Eolian chronology reveals causal links between tectonics, climate, and erg generation

Eolian chronology reveals causal links between tectonics, climate, and erg generation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Eolian chronology reveals causal links between tectonics, climate, and erg generation Shlomy Vainer, Ari Matmon, Yoav Ben Dor, Eric Verrecchia, Georges Aumaitre This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-801542/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Sep, 2022 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The onset and intensification of eolian activity mark climatic transitions that promote wide-scale aridification, recorded by the generation and preservation of massive sand deposits. Evaluating the impact and implications of such repositories on Earth systems requires knowledge about the timing of their emplacement and the mechanisms responsible for their generation, which remain highly uncertain. Here we provide time constraints for the establishment of the Kalahari Erg, which is the largest continuous body of sand on Earth. We apply cosmogenic nuclide dating of sand from the Kalahari Desert combined with numerical modeling to determine when sand was introduced into the interior of southern Africa. Through the consideration of several scenarios, we show that major events of eolian sand transport and accumulation occurred between ~2.5 and 1 Myr ago. This substantial activity, which significantly altered environmental settings, corresponds to regional, continental, and global scale morphotectonic and climatic changes that contributed to the mass production and widespread dispersion of sand. These changes substantially altered existing habitats, thus constituting a crucial milestone for hominin evolution and migration throughout the African continent during the Pleistocene. Climate Analysis and Modeling climate change eolian activity aridification Kalahari Erg Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Kalaharisupplemanterydata.xlsx Dataset1 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Sep, 2022 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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