https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~peter/site/Papers_files/deMenocal.etal.2000.pdf

Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid Period:rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing

During the early to mid-Holocene, Africa was more humid than today. Precipitation reconstructions from across Africa suggest that the termination of humidity was spatially variable, moving towards progressively lower latitudes.

/pdf/the-time-transgressive-termination-of-the-african-humid-h2gw2o7ruw.pdf

The time-transgressive termination of the African Humid Period

Lake sediments in 10 Ethiopian, Kenyan, and Tanzanian rift basins suggest that there were three humid periods at 2.7 to 2.5 million years ago (Ma), 1.9 to 1.7 Ma, and 1.1 to 0.9 Ma, superimposed on the longer-term aridification of East Africa. These humid periods correlate with increased aridity in northwest and northeast Africa and with substantial global climate transitions. These episodes could have had important impacts on the speciation and dispersal of mammals and hominins, because a number of key events, such as the origin of the genus Homo and the evolution of the species Homo erectus, took place in this region during that time.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/early/2005/08/18/science.1112964.full.pdf

Late Cenozoic Moisture History of East Africa

A preliminary, broad-scale vegetation map reconstruction for use by archaeologists and anthropologists is presented here for the world at the Last Glacial Maximum (18,000 BP, but broadly representing the interval from 25,000 to 15,000 BP). The global LGM map was produced from a range of literature and map sources, and drawn on a GIS with topographic information. Extended coastlines due to LGM sealevel drop were obtained using bathymetric information. The map is available in image and Geographic Information System (GIS) formats, on a global or regional basis. Accompanying each regional map is a bibliography detailing the principal literature sources of evidence on Late Quaternary palaeovegetation and climates. The maps presented here are merely a preliminary attempt at appraisal of current knowledge and opinion, and future updated versions will be produced as more information on LGM environments becomes available. Nevertheless, together with the accompanying citation summary they should provide a valuable and readily accessible source of information on current opinion in the Quaternary community. It is also hoped that the maps will themselves act as a catalyst for archaeologists to use their own data to contribute to the broader climatic/palaeovegetational picture.

/pdf/a-gis-based-vegetation-map-of-the-world-at-the-last-glacial-2fis1ani99.pdf

A GIS-based vegetation map of the world at the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000-15,000 BP)

14C and Th/U Dating of Pleistocene and Holocene Stromatolites from East African Paleolakes

Paleohydrology and paleoecology of the region around the Chemchane sabkha (Mauritania) are reconstructed from the comparative analyses of mineralogy, stable isotope ratios of bulk carbonates, and palynology from sediment cores. The age of the section is from ca. 13.5 ka to the middle Holocene. Maximum lake expansion between about 8.3 and 6.5 ka is recorded in a girdle of stromatolite carbonates. These document a lower-salinity lake concomitant with a general establishment of Sahel-Sudan vegetation. The Chemchane area is the northernmost (lat 21°N) occurrence of humid- phase elements that are related to maximum intensity of monsoon activity during the early Holocene.

Across an early Holocene humid phase in western Sahara:Pollen and isotope stratigraphy

Along the flat sandy coasts, estuaries and deltas of West Africa, from South Mauritania to Nigeria, Holocene sediments fill wide areas of low-lying countries. The thickest deposits (over 30 m) are found in ancient river valleys or in deep depressions between Upper Pleistocene eolian sand dunes (Niayes).

Tropical Peats: Hydrogeologic and Climatic Control

Trois generations de stromatolites marquent l'extension recente de paleolacs dans le bassin Natron-Magadi, a la frontiere tanzano-kenyenne. Leurs teneurs en ¹⁸O et en ¹³C, relativement elevees, refletent un long temps de residence de l'eau des paleolacs favorable a l'etablissement d'un equilibre entre le CO₂ atmospherique et le carbone inorganique dissous malgre les forts apports de carbone profond lie au volcanisme carbonatitique regional. De ce fait, les âges ¹⁴C obtenus sur les stromatolites les plus recents (12 00 a 10 000 B.P.) sont consideres comme representatifs. Les stromatolites plus anciens ont donne des âges U/Th de 135 000 ans et de ca. 240 000 ans. Un episode humide semble donc caracteriser l'Afrique de l'Est au cours de chaque transition entre les periodes glaciaires et interglaciaires.

Chronologie et paléohydrologie des hauts niveaux quaternaires du bassin Natron-Magadi (Tanzanie-Kenya) d'après la composition isotopique (18O, 13C, 14C, U/Th) des stromatolites littoraux. Chronology and paleohydrology of former lake levels in the Natron-Magadi basin (Tanzania-Kenya) from isotopic composition (18O, 13C, 14C, U/Th) of shoreline stromatolites

Claude Hillaire-Marcel

Papers

14C and Th/U Dating of Pleistocene and Holocene Stromatolites from East African Paleolakes

Across an early Holocene humid phase in western Sahara:Pollen and isotope stratigraphy

Tropical Peats: Hydrogeologic and Climatic Control