Late Holocene northeastern Morocco hydroclimate reconstruction revealed from speleothems d18O record

Abdelfettah Sifeddine1, Lhoussaine Bouchaou2, Francisco William Cruz Sr.3, James Emiliano Apaéstegui4, Jean-Sebastien Moquet5, Jean-Sebastien Moquet Jr.3, Nicolas M Strikis5, Jean-Loup Guyot Sr.6, Hai Cheng7, Augusto S Auler8 and El houssaine Beraaouz Sr.9, (1)IRD Bondy, Bondy Cedex, France, (2)University Ibn Zohr, Hydrogeology, Agadir, Morocco, (3)Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Geociências, São Paulo, Brazil, (4)UFF Federal Fluminense University, Niteroi, Brazil, (5)Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France, (6)Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement Lima, GET, Lima, Peru, (7)University of Minnesota, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Minneapolis, United States, (8)Brazilian Karst Research Institute, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, (9)University Ibn Zohr, Geology, Agadir, Morocco
Abstract:
Two well dated oxygen isotope (d18O) records of speleothems collected in Chaara cave located in the Northeastern Morocco are used to investigate variations in hydroclimate conditions during the last 2000 years. The results shown in this work confirm the previous works of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reconstruction during the last millennium and bring new implications concerning its evolution extending the MCA. Our (d18O) results characterized by positive values during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and more negative ones during the Little Ice Ages (LIA) are in agreement with those published by Trouet et al., 2009 and Wassenburg et al., 2013. They confirm that the both periods were dominated by persistent NAO+ and NAO-conditions respectively. In addition; they highlight new evidence of the NAO evolution to beyond the last 1000 years. NAO+ conditions recorded during the MCA persist until 500 AD and NAO- conditions dominate the Dark cold Period (DACP) as recorded during the LIA. Finally, the Current Warm Period (CWP) was marked by a clear change in isotope variations linked to decreased precipitation controlled by intensification in NAO + conditions.
Back to: Novel Approaches to and New Insights from Speleothem-Based Climate Reconstructions Posters