Deciphering West African climate change during the last 1.1 million years

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr; Dr. Christian Zeeden
• Subject Area: Geology ; Geophysics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 457479711

Insights into the climate variability of Western Africa during the Pleistocene epoch has thus far been limited by the lack of well-dated, high-resolution terrestrial climate archives. The missing information on the climate evolution of western African hampers our understanding of the proposed pan-African evolution of our species. In this regard, the preliminary results from the ~294 m lacustrine sediment sequence of Lake Bosumtwi, encompassing the last ~1.1 Ma, clearly highlight its potential to provide the thus far missing climatic benchmark record in Western Africa. To decipher the climatic evolution during the last ~1.1 Ma in western Africa, we propose to use the high-resolution downhole logging data (natural gamma ray, GR) and magnetic susceptibility data from core logging from Site 5, which is situated in the centre of Lake Bosumtwi. The robustness of this record will be underpinned by using other downhole logs and core data as reference. Finally, we will place our findings in the context of west African paleoclimate and especially marine reference datasets.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1006: International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)
• International Connection: Ghana, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA
• Co-Investigators: Jochem Kück; Professorin Dr. Silke Voigt; Dr. Thomas Wonik
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Sylvester Danuor; Professor Dr. William Gosling; Anders Noren, Ph.D.; Dr. Kweku Yamoah