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Paleoenvironmental Changes during the Last 4000 yr in the Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Maria J. Machado ,
Alfredo Pérez-González  and
Gerardo Benito
Maria J. Machado
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, CSIC, Serrano 115 bis, 28006, Madrid, Spain
Alfredo Pérez-González
Affiliation:
Facultad de Geologı́a, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain
Gerardo Benito
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, CSIC, Serrano 115 bis, 28006, Madrid, Spain
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Abstract

In the Tigray region at the northern Ethiopian Highlands, paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on several infilled valley deposit sequences suggests that the past 4000 yr comprised three major wetter periods (ca. 4000–3500 yr B.P., 2500–1500 yr B.P., and 1000–960 yr B.P.), during which soils were formed, and two degradation episodes (ca. 3500–2500 yr B.P. and 1500–1000 yr B.P.), during which there was an increase of sediment yield from the slopes into the valleys. For the past 1000 yr, and in particular since the early 17th century, stratigraphic records together with historic chronicles suggest increasing aridity. Although difficulties arise in distinguishing between natural and human impacts, particularly in a region with a long established agricultural background, stratigraphical and proxy paleoclimatic data have indicated climate as the main controlling factor responsible for the environmental changes in the Tigray.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , May 1998 , pp. 312 - 321
Copyright
University of Washington

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