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Recent environmental history of the desert oasis lakes at Ounianga Serir, Chad

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Abstract

The Sahara desert oasis of Ounianga Serir in northern Chad comprises seven shallow but perennial lakes, which are maintained against an extremely negative local moisture balance by continuous inflow of fossil groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. Here we analyze the lithostratigraphy, charcoal, and fossil mollusks in short, dated sediment cores from three of these lakes (Edem, Hogou, and Agouta) to assess the hydrological and environmental stability of these unique aquatic ecosystems over the last few centuries. Our results indicate that the studied lakes remained relatively stable and fresh over the past 200–600 years, confirming the dominant and constant nature of groundwater input, preventing desiccation. Modest lake-level fluctuations did occur but were not synchronous between the lakes, arguing against climate variability being their primary cause. Likely, their site-specific history was determined by variations in groundwater through-flow, influenced by migration of sand dunes separating the lakes. The desert setting is responsible for characteristic lacustrine sediments comprised of carbonate mud with silt and sand. The associated fossil assemblages of freshwater mollusks suggest that the present-day mollusk fauna of Ounianga Serir may be more species-rich than previously thought. Our data expand the known distribution of the Palaearctic snail Valvata nilotica markedly south and westward into the central Sahara.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen), and is a contribution to Sonderforschungsbereich 389 ACACIA at the University of Cologne, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. BVB moreover acknowledges postdoctoral fellowships of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and FWO-Vlaanderen. We thank Christian Dinkel and Reni Nienhaus for field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Mike Creutz, Bert Van Bocxlaer & Dirk Verschuren

  2. Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Bert Van Bocxlaer

  3. Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig Universität, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32 IFZ, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Bert Van Bocxlaer

  4. Geology Department, Université de N’Djamena, B.P. 1207, N’Djamena, Chad

    Moussa Abderamane

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  1. Mike Creutz
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  2. Bert Van Bocxlaer
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  3. Moussa Abderamane
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  4. Dirk Verschuren
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Correspondence to Dirk Verschuren.

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Creutz, M., Van Bocxlaer, B., Abderamane, M. et al. Recent environmental history of the desert oasis lakes at Ounianga Serir, Chad. J Paleolimnol 55, 167–183 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-015-9874-y

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