High and low latitude controls on Plio-Pleistocene African vegetation and hydrology

The Plio-Pleistocene period (~5-0 million years before present (Ma)) spans the shift from the warm, stable, ~400 ppm pCO2 Pliocene (5.33-2.58 Ma) to the cooler, more variable Pleistocene (2.58-0.01 Ma) and is an opportunity to study anthropogenic warming in reverse. While global marine conditions are well-characterized, however, terrestrial records are sparse and geographically biased. I examine pan-African paleohydrology and -ecology across this important transition using two new biomarker isotope records from Northwest and East Africa that encompass the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation and the transition from 21,000-year (21 kyr) to 41 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles in the marine record. I discuss spatial heterogeneities as well as the relative influences of high- and low-latitude teleconnections in various portions of the continent at this time. I also present future research directions – using sediment cores from MARUM – and what we hope to learn about Holocene and Miocene African paleoclimate.