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Geology; December 2005; v. 33; no. 12; p. 977-980; DOI: 10.1130/G21814.1
© 2005 Geological Society of America
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Biomarker records of late Neogene changes in northeast African vegetation

Sarah J. Feakins*,1, Peter B. deMenocal*,1 and Timothy I. Eglinton*,2

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA
2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, M.S. 4, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

Open savannah grasslands (dominated by C4 plants) became a significant component of northeast African vegetation during the late Neogene. We present molecule-specific carbon isotopic measurements of terrestrial plant biomarkers preserved in marine sediments off northeast Africa that allow reconstruction of orbital-scale vegetation changes in short time windows over the past 9.4 m.y. The biomarker data show large-amplitude vegetation variability as early as 3.8 Ma, with the greatest C4 expansion occurring after 3.4 Ma. We sampled orbital-scale oscillations of up to 5{per thousand}, almost as large as the observed late Neogene range of 7{per thousand}, suggesting that large and repeated oscillations between more open and more closed landscapes were an important aspect of northeast African vegetation change during the past 4 m.y.

Key Words: {delta}13C • carbon isotopes • biomarker • Africa • vegetation • C4




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