Abstract
Lake Hayk (23 km2 in surface) is located in northern Ethiopia, at an altitude of around 2,000 m a.s.l. The Late Holocene sedimentary successions preserved along the lake margins provide a detailed archive of the climate history of East Africa over the past 3,500 years. These successions are represented by colluvial/stromatolitic deposits and palustrine, deltaic, and fluvial sediments along the northern and southern coasts, respectively. During the last 3,500 years, the lake was characterized by three highstand phases, which occurred at about 3,250–3,000, 2,600–950, and 650 cal years BP—modern age (160 years BP non-calibrated). These stages are recorded by aggradation of siliciclastic deposits both along the southern and northern lake margins, whereas isotope data suggest that most of the stromatolites grew during phases of intense evaporation and lacustrine contraction. The good correlation between the Hayk Lake record and those of other late Holocene lakes of East Africa lakes allows a wide-scale generalization of late Holocene climate variability.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barker PA, Talbot MR, Street-Perrott FA, Marret F, Scourse J, Odada EO (2004) Late Quaternary climatic variability in intertropical Africa. In: Battarbee RW, Gasse F, Stickley CE (eds.) Past climate variability through Europe and Africa. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 117–138
Baxter RM, Golobitsh DL (1970) A note on the limnology of Lake Hayq, Ethiopia. Limnol Oceanogr 15:144–148
Benvenuti M, Carnicelli S, Belluomini G, Dainelli N, Di Grazia S, Ferrari GA, Iasio C, Sagri M, Ventra D, Balemwald, A, Seifu K (2002) The Ziway-Shala lake basin (Main Ethiopian Rift, Ethiopia): a revision of basin evolution with special reference to the Late Quaternary. J Afr Earth Sciences 35:247–269
Casanova J (1986) East African Rift stromatolites. Geol Soc Spec Publ London 25:201–210
Casanova J (1994) Stromatolites from the East African Rift: a synopsis. Phanerozoic stromatolites II. Springer, Berlin, pp 193–226
Cohen AS, Talbot MR, Awramik SM, Dettman DL, Abell P (1997) Lake level and paleoenvironmental history of Lake Tanganyika, Africa, as inferred from late Holocene and modern stromatolites. Geol Soc Am Bull 109:444–460
Demille M (2000) Hydrology, hydrogeology and hydrochemistry of lake Haiq-Hardibo sytem. Unpublished MSc thesis, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Demlie M, Ayenewb T, Wohnlicha S (2007) Comprehensive hydrological and hydrogeological study of topographically closed lakes in highland Ethiopia: The case of Hayq and Ardibo. J Hydrol 339:145–158
Díaz HF, Trigo RM, Hughes MK, Mann ME, Xoplaki E, Barriopedro D (2011) Spatial and temporal characteristics of climate in medieval times revisited. B Am Meteorol Soc 92:1487–1500
Gasse F (2000) Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the last glacialmaximum. Quat Sci Rev 19:189–211
Gasse F (2001) Hydrological changes in Africa. Scince 292:2259–2260
Gasse F, Street FA (1978) Late Quaternary lake-level fluctuations and environments of the northern rift valley and Afar region (Ethiopia and Djibouti). Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 24:279–325
Ghinassi M, D’Oriano F, Benvenuti M, Awramik S, Bartolini C, Fedi M, Ferrari G, Papini M, Sagri M, Talbot M (2012) Shoreline fluctuations of Lake Hayk (northern Ethiopia) during the last 3,500 years: geomorphological, sedimentary, and isotope records. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 365, 366:209–226
Gillespie R, Street-Perrott FA, Switsur R (1983) Post-glacial arid episodes in Ethiopia have implications for climate prediction. Nature (London) 306:680–682
Halfman JD, Johnson TC, Finney BP (1994) New AMS dates, stratigraphic correlations and decadal climatic cycles for the past 4 ka at Lake Turkana, Kenya. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 111:83–89
Hassan FA (1997) Holocene paleoclimates of Africa. Af Archaeol Rev 14:213–230
Lamb HF, Leng MJ, Telford RJ, Ayenew T, Umer M (2007) Oxygen and carbon isotope composition of authigenic carbonate from an Ethiopian lake: a climate record of the last 2,000 years. The Holocene 17:515–524
Li HC, Ku TL (1997) δC–δ18O covariance as a paleohydrological indicator for closed-basin lakes. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 133:69–80
Mayewski PA, Rohling EE, Stager JC, Karle’n W, Maasch KA, Meeker LD, Meyerson EA, Gasse F, Van Kreveld S, Holmgren K, Lee-Thorp J, Rosqvist G, Rack F, Staubwasser M, Schneider RR, Steig EJ (2004) Holocene climate variability. Quat Res 62:243–255
Merla G, Abbate E, Azzaroli A, Bruni P, Canuti P, Mazzuoli M, Sagri M, Tacconi P (1973) A geological map of Ethiopia and Somalia (1973) 1:2,000,000 and comment with a map of major landforms. CNR, Italy
Noren AJ, Bierman PR, Steig EJ, Lini A, Southon JA (2002) Millennial-scale storminess variability in the northeastern United States during the Holocene. Nature 419:821–824
Russell JM, Verschuren D, Eggermont H (2007) Spatial complexity of ‘Little Ice Age’ climate in East Africa: sedimentary records from two crater lake basins in western Uganda. Holocene 17:183–193
Stager JC, Cumming BF, Meeker LD (2003) A 10,000 year high-resolution diatom record from Pilkington Bay, Lake Victoria, East Africa. Quat Res 59:172–181
Stager JC, Ryves D, Cumming BF, Meeker LD, Beer J (2005) Solar variability and the levels of Lake Victoria, East Africa, during the last millennium. J Paleolimnol 33:243–251
Talbot MR (1990) A review of the palaeohydrological interpretation of carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios in primary lacustrine carbonates. Chem Geol 80:261–279
Talbot MR, Brendeland KI (2001) Strontium isotopes as palaeohydrological tracers in the White Nile headwaters lakes, East Africa. OOS Transactions, AGU Fall Meeting Supplement 82, Absytacy PP21C-05
Talbot MR, Johannessen T (1992) A high resolution palaeoclimatic record for the last 27,500 years in tropical West Africa from the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of lacustrine organic matter. Earth Planet Sci Lett 110:23–37
Verschuren D, Laird KR, Cumming BF (2000) Rainfall and drought in equatorial East Africa during the past 1,100 years. Nature 403:410–413
Viles HA, Goudie AS (2003) Interannual, decadal and multidecadal scale climatic variability and geomorphology. Earth Sci Rev 61:105–131
Xoplaki E, Fleitmann D, Diaz H, von Gunten L, Kiefer T (2011) Medieval climate anomaly. Pages News 19:40 pp
Yuan F, Sheng Y, Yao T, Fan C, Li J, Zhao H, Lei Y (2011) Evaporative enrichment of oxygen-18 and deuterium in lake waters on the Tibetan Plateau. J Paleolimnol 46:291–307
Zanettin B, Justin-Visentin E (1973) Serie di vulcaniti etiopiche. 1- La serie dell’altipiano etiopico centro-orientale. Boll Soc Geol It 92:313–327
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ghinassi, M., Benvenuti, M., D’Oriano, F., Fedi, M. (2015). Climatic and Hydrologic Changes in Northern Ethiopia in the last 3,500 Years: Evidence from the Geomorphic, Stratigraphic, and Geochemical Archives of Hayk Lake . In: Billi, P. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Ethiopia. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8026-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8026-1_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8025-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8026-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)