Fluvial sediments and playa deposits of the Naukluft Mts. foreland and Tsauchab Valley, Namibia – New insights from key sections in the Late Quaternary landscape and climate change in Southern Africa

Research at the Namib Sand Sea reveals that fluvial and lacustrine sediments in the Naukluft Mountains' foreland and Tsauchab Valley serve as critical geoarchives for understanding Late Quaternary landscape and climate change in Southern Africa. The study highlights the unique potential of these bounded catchments—including the BtillsPort Playa, Tsauchab, and Tsondab rivers—to isolate regional climatic influences, offering unprecedented insights into Holocene and Late Glacial rainfall patterns. Analysis of desert flash flood deposits traces drainage history from pre-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) times to modern periods, identifying extreme monsoonal rainfall events during the Late Termination I as a driver for high flow rates that raised the Urikos Terrace. Additionally, sediments from the Little Ice Age provide a rare framework for reconstructing past ecological conditions, excluding supra-regional influences and emphasizing the region's significance in palaeoclimatic studies.

Völkel, J., Bens, O., Eden, M., Krauß, L., Murray, A. S., & Heine, K. (2021). Fluvial sediments and playa deposits of the Naukluft Mts. foreland and Tsauchab Valley, Namibia – New insights from key sections in the Late Quaternary landscape and climate change in Southern Africa. Zeitschrift Für Geomorphologie, 62(4), 313–350. https://doi.org/10.1127/zfg/2021/0705