Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Water-level variations in Lake Nhauhache, Mozambique, during the last 2,300 years

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stratigraphic variations in diatom composition and phytolith abundance in a sediment core from a small, hydrologically isolated waterbody, Lake Nhauhache, Mozambique, provide evidence of water-level fluctuations over the past ~2,300 years. Ten AMS radiocarbon dates on bulk sediment samples show that the lake came into existence about 2,300 years ago and that it has dried out since then, but only for brief time periods. Changes in the diatom assemblage composition indicate that lake level fluctuated in response to shifting humidity conditions. The changes reflect wetter conditions ca. 300 BC–AD 800, more variable conditions between AD 800 and 1150, a distinct dry phase within the time span AD 1150–1700 and a return thereafter to more humid conditions until present. There is general agreement between the Lake Nhauhache record and other records from the Southern Hemisphere summer rainfall region. This suggests that sediments from small interdunal lakes, which are abundant along the coast of southern Africa, provide reliable, regional paleoenvironmental information about an area from which more such data are needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albay M, Akcaalan R (2003) Comparative study of periphyton colonisation on common reed (Phragmites australis) and artificial substrate in a shallow lake, Manyas, Turkey. Hydrobiologia 506–509:531–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker P, Gasse F (2003) New evidence for a reduced water balance in East Africa during the last glacial maximum: implication for model-data comparison. Quat Sci Rev 22:823–837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battarbee RW (1986) Diatom analysis. In: Berglund BE (ed) Handbook of Holocene palaeoecology and palaeohydrology. Wiley, Chichester, pp 527–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellemakers MJS, van Dam H (1992) Improvement of breeding success of the moor frog (Rana arvalis) by liming of acid moorland pools and the consequences of liming for water chemistry and diatoms. Environ Pollut 78:165–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalié F, Gasse F (2002) Late Glacial-Holocene diatom record of water chemistry and lake level change from the tropical East African Rift Lake Abiyata (Ethiopia). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 187:259–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleve-Euler A (1953) Die Diatomeen von Schweden und Finnland, T. 3, Monoraphideae, Biraphideae 1. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademins Handlingar. Almqvist and Wiksell, Stockholm

  • Cleve-Euler A (1955) Die Diatomeen von Schweden und Finnland, T. 4, Biraphideae 2 Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademins Handlingar. Almqvist and Wiksell, Stockholm

  • Ekblom A (2004) Changing landscapes: An environmental history of Chibuene, Southern Mozambique Studies in global archaeology 5. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University

  • Ekblom A (2008) Forest-Savanna dynamics in the coastal lowland of southern Mocambique since c. AD 1400. Holocene 18:1247–1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekblom A, Gillson L (2010) Hierarchy and scale: testing the role of water, grazing and Nitrogen in the savanna landscape of Limpopo National park (Mozambique). Landsc Ecol 25:1529–1546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekblom A, Stabell B (2008) Paleohydrology of Lake Nhaucati (southern Mozambique), 400 AD to present. J Paleolim. doi:10.1007/s10933-008-9218-2

  • FAO (1984) Agroclimatological data for Africa, countries south of the equator. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (1988) Soil map of the world, revised legend. Technical paper 20. ISRIC, Wageningen

  • Farmer EC, de Menocal PB, Marchitto TM (2005) Holocene and deglacial ocean temperature variability in the Benguela upwelling region: Implications for low-latitude atmospheric circulation. Paleooceanography, 20 doi:10.1029/2004PA001049

  • Flower RJ, Dobinson S, Ramdani M, Kraïem MM, Ben Hamza C, Fathi AA, Abdelzaher HMA, Birks HH, Appleby PG, Lees JA, Shilland E, Patrick ST (2001) Recent environmental change in North African wetland lakes: diatom and other stratigraphic evidence from nine sites in the CASSARINA Project. Aquat Ecol 35:369–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forster P, Ramaswamy V, Artaxo P, Berntsen T, Betts R, Fahey DW, Haywood J, Lean J, Lowe DC, Myhre G, Nganga J, Prinn R, Raga G, Schulz M, Van Dorland R (2007) Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds.) Climate Change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Fränzle O (1984) Bodenkunde-Südafrika (23°10′-26°52′S, 29°50′-35°40′E). Gebrüder Borntraeger

  • Gasse F (1986) East African diatoms. Taxonomy, ecological distribution. Bibliotheca Diatomologica 11. J Cramer, Berlin

  • Gasse F, Tekaia F (1983) Transfer functions for estimating paleoecological conditions (pH) from East African diatoms. Hydrobiologia 103:85–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillson L, Ekblom A (2009) Untangling anthropogenic and climatic influence on riverine forest in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Veg Hist Archaeobot 18:171–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm EC (1987) CONISS: a FORTRAN 77 program, for stratigraphically constrained cluster analysis by the method of incremental sum of squares. Comput Geosci 13:13–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm EC (1993) TILIA 2.0 version b.4 (computer software), Illinois State Museum. Research and Collections Center, Springfield, IL

  • Grimm EC (2004) TGView Version 2.0.2 (computer software), Illinois State Museum. Research and Collections Center, Springfield, IL

  • Holmes PJ, Bateman MD, Thomas DSG, Telfer MW, Barker CH, Lawson MP (2008) A Holocene-late Pleistocene aeolian record from lunette dunes of the western Free State Panfield, South Africa. Holocene 18:1193–1205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmgren K, Öberg H (2006) Climate change in southern and eastern Africa during the past millennium and its implications for societal development. Env Dev Sust 8:185–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmgren K, Moberg A, Svanered O, Tyson PD (2001) A preliminary 3000-year regional temperature reconstruction for South Africa. S Afr J Sci 97:49–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones VJ, Birks HJB (2004) Lake-sediment records of recent environmental change on Svalbard: results of diatom analysis. J Paleolim 31:445–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones PD, Briffa KR, Osborn TJ, Lough JM, van Ommen TD, Vinther BM et al (2009) High-resolution paleoclimatology of the last millennium: a review of current status and future prospects. Holocene 19:3–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1986) Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae.1. Teil: Naviculaceae.Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1988) Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae. 2. Teil: Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1991a) Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae 3. Teil: Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1991b) Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae. 4. Teil: Achnanthaceae, Kritische Ergänzungen zu Navicula (Lineolatae) und Gomphonema. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Lee-Thorp JA, Holmgren K, Lauritzen SE, Linge H, Moberg A, Partridge TC, Stevenson C, Tyson P (2001) Rapid climate shifts in the southern African interior throughout the mid to late Holocene. Geophys Res Lett 28:4507–4510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormac FG, Hogg AG, Blackwell PG, Buck CE, Higham TFG, Reimer PJ (2004) SHCal04 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–11.0 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46:1087–1092

    Google Scholar 

  • Meadows M (1998) Biogeography. In: Adams WM, Goudie AS, Orme AR (eds) The physical geography of Africa. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 161–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercader J, Astudillo F, Barkworth M, Bennett T, Esselmont C, Kinyanjui R, Grossman D-L, Simpson S, Walde D (2010) Poaceae phytoliths from the Niassa Rift, Mozambique. J Archaeol Sci 37:1953–1967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercader J, Bennett T, Esselmont C, Simpson S, Walde D (2011) Soil phytoliths from miombo woodlands in Mozambique. Quat Res 75:138–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadeau MJ, Grootes PM, Voelker A, Bruhn F, Duhr A, Oriwall A (2001) Carbonate 14C background: does it have multiple personalities? Radiocarbon 43:169–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumann FH, Stager JC, Scott L, Venter HJT, Weyhenmeyer C (2008) Holocene vegetation and climate records from Lake Sibaya, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 152:113–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann FH, Scott L, Bousman CB, vanAs L (2010) A holocene sequence of vegetation change at Lake Eteza, coastal KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 162:39–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norström E, Holmgren K, Mörth M (2005) Variations in δ 13C-composition and wood anatomy in Breonadia salicina trees from South Africa between 1375–1995 AD. S Afr J Sci 101:162–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Norström E, Holmgren K, Mörth C-M (2008) A 600 year long δ18O-record from cellulose of Breonadia salicina trees, South Africa. Dendrochronologia 26:21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell JM, Johnson TC (2007) Little Ice Age drought in equatorial Africa: intertropical convergence zone migrations and El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability. Geology 35:21–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schreck M, Abarca N, Schröder H (2007) Holocene sediments in the Cancosa Basin (Northern Chile): first results of diatom analyses. In Kusber, WH, Jahn R (eds) Proceedings of the 1st Central European Diatom Meeting, pp 145–149

  • Shanahan TM, Overpeck JT, Wheeler CW, Beck JW, Pigati JS, Talbot MR, Scholz CA, Peck J, King JW (2006) Paleoclimatic variations in West Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 242:287–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shindell DT, Shmidt GA, Mann ME, Rind D, Waple A (2001) Solar forcing of climate change during the Maunder minimum. Science 294:2149–2152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith J, Lee-Thorp J, Hall S (2007) Climate change and agropastoralist settlement in the Shashe-Limpopo river basin, southern Africa: AD 880 to 1700. S Afr Archaeol Bull 62:115–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens LR, Stone JR, Campbell J, Fritz SC (2006) A 2200-yr record of hydrologic variability from Foy Lake, Montana, USA, inferred from diatom and geochemical data. Quat Res 65:264–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tynni R (1979) Über Finnlands rezente und subfossile Diatomeen, VIII. Geological survey of Finland Bulletin 274: 55

  • Tyson PD, Preston-Whyte RA (2000) The weather and climate of Southern Africa. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel JC, Fuls A, Visser E (2001) Radiocarbon adjustment to the dendrochrolology of a yellowwood tree. S Afr J Sci 97:164–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Wild H, Fernandes A (1968) Vegetation map of the flora Zambesiaca area, supplement. Flora Zambesiaca. The Government Printer, Salisbury

    Google Scholar 

  • Zalat A, Vildary SS (2007) Environmental change in Northern Egyptian Delta lakes during the late Holocene, based on diatom analysis. J Paleolim 37:273–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinke J, Dullo WC, Heiss GA, Eisenhauer A (2004) ENSO and Indian Ocean subtropical dipole variability is recorded in a coral record off southwest Madagascar for the period 1659 to 1995. Earth and Planetary Sci Lett 228:177–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Elidio Massuanganhe and Helene Gröndahl for assistance during fieldwork in Mozambique, SIDA for providing a Minor Field Study scholarship to Johan Freudendahl. The work was, in part, carried out within the framework of Karin Holmgrens VR-funded project Holocene climate variability in southern Africa.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bert Bolin Centre of Climate Research, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Holmgren, Jan Risberg, Johan Freudendahl & Elin Norström

  2. Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Holmgren, Jan Risberg, Johan Freudendahl & Elin Norström

  3. Department of Geology, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique

    Mussa Achimo, Joao Mugabe & Sandra Sitoe

  4. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, African and Comparative Archaeology, Uppsala University, Box 626, 751 26, Uppsala, Sweden

    Anneli Ekblom

Authors
  1. Karin Holmgren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Risberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Johan Freudendahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mussa Achimo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Anneli Ekblom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Joao Mugabe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Elin Norström
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Sandra Sitoe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karin Holmgren.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Holmgren, K., Risberg, J., Freudendahl, J. et al. Water-level variations in Lake Nhauhache, Mozambique, during the last 2,300 years. J Paleolimnol 48, 311–322 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9596-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9596-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation