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Spatio‐temporal evolution of the West African monsoon during the last deglaciation
Author(s) -
Weldeab Syee,
Frank Martin,
Stichel Torben,
Haley Brian,
Sangen Mark
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2011gl047805
Subject(s) - deglaciation , geology , monsoon , climatology , oceanography , physical geography , earth science , geography , holocene
On the basis of a multi‐proxy data set from the Gulf of Guinea (eastern equatorial Atlantic) we reconstruct the spatio‐temporal evolution of the West African monsoon (WAM) and present evidence for a decoupling between latitudinal shifts of the rain belt and WAM intensification. The onset of deglacial monsoon invigoration at ∼16,600 years before present lagged northward migration of a weak rainfall zone by ∼2800 years. Conversely, during the Younger Dryas (YD) time interval, WAM precipitation was severely reduced but we find no evidence for a large‐scale retreat of the rainfall front. This observation is not in agreement with the hypothesis of a large‐scale shift of the intertropical convergence zone south of the tropical WAM region during the YD. Our results can be better reconciled with the newly emerging concept of a strong influence of Tropical Easterly and African Easterly Jets on modern WAM.