PALEOLIMNOLOGY OF LAKE BIWA AND

THE JAPANESE PLEISTOCENE

(VOLUME 11)

(Ediled by; SHOJI HORIE )

1983 Contrftmtion on the "Paleolimnology of Lake Biwa and the Japanese PleistocenenNo.530

CONTENTS Preface

BASIC DATA ON 1,400-1,500 METERS DEEP DRILLING IN LAKE BIWA

1. Ön the Investigation of the Lake Bas in Structure by Air Gun Method (II)

Shoji HORIE and Shunji TANAKA— (5-10) Contribution on the Paleolimnology of Lake Biwa and the Japanese

Pleistocene No.531[530-1]

2. Technical Report on Deep Drilling of Lake Biwa Shoji HORIE-(ll-22)

No.532[530-2]

FURTHER ANALYSIS ON 200 METERS CORE OBTAINED IN LAKE BIWA IN 1971

3. Volcanic Ash-Horizons in the 200 M Core Samples from Lake Biwa

Shusaku YOSHIKAWA-(23-39) No.533[530-3]

PLEISTOCENE FEATURES ON T H E GLOBE OUTSIDE T H E JAPANESE ISLANDS

4. Preliminary Reconstruction of the Late Quaternary Climatic History of the Central Namib Desert, SW Africa, based on New 1 4 C Dates

Klaus HEINE-(41-54) No.534[530-4)

5. The Subsurface Late Cenozoic Palynostratigraphy in Israel

A. HOROWITS-»(SS-S6) . No.535[530-5]

MULTICHANNEL SEISMIC SECTIONS

B I B L I O G R A P H Y LIST OF CONTRIBUTION ON THE "PALEOLIMNOLOGY OF LAKE BIWA AND THE JAPANESE PLEISTOCENE"- • (57-99)

J

PRELIMINARY RECONSTRUCTION OF" THE LATE QUATERNARY CLIMATIC HISTORY OF THE

CENTRAL NAMIB DESERT, SW AFRICA, BASED ON NEW 1 4 C DATES.

Klaus Heine, Univers i ty of Regensburg

Department of Geography

P.O.Box 397, D - Regensburg, FRG

1. Introduction

The Narnib i s a long , narrow desert s i t u a t e d in southwestern A f r i c a between

the A t l a n t i c Ocean and the Great WesternEscarpment. In the cent ra l Narnib the

desert extends for approximately 140 km i n l a n d . The coastal a r i d i t y of the

Nam/ib desert r e s u l t s from s t rong , widespread subsidence in the high pressure

b e l t and may be enhanced by the advectional temperature invers ion maintained

by the onshore winds of the South A t l a n t i c ant icyc lone . "

The remarkable phenomenon of the occurrence of the coastal Narnib desert

has at t racted the a t ten t ion of s c i e n t i s t s f o r a long t ime; the age and the

o r i g i n as wel l as c l i m a t i c changes during the Quaternary have i n recent

years been the focus of much research (VAN ZINDEREN BAKKER 1983).

The question of the l a t e Quaternary c l i m a t i c evo lut ion in the centra l

Narnib has been discussed by several authors (see HEINE & GEYH 1984, VAN

ZINDEREN BAKKER 1983, LANCASTER 1983). In p a r t i c u l a r , the landforms and

Sediments of the Kuiseb v a l l e y have been used to reconstruct Late Quaternary

palaeoclimates of the Narnib d e s e r t . . Y e t , the Kuiseb has i t s headwater f a r

outside the Narnib deser t , so that much of the geomorphic and sedimentary

evidence of the Kuiseb v a l l e y may not provide the best information

f o r palaeocl imat ic reconstruct ions of the Narnib deser t . On the other hand,

the speleothems of a small cave near the Rössing Berge, about 100 km north

of the Kuiseb v a l l e y , give evidence f o r Late Quaternary v a r i a t i o n s i n

p r e c i p i t a t i o n . Both, the Kuiseb sedimentary sequence and the speleothems

formation, can be used fo r pa laeoc l imat ic recons t ruc t ions . The c o r r e l a t i o n

of both chronostrat igraphies provide a scheme of the Late Quaternary h is to ry

of the Narnib which can be t e s t e d , modi f ied , improved, or even refuted by

future workers.

2. The Kuiseb va l ley

The Kuiseb drainage System, a component of South West A f r i c a n A t l a n t i c

drainage, r i ses in the Khomas Highlands to cross the cent ra l Narnib desert

and reach the coast near Walvis Bay. In the course of a pro ject to date

s

17° £

Fig. 1: The central Narnib-desert. Reference map.

f

geomorphic features i n the Narnib desert and by so doing to gradual ly r e -

construct the Late Quaternary c l i m a t i c h i s t o r y , i s o t o p i c and radiometr ic

analyses have been undertaken by VOGEL (1982) on the s i l t Sediments and

re la ted deposits i n the Kuiseb r i v e r canyon at Homeb. These l a c u s t r i n e s i l t

deposits or v i e r Sediments have been re fe r red to and discussed by various

authors (SCHOLZ 1972, GOUDIE 1972, RUST & WIENECKE 1974, MARKER 1977, OLLIER

1977, MARKER & MÜLLER 1978, HÖVERMANN 1978, RUST & WIENECKE 1980, RUST &

WIENECKE 1981, VOGEL 1982, WARD 1982) (F ig .2 ) .

Radiocarbon dates , presented by VOGEL (1982), i n d i c a t e that carbonate

cementation of pebble conglomerate (40 m te r race ) and pedogenic c a l c r e t e

formatiön took place between 33 000 and 28 000 BP. According to the r e l a t i v e -

l y cons is tent set of radiocarbon dates the Homeb s i l t beds were accumulated

between c a . 23 000 and 19 000 BP (VOGEL 1982). A f t e r the carbonate cementation

of the Homeb s i l t s the removal of the 40 m ter race conglomerate must have

taken place at or a f t e r 28 000 BP (VOGEL 1982). Subsequent to 19 000 BP the

s i l t i n f i l l i n g of the va l l ey was more or less completely removed; i n the

course of t h i s degradation some of the s i l t was poss ib l y redeoosited as the

12 m terrace (VOGEL 1982). A f t e r 19 000 B P - and before the erosion of the

Homeb s i l t s - g l a c i s II developed. A f te r the depos i t ion of the 12 m ter race

(ca. 9 600 BP ?) g l a c i s I was formed. Düring the Holocene four small Kuiseb

terraces accumulated or were developed-as rock terraces r e s p e c t i v e l y . In

ter race II a horizon of wood fragments and seeds were dated: 1520+240 BP

(Hv 9882).

Aseherne of the Late Quaternary Sediments, geomorphic processes, and

pa laeoc l imat ic eva luat ion fo r the Kuiseb v a l l e y near Homeb i s shown i n F i g . 3 .

Absolute dates e x i s t s fo r the fo l lowing phases: The c a l c r e t e development

represents a phase of r e l a t i v e l y humid and windy c o n d i t i o n s . Observations

i n the eastern Narnib ind icate that in s i l i e e o u s Substrates ca lc re tes can

be formed only by a l l o t h i c (eo l ian) increment (BLOMEL 1982); i t can be

supposed that more humid condit ions (up to c a . 600 mm r a i n f a l l ? ) cause the

o r i g i n of the ca -hor i zon by descending i n f i l t r a t i o n s ; more a r i d phases

(up to <100 mm) cause diagenesis and macro-st rueture (BLOMEL 1982). Thus

the c a l c r e t e formatiön phase between 33 000 and 28 000 BP may document

a l t e r n a t i n g "humid" and a r i d cond i t ions . Düring the accumulation of the

Homeb s i l t s the c l imate must have been a r i d , because the Sedimentation

took place without p a r t i e i p a t i o n of l oca l processes exoect fo r e o l i a n

NAMIB UNCONFORMITY SURFACE

A t e ^BASEMENTW/TH r ^VELRAVEMENT 'LOCAL METAMORPHICS)

BASEMENT (METAMORPHC ROCKS)

AEOLiANSAND BASAL SCHST CONGUDMERATE (~Q2m THICK)

'000BP) FLUVIAL SEDIMENTS (LOCAL

CALCRETE-*, (33-28000BPI

KUISEB GRAVELS 1 1 '-H AT SURFACE. /GRAVEL TPSSL^" /(^TERRACE) TERRACES, J ! FmTLYGRWELl^m

r^Zj7EMENTAWN *2WQFJ CA33-28000BP

iKUJSEB FLCQDPLAINh

RMER BED O Ä e . n j ^ „ \HOMEBSILT BASEMENT BENEATHGLAOS SEDIMENTS Um TERRACE (9600BP?)

530m HEIGHT

505

480

455

430

Fig* 2: Schematic cross-section of the Kuiseb river valley.

deposi t ion (HÖVERMANN 1978). The accumulation of the gravels of te r race

II occurred about 1500 BP; the gravels derived from the gramadullas document

in tens iv slope processes (debris fo rmat iön , see HÖVERMANN 1978). The phase

of the ter race II formatiön was more humid than today.

A c o r r e l a t i o n of the radiocarbon dated Kuiseb Sediments and ca l c re tes with

the resu l t s obtained fo r environmental changes at the Mirabib H i l l She l te r

(SANDELOWSKY 1977)(Fig.3) shows a good agreement of the l a s t moist phase

about 1500 BP. The Mirabib dung f l o o r and the terrace II were accumulated

at the same time. I t was * short but r e l a t i v e l y moist phase i n the cent ra l

Narnib. Tentat ive ly we may c o r r e l a t e the terraces I I I and IV of the Kuiseb

with the both other moist phases of the Mirabib archaeologica l s i t e . In

doing so we can not ice at l e a s t three Holocene moist phases i n the cent ra l

Namib:̂ 1500 BP, 5000 - 5500 BP and 8200 - 8400 BP. I f the date of the

accumulation of the 12 m ter race of the Kuiseb i s cor rec t (see VOGEL 1982),

then the phase between around 10 000 and 8000 BP was character ised by

a l t e r n a t i n g more "humid" (moister) and a r i d condit ions according to the

s t r a t i f i c a t i o n of s i l t wi th l o c a l s c h i s t gravels i n the 12 m t e r r a c e .

The Kuiseb evidence f o r c l i m a t i c changes should not be regarded as i n d i -

cat ive of changes i n the cent ra l Narnib reg ion . The data from the Kuiseb

should be seen in r e l a t i o n to other pa laeoc l imat ic data of the cent ra l Narnib.

At the Tsondab VI e i (F ig .3 ) an increase in runoff occurred about 28 000 BP;

the waters could reach a v i e i about 10 km west of Tsondab that i s now blocked

by sand dunes from the Tsondab VI e i . I t i s not qu i te c l e a r , whether the

Late G l a c i a l around 14 000 BP was moister . An increase i n runoff i s postulated

by LANCASTER (1983). In the Tsondab and Tsauchab radiocarbon dates f o r v l e i

s i l t s of 8640 and 9500 BP suggest (LANCASTER 1983) an ea r l y Holocene per iod

of increased moisture.

The f i r s t resu l t s of pa lyno log ica l studies on the cent ra l Narnib desert

(Sossus V l e i ) are described by VAN ZINDEREN BAKKER (1983). The conclusions

are that the northern part of the Narnib erg d id not receive s i g n i f i c a n t l y

more r a i n f a l l over the l a s t c a . 18 000 years and that the Tsondab and Tsau­

chab r i v e r s were blocked by dune invas ion p r i o r to 18 000 BP (VAN ZINDEREN

BAKKER 1983). According to VAN ZINDEREN BAKKER (1983) the f loods caused by

stronger (?) p r e c i p i t a t i o n on the escarpment from 19 000 BP onward, which

gradwally removed the Homeb s i l t s , were not strong enough to force t h e i r

way through the dune b a r r i e r .

Fig. 3: Late Quaternary sequences of the central Narnib desert. (See VOGEL

1982 for the Kuiseb, SANDELOWSKY 1977 for Mirabib, BESLER 1980 for

the Kuiseb area calcretes, VAN ZINDEREN BAKKER 1983 for Sosstts VTef,

HEINE & SETH 1984 for the Rössing Cave).

. I t should be r e a l i z e d that there i s no evidence during the Late G l a c i a l

and Post G l a c i a l by the complex pattern of the Kuiseb r i v e r inc is ion/aggrad -

ation c y c l e s , changes in Sediment load and changes in Channel morphology

for a major humid/moister phase i n the cent ra l Narnib deser t ; furthermore,

front the geomorphic features of the adjacent areas (Mi rab ib , Tsondab,

Tsauchab, Sossus V l e i ) i t can be in fe r red that s ince the Last G l a c i a l Maxi ­

mum (ca . 18 000 BP) at leas t t h i s part of the desert was not a f fec ted by

more than normal r a i h f a l l .

3 . The speleothems of the Rössing Cave

S i g n i f i c a n t conclusions may be drawn from the above data only by comparison

with the dates from the Rössing Cave speleothems (HEINE & GEYH 1984). About

two ki lometers west of the Rössing Berge at about 340 m a . s . l . , a small cave

System with s t a l a c t i t e s , Stalagmites, f lowstone, popcorn, and other s i n t e r

formations r e f l e c t s the c l i m a t i c evo lut ion tn the v i c i n i t y of the Rössing 230 234

Berge. Two Th/ U data of speleothems exceeding 300 000 years support

the geomorphic evidence that the cave and the o ldest s i n t e r formatiön might

be of Ter t ia ry o r i g i n . Speleothems from a r i d regions can be considered as H c losed Systems" i n respect to carbon isotopes . Therefore, such samples are

14 most s u i t a b l e fo r C da t ing . The c a l i b r a t i o n uncertainty of the data i s

14

about + 1000 y r . Insp i te of t h i s , C ages seem to be more r e l i a b l e than

that of any other samples from the Narnib desert as ca lc re tes or f l u v i a t i l e

Sediments which are often d i a g e n e t i c a l l y changed (see HEINE & GEYH 1984).

The r e s u l t s of radiometr ic datings together with that of sedimentologic

observations at the sampling s i t e s y i e l d a rather d i f f e r e n t i a t e d Late Quater­

nary evo lut ion of the c l imate in the centra l Narnib deser t . Various phases

can be d is t ingu ished f o r the Middle Weichsel ian p l u v i a l and the time u n t i l

now (HEINE & GEYH 1984). Phase 5 (> 40 500 - 34 000 BP, see F i g . 3 ) was a

"humid" phase with a c losed plant cover in the cent ra l Narnib deser t ; compact

s in te r formatiön as wel l as popcorn development ind icate moist cond i t ion in

the cave. Phase 4 (34 000 - 27 000 BP) was the beginning of the a r i d i f i c a t i o n

in the cent ra l Narnib. At l e a s t three not i ceab le c l i m a t i c f l u c t u a t i o n s occurred

with a l t e r n a t i n g a r i d and more humid cond i t ions . This i s ind ica ted by a

sequence of th in s i n t e r and sand l a y e r s . Phase 4 corresoonds with the phase

of ca lc rete formatiön and carbonate cementation i n the Kuiseb r i v e r v a l l e y .

During phase 3 (ca . 27 000 - 25 500 BP) again "humid" condi t ions dominated.

LakeAbh* (GASSE & DELIBRIAS 1976)

Searles Lake

(SMITH m$)

Nrwou du Loc 3

10000

17000 21000

50-

Chaud Humid«

Grccntand ice cor« (DE Q.ROB1N 1983)

Grande Pite (WOILLARD & MOOK 1981)

Narnib Katahari (thispaper) (COOKE&

VERSTAPPEN 1984, HEINE 1982)

«» 912 920 945 O.S.I.

Lok« t«v«t

Fig. 4: Correlatton of phase 4 (34/33 000 BP - 27 000 BP) with selected

sequences from various regions.

From phase 2 onwards (25 000 - 19 000 BP) , the centraVNamib desert p reva i led

dry. No f u r t h e r s i n t e r formatiön occurred i n the Rössing cave. In the Kuiseb

va l ley the Homeb s i l t s were accumulated. There i s no evidence according to -

the Rössing cave data that during phase 1 (a f te r 19 000 BP) the cent ra l Narnib

desert experienced other than a r i d c l i m a t e s . •

4. Discussion

A key feature of p a l a e o c l i m a t i c reconstruct ions derived by the Interpret­

at ion of f l u v i a l s t r a t i g r a p h i c sequences i s to r e a l i z e the c l i m a t i c in f luence

on the geomorphic and sedimentologic phenomena of the area c lose to the sect ion

on one hand and of d i s tant regions on the other hand. The comparison of the

Kuiseb v a l l e y sequence with the chronostrat igraphies of adjacent areas may

help to solve this problem. Thecave speleothems r e f l e c t the l o c a l condit ions

in humidity of the centra l Narnib d e s e r t . . S o do the ca lc retes and carbonate

cementation processes in the Kuiseb v a l l e y .

Owing to the data ( F i g . 3 ) , r e l a t i v e l y humid c l i m a t i c condi t ions preva i led

between >40 500 BP and 34 000/33 000 BP not only in the centra l Narnib desert

but also i n the i n t e r i o r of southern A f r i c a (COOKE & VERSTAPPEN 1984).

The phase between 34 000/33 000 BP and ca* 27 000 BP must have had c l i m a t i c

condit ions c o n t r o l l e d by a l t e r n a t i n g a r i d and "humid" stages. This t i e s in

with observations about c a l c r e t e development in the eastern Narnib (BLOMEL

1982), the ages of the l a s t c a l c r e t e generation (BLOMEL 1982, VOGEL 1982),

and the a l t e r n a t i n g laminat ion of e o l i a n sand horizons and flowstone layers

(HEINE & GEYH 1984). The broad p ic tu re of phase 4 (F ig .4 ) with a l t e r n a t i n g

a r i d and "humid" condi t ions i n the cent ra l Narnib desert i s , however, amoly

confirmed by studies of lake l e v e l f l u c t u a t i o n s and c l i m a t i c ohases of the

western Makgadikgadi b a s i n , Kalahar i region (HEINE 1982, COOKE & VERSTAPPEN

1984), Lake Abhe, cent ra l Afar (GASSE & DELIBRIAS 1976), Searles Lake,

C a l i f o r n i a (SMITH 1976), of c l i m a t i c record from Greenland i ce cores (DE

Q.ROBIN 1983), and of the chronology f o r the continuous Continental po l len

record of Grande P i l e , France (WOILLARD & MOOK 1981). The three sand layers

of phase 4 of the Rössing s i n t e r sec t ion r e f l e c t three stages during which

eo l ian sand was accumulated i n the cave; at that time the c l imate o s c i l l a t i o n s

are well co r re la ted with the o s c i l l a t i o n s of the oxygen isotope p r o f i l e from

Camp Century between about 33 000 and 27 000 BP and of Grande P i l e Dollen

diagram between 34 000 and 28 000 BP. As a r e s u l t of t h i s worldwide c o r r e l a t i o n ,

the in te rva l between about 34 000 and 27 000 BP seems to be a unique Late

Quaternary c l i m a t i c phase without any p a r a l l e l Situation s ince about 40 000 BP

u n t i l today. In Lake Abhe, the high leve l stages II and I I I are sep&r^ted by

Sediments that c l e a r l y d i f f e r by t h e i r physico-chemical and b i o l o g i e a l t r a i t s

from other Sediments (GASSE & DELIBRIAS 1976). The corresponding s$atigraphiG

un i t i n Searles Lake i s character i zed by a unique sequence of interbedded

s a l i n e s and mud (SMITH 1976). Furthermore, the ca lc re tes and the carbonate

cementations o f ; t h e Kuiseb v a l l e y Sediments as wel l as the sandy U y e r s of

the Rössing cave sec t ion prove that only the in te rva l between 34 000 and

27 000 BP experienced a r i d and extremely windy c o n d i t i o n s ; during the Late

Quaternary period no other phase was character ized by a s i m i l a r e o l i a n sand

t ransport over the Narnib sur face . Wind eros ion forms (SWEETING & LANCASTER

1982, SELBY 1977) and data der ived from Landsat images i n d i c a t e high v e l o c i t y

palaeowinds from NNE during times of e o l i a n sand t ranspor t . Because a f t e r

27 000 BP wind-blown sand has no longer entered the Rössing cave and because

there i s no evidence that a f t e r 28 000 BP large quant i t ies of e o l i a n sand

were blown by nor theaster ly palaeowinds in to the Kuiseb v a l l e y ; we assume

that the l a s t phase with strong winds from NNE corresponds to the i n t e r v a l

between 34 000 and 27 000 BP. Observations o f f South West A f r i c a from the

Walvis Ridge can be a t t r i b u t e s to our conc lus ions : d e t a i l e d down^core analys is

and accumulation rates of quartz do not suggest any systematic d i f fe rence

between Holocene and Last G l a c i a l times (18 000 BP) (KOLLA, BISCAYE & HANLEY

1979, see a lso CARTINI & TISSOT 1982). We i n t e r p r e t t h i s wi th regard to the

a r i d c l i m a t i c condi t ions that can be deduced from the Kuiseb Sediments and

Rössing cave speleothems s ince about 25 000 BP, that the wind might have

been blowing onshore rather than offshore during Last G l a c i a l Maximum t imes,

Phase 3 (27 000 - 25 500 BP) can only be traced by the s i n t e r formatiön

i n the Rössing cave (HEINE & GEYH 1984). During t h i s phase, erosion took

place i n the Kuiseb v a l l e y . Ca lc retes of the youngest generation (BLOMEL

1982, NETTERBERG 1978) may date to t h i s phase.

Phase 2 (25 500 - 19 000 BP) and phase 1 (19 000 - Present) are not

character ized by v a r i a t i o n s in humidity i n the centra l Narnib desert . Neither

s i n t e r development occurred in the Rössing Cave (HEINE & GEYH 1984) nor d id

the cent ra l Narnib rece ive more r a i n f a l l according to the po l len studies of

Sossus V l e i (VAN ZINDEREN BAKKER 1983). The d i f f e r e n t i n c i s i o n and aggradation

cyc les of the Kuiseb r i v e r , the Tsondab, and Tsauchab were c o n t r o l l e d by the

c l i m a t i c or rather environmental Situation of the eastern Narnib, the escarp*

roent, and the Khomas Highland. At l e a s t three minor hygr ic va r ia t ions to

Fig. 5: Time-transgressive diagram with periods of calcrete fo rmat iön , sinter

development, lake level fluctuations etc. for southern Africa about

20 - 25° S.

moister condit ions in the cent ra l Narnib during the Holocene are documented

by the three radiocarbon dated organic horizons of the Mirabib H i l l She l ter

that may co r re la te wi th three ter races of the Kuiseb r i v e r , Since about

500 BP evidence f o r greater a r i d i t y i n the Narnib desert comes from a var ie ty

of sources, such as the Mirabib S i t e (SANDELOWSKY 1977, BRAIN & BRAIN 1977)

and Sossus V le i where about 600 - 550BP Acacia t rees died and d e f l a t i o n

of v l e i Sediments s t a r t e d ; archaeologica l mater ia l o lder than c a . 500 BP.

i s very frequent in the Narnib desert compared with archaeological s i t e s of

the l a s t 500 years .

A t ime- t ransgress ive diagram with the periods of c a l c r e t e fo rmat iön ,

s i n t e r development, lake leve l f l u c t u a t i o n s e t c . f o r southern A f r i c a about

20 - 25°S i s shown i n F i g . 5 .

5. Conclusions

1. During the Late P l e i s t o c e n e , the a v a i l a b l e dated evidence f o r the centra l

Narnib desert makes c e r t a i n that the phase from 40 500 BP and a l i t t l e e a r l i e r

to 34 000/33 000 BP was considerably wetter than today.

2. During the period 33 000 BP to 27 000 BP ca lc re te development and the

interbedding of eo l ian sand and flowstone i n cave Sediments prove a l t e r n a t i n g

arid/windy and moist periods. This phase i s character i zed by unique c l i m a t i c

condi t ions from a l l over the w o r l d .

3 . A f t e r a Short moist phase between 27 000 and 25 500 BP the centra l Narnib

desert remained a r i d u n t i l today.

4. Several Short periods with somewhat moister condit ions occurred during the

Holocene. The c l imate i n the cent ra l Narnib desert has f l u c t u a t e d s ince c a .

25 500 BP about a general ly a r i d mean,. becoming d r i e r i n the l a s t f i v e centur ies .

5. The Kuiseb r i v e r i n c i s i o n and aggradation cyc les ( t e r r a c e s , g l a c i s , Sed i ­

ments) are not s u i t a b l e fo r a reconst ruct ion of Late Quaternary palaeocl imates.

Only the ca lc re tes and carbonate cementations may be in terpre ted i n connection

with the speleothems.

6. The geomorphic and sedimentary evidence provide a d e t a i l e d record of Toca l ,

r e g i o n a l , and global c l i m a t i c f l u c t u a t i o n s . Tentat ive c o r r e l a t i o n s wi th chrono-

-s t rat igraphies from neighbouring areas only can imply the extent of c l i m a t i c

change.

7. The p l u v i a l record from the cent ra l Narnib desert provides data on time-trans­

gressive va r ia t ions i n humidity . "

Bibl iography

BESLER, H. (1980): Die Dünen-Namib: Entstehung und Dynamik eines Ergs. - S t u t t ­

gar ter geogr. Studien 96: 1 -241, S t u t t g a r t .

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The author is grateful to M. Ä. Geyh (Hannover) for radiocarbon age determinations

and the DEUTSCHE FORSCHUNGSGEMEINSCHAFT for financial support.