Abstract
A six thousand year history of streamflow in Mesopotamia is derived from a synthesis of regional paleoenvironmental proxy data. The proxy data are interpreted with consideration to the climatic signals represented in the records and to the temporal resolution of the records. A consideration of modern synoptic climatology suggests the spatial patterns of streamflow-generating precipitation in relation to atmospheric circulation. These patterns provide a framework for the interpretation of streamflow from the regional proxies. Given the nature of the data at hand, only a low frequency signal is reconstructed. Assessment of the role of small scale climatic fluctuations as a forcing function of population dynamics must await the availability of finer resolution environmental data.
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Kay, P.A., Johnson, D.L. Estimation of Tigris-Euphrates streamflow from regional paleoenvironmental proxy data. Climatic Change 3, 251–263 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00136671
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00136671