity of this transition in the Coast Mountains may be due to difficulties of separating temperature and precipitation signals in many climatic records. Treeline declined to near present levels by 2500 BP and was lower than present from 2500-1500 BP and from 1200 BP until close to the present. Estimates of equilibrium line altitude depression for Coast Mountain glaciers during the Little Ice Age suggest that these periods of lower treeline were due to a cooling of up to 0.8°C. During the last 5000 years the Southern Coast Mountains have experienced fluctuations on the order of 1.5°C. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The mid-Holocene climactic eruption of Mount Mazama in Oregon, USA (Volcanic Explosivity Index, VEI-7) was among the largest eruptions globally during the Holocene. Despite evidence for possible hemispheric climatic impacts, the age of the eruption is not well-constrained and little is known about the environmental impacts of distal tephra deposition with previous studies showing no clear consensus. Further, the eruption occurred during a time of global climatic warming, raising questions about the impacts of tephra deposition in the context of longer-term change. Thus the aim of this thesis is to investigate the terrestrial and aquatic impacts of distal tephra deposition from the climactic eruption of Mount Mazama approximately 7700 years ago, and to reconstruct Holocene environmental change in the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Mazama tephra forms an important isochronous marker horizon. A refined age of 7682-7584 cal. years BP (95.4% probability range) for the eruption was acquired through Bayesian statistical modelling of 81 previously published radiocarbon age estimations. Through high resolution palaeoecological and statistical analyses (stratigraphy, tephra geochemistry, radiocarbon dating, pollen, diatoms and ordination) the aquatic and terrestrial impacts of tephra deposition are assessed. Records were examined from the centre and fringe of Moss Lake, Washington to elucidate regional and local effects on vegetation and to determine whether the observed aquatic impacts were consistent throughout the lake, or whether the diatoms were responding to other factors, such as climate or catchment changes. Tephra deposition from the climactic eruption of Mount Mazama caused a statistically significant local terrestrial impact with changes to open habitat vegetation (Cyperaceae and Poaceae) and changes in aquatic macrophytes (Myriophyllum spicatum, Equisetum) and alga (Pediastrum), but there was no significant regional impact of distal tephra deposition. Statistical testing suggests the regional changes observed were climate-driven, evidenced by longer-term, underlying environmental change. Tephra deposition had a statistically significant impact on the aquatic system with decreases of epiphytic taxa (Fragilaria brevistriata and Staurosira venter) and increases of epipelic (Brachysira brebissonii) and tychoplanktonic taxa (Aulacoseira sp.) indicating a change in habitat and an increase of the Si:P ratio, lasting approximately 150 years. Variance partitioning demonstrated tephra to be a significant environmental variable; however, directional change exerted most influence and interactions between variables are evident. This study clearly demonstrates that there are complex interactions between drivers of change which is evidenced through time series analysis of the diatom Holocene record, revealing periodicities of approximately 2000 years, 1300 years, and 450 years attributed to solar variation and ocean-atmosphere interactions. Overall, tephra had a significant local effect on the environment, but no significant impact on the region independent of underlying environmental changes. More studies of similar nature are needed to evaluate the wider regional significance of the localised impacts shown at Moss Lake.

Lake Hayq is a closed, freshwater basin on the eastern margin of the north-central highlands, Ethiopia. Using a sediment core extracted from the northern basin, this thesis aims to provide a high-resolution, detailed palaeolimnological reconstruction of changes to the environment and climate in the region since the late Pleistocene. A multi-proxy approach was applied, utilising diatoms, photosynthetic pigments and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. Lithological and chronological analyses were also performed, as well as the development of a transfer function to model diatom-inferred conductivity, and other quantitative analyses. Between ~ 15.6 15.1 cal kyr BP, Lake Hayq experienced a lowstand, synchronous with the timing of Heinrich Event 1 and an intense drought across East Africa. At ~ 15.1 cal kyr BP a lake began to develop at the core site in response to wetter, more humid conditions, most likely caused by the reactivation of the African-Indian monsoonal circulation. This was abruptly ended however at ~ 14.7 cal kyr BP, as the climate shifted back towards aridity and Lake Hayq shallowed, in contrast to the majority of other East African lakes, which continued to refill. This most likely reflects changes to the Indian Ocean monsoon system caused by variability in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at this time, in conjunction with site-specific mechanisms affecting the delivery of precipitation to Lake Hayq. At ~ 12.3 cal kyr BP the African Humid Period resumed over Lake Hayq and the lake refilled, reaching maximum water depth between ~ 12.0 10.0 cal kyr BP. The lake was dominated by planktonic diatom taxa and photosynthetic pigments indicate it was meromictic. Lake level gradually declined throughout the Holocene, culminating in the termination of the African Humid Period. A high-resolution study of the period tentatively suggests that climate flickering , in the form of oscillations between dominant diatom taxa, occurred in the build up to the major climatic shift. The termination spanned ~ 600 cal years between ~ 5.2 4.6 cal kyr BP. A lowstand occurred between ~ 3.9 2.2 cal kyr BP, during which the lake became occasionally subsaline. In the late Holocene, ~ 2.2 1.3 cal kyr BP, Lake Hayq became deep and fresh again, although there is evidence of lake level variability. The palaeo-record from Lake Hayq indicates that it broadly experienced the same high-latitude, glacial-interglacial dynamics and sub-millennial shifts in climate found in other palaeolimnological records from across East Africa. The precise timing and expression of these climatic events is not always synchronous between Lake Hayq and other East African waterbodies however, most likely caused by local, site-specific positive feedback mechanisms and variability in lake morphometry. This highlights the heterogeneous pattern of climate across the region and the significance of regional drivers. This palaeo-record, spanning the late Quaternary, will help bridge gaps in current knowledge and understanding of the underrepresented, climatically sensitive and vulnerable north Ethiopian highlands. This is vital for future climate change modelling and regional downscaling, and may also inform ethnographic-archaeological research in a region considered to be the cradle of humankind.