High- and low-latitude forcing of the Nile River regime during the Holocene inferred from laminated sediments of the Nile deep-sea fan

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.01.009

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Volume 364, 15 February 2013, Pages 98-110

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.01.009 Get rights and content

Abstract

Sediments deposited on deep-sea fans are an excellent geological archive to reconstruct past changes in fluvial discharge. Here we present a reconstruction of changes in the regime of the Nile River during the Holocene obtained using bulk elemental composition, grain-size analyses and radiogenic strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotopes from a sediment core collected on the Nile deep-sea fan. This 6-m long core was retrieved at $\sim 700 m$ water-depth and is characterized by the presence of a 5-m thick section of finely laminated sediments, which were deposited between 9.5 and 7.3 ka BP and correspond to the African Humid Period (AHP). The data show distinct changes in eolian dust inputs as well as variations in discharge of the Blue Nile and White Nile. Sedimentation was mainly controlled by changes in fluvial discharge during the Holocene, which was predominantly forced by low-latitude summer insolation and by the location of the eastern African Rain Belt. The changes in relative contribution from the Blue Nile and White Nile followed changes in low-latitude spring/autumn insolation, which highlights the role of changes in seasonality of the precipitation on the Nile River regime. The relative intensity of the Blue Nile discharge was enhanced during the early and late Holocene at times of higher spring insolation (with massive erosion and runoff during the AHP at times of high summer insolation), while it was reduced between 8 and 4 ka at times of high autumn insolation. The gradual insolation-paced changes in fluvial regime were interrupted by a short-term arid event at 8.5–7.3 ka BP (also associated with rejuvenation of bottom-water ventilation above the Nile fan), which was likely related to northern hemisphere cooling events. Another arid event at 4.5–3.7 ka BP occurred as the apex of a gradually drier phase in NE Africa and marks the end of the AHP.

Highlights

► We present novel results from a laminated marine sediment core collected on the Nile deep-sea fan. ► We reconstructed the changes in Nile River discharge and sources during the Holocene. ► Nile River discharge is controlled by changes in low latitude summer insolation. ► Changes in the fluvial source areas follow the autumn/spring insolation changes. ► Drought events coincide with the 8.2 ka and 4.2 ka events and influenced the seawater oxygenation.

Introduction

Due to the fact that atmospheric temperatures remained near constant during the Holocene (last 10 kyr), this interval is generally considered as climatically stable as compared to the rest of the Quaternary (Grootes et al., 1993). However, environmental and hydrological reconstructions have revealed that subtropical regions have drastically changed during the course of the Holocene (Haug et al., 2001, Ruddiman, 2003). In particular, the progressive drying of North Africa led to the retreat of the vegetation cover and of human populations from the so-called ‘Green Sahara’ (Gasse, 2000, Kuper and Kröpelin, 2006). Paleoenvironmental and archeological studies documented the occurrence of a very wet phase in North Africa between 10 and 6 ka BP, which led to the development of extensive lake and river systems and of a savannah-type of vegetation within what is nowadays one of the most arid areas on Earth (Drake et al., 2011). This pronounced Holocene wet phase is known as the African Humid Period (AHP) and favored the settlement of Neolithic human populations within the present-day Saharan Desert (Kuper and Kröpelin, 2006). Additionally, the highly increased Nile River runoff had a major impact on the marine environment in the Eastern Mediterranean, as evidenced by the deposition of organic-rich sapropel layers (Rossignol-Strick et al., 1982). Stratification of the water column and high primary productivity in the surface waters induced oxygen depletion of the bottom waters in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, which stimulated the accumulation and preservation of organic matter in the sediments (De Lange et al., 2008).

The termination of the AHP was marked by a southward shift of the African monsoon and associated rainfall belts causing a retreat of the extensive Saharan grassland and the desiccation of vast system of lakes and rivers within the Sahara (Pachur and Kröpelin, 1987, Lézine et al., 2011). The primary forcing for this wet/arid transition is thought to be the precession-forced low latitude insolation, which gradually decreased between 8 and 4 ka BP (Rossignol-Strick, 1983). However, the rate of the paleoenvironmental changes appears to be highly variable depending on the archives and on the studied area (Lézine et al., 2011). Consequently, the response of continental environments and ecosystems to a gradual orbital forcing is still under debate. Some authors reported a gradual transition, which implies a linear response of the ecosystem to the orbital forcing (Brovkin et al., 2002, Fleitmann et al., 2003, Renssen et al., 2003, Kröpelin et al., 2008), whereas others reported a more abrupt transition, which suggests the existence of complicated feedback processes and threshold responses between the ecosystem and the climate (Gasse and Van Campo, 1994, Claussen et al., 1999, deMenocal et al., 2000a, Liu et al., 2007).

Here we focus on changes in the regime of the Nile River during the Holocene by investigating a laminated sediment sequence corresponding to the youngest sapropel layer (S1) from the Nile deep-sea fan, which provides a very detailed record of the AHP and its termination. The changes in river runoff and main sources of the river waters have been previously investigated using sediment cores (Krom et al., 2002, Revel et al., 2010, Marriner et al., 2012), geomorphology (Adamson et al., 1980, Williams, 2009) and lake levels (Gasse, 2000, Stager et al., 2003, Garcin et al., 2009, Garcin et al., 2012, Marshall et al., 2011). However, these reconstructions only provide a fragmentary and/or low-resolution picture of the changes in river regime that prevents their comparison and does not allow assessing the response of the Nile River system to changes in orbital configuration and in seasonality. We thus aim at providing an integrated reconstruction of changes in Nile River runoff and freshwater source at high temporal resolution during the past 9.5 kyr from a single sediment archive. This will help evaluating the impact and the response of the Nile River system to changes in orbital parameters as well as to more abrupt climatic events previously recognized in North Africa (Gasse, 2000, Thompson et al., 2002, Kim et al., 2007). Finally, we aim at evaluating the impact of changes in the hydrological regime of Nile River on the marine environment (especially on the bottom-water oxygenation).

Section snippets

Regional settings

The drainage area of the Nile River extends from $\sim 4 ° S$ to $\sim 30 ° N$ and from 20°E to 40°E and the river flows northward over a total length of over 6700 km (Fig. 1). The main stream integrates contributions from four main tributaries, which are from South to North: the White Nile, the Sobat, the Blue Nile and the Atbara (Fig. 1a and b). The White Nile originates from the equatorial uplands of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and in particular from the outflow of Lake Victoria and Lake Albert. The Sobat,

Sediment core P362/2-33

Marine sediment core P362/2-33 was recovered on the Nile deep-sea fan (31°40.51N; 29°45.00E) during R/V Poseidon cruise P362/2 in August 2008 (Fig. 1d) (Feseker et al., 2010). This 559-cm long gravity core consists of undisturbed laminated hemi-pelagic sediments of which the upper 40 cm show a gradual change from brownish to grayish color with yellowish oxidation spots and traces of bioturbation (Fig. 4). Faint laminations are observed between 75 and $\sim 105 cm$ core depth within a layer of gray to

Age model

The chronology of the sediment core was determined by ¹⁴C measurements of planktonic foraminifera shells (Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerina bulloides). Approximately 10 mg of hand-picked shells collected from 14 samples was analyzed at the Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Stable Isotope Research of the University of Kiel (Germany) (Table 1). The uppermost 3 cm of the core contains steamboat cinder remnants indicating that these sediments were deposited between AD1800 and AD1950

Changes in sediment composition: sediment supply and diagenetic modifications

According to the results of the PCA, we show the loadings of the elements on PC1, PC2 and PC3 as these three principal components (PCs) explain more than 80% of the total variance (Fig. 3a and b). The first striking characteristic of the dataset is the strong anti-correlation of the elements calcium–strontium–manganese (Ca–Sr–Mn) to the other elements on PC1 (Fig. 3a). On PC2 and PC3, Mn is anti-correlated to Ca–Sr, which suggests that Mn has a distinct behavior (Fig. 3a and b). The second

Influence of low-latitude insolation

The changes in fluvial discharge and source areas as recorded by core P362/2-33 have apparently been primarily controlled by summer and spring/autumn low-latitude insolation changes. The river runoff gradually decreased between 8 and 4 ka BP (Fig. 8b and c) following the summer insolation at 20°N (Fig. 8a). Precession-forced insolation changes at low latitudes are the principal control on the position and strength of monsoonal systems and related precipitation belts (Gasse, 2000, Haug et al.,

Conclusions

We present a continuous and high-resolution record of changes in the Nile River regime that covers the past 9.5 kyr. By combining bulk elemental content, grain-size distribution and Nd and Sr radiogenic isotopes in a marine sediment core recovered on the Nile deep-sea fan, we were able to reconstruct changes in river runoff as well as changes in contribution from the two main sources, the Blue Nile and White Nile. The gradual decrease in river runoff between 8 and 4 ka BP was likely related to

Acknowledgments

Funding has been provided by the German Science Foundation (DFG) through a personal grant to C.L.B. (project BL11121/1) and by RWE Dea through the West Nile Delta project (PI: WB). Nick Marriner and two anonymous reviewers are greatly acknowledged for their critical and constructive reviews that helped improving the manuscript. We also wish to thank Bettina Domeyer (GEOMAR), who measured the TOC contents and Jan-Berend Stuut (NIOZ), who supervised the grain-size measurements. Great help was

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¹: Now at: Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Institute of Geosciences, Department of Marine Micropaleontology, Ludewig-Meyn-Straße 14, 24118 Kiel, Germany.

²: Now at: University of Bremen, Department of Geosciences, Klagenfurter Straße, 28359 Bremen, Germany.

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High- and low-latitude forcing of the Nile River regime during the Holocene inferred from laminated sediments of the Nile deep-sea fan

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Regional settings

Sediment core P362/2-33

Age model

Changes in sediment composition: sediment supply and diagenetic modifications

Influence of low-latitude insolation

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Quat. Int.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Res.

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Deep-Sea Res.

Chem. Geol.

Atmos. Environ.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Mar. Geol.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Mar. Geol.

Mar. Micropaleontol.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Global Planet. Change

Global Planet. Change

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Quat. Res.

Deep-Sea Res.

Sediment. Geol.

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Global Planet. Change

Quat. Sci. Rev.

Late Quaternary history of the Nile

Nature

Holocene climatic instabilitya prominent, widespread event 8200 yr ago

Geology

Flexible paleoclimate age-depth models using an autoregressive gamma process

Bayesian Anal.

Carbon cycle, vegetation, and climate dynamics in the Holoceneexperiments with the CLIMBER-2 model

Global Biogeochem. Cycles

Simulation of an abrupt change in Saharan vegetation in the mid-Holocene

Geophys. Res. Lett.

Chronology of the pressure–temperature history recorded by a granulite terrain

Contrib. Mineral. Petrol.

Interhemispheric symmetry of the tropical African rainbelt over the past 23,000 years

Nat. Geosci.

Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empireevidence from the deep sea

Geology

Synchronous basin-wide formation and redox-controlled preservation of a Mediterranean sapropel

Nat. Geosci.

Coherent high- and low-latitude climate variability during the Holocene warm period

Science

Ancient watercourses and biogeography of the Sahara explain the peopling of the desert

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.