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Evidence for a cooler and drier climate in the Ethiopian uplands towards 2.5 Myr ago

Nature volume 303, pages 487–491 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

In east-central Ethiopia (7° N–39° E), at 2,300 m, Pliocene diatomites underlying sediments bearing Acheulian artefacts have provided a rich pollen microflora. The pollen diagram with a Plio-Pleistocene age (2.5–2.35 Myr) is dominated by grasses, Ericaceae and Myrica, whereas the modern pollen rain is dominated by forest taxa. The weak representation of montane forest trees and the abundance of heath moorland and grassland pollen indicate a cooler and drier climate during a time period known to include episodes of global cooling.

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  1. Laboratoire de Géologie du Quaternaire, CNRS, Luminy, 13288, Marseille, Cedex 9, France

    R. Bonnefille

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  1. R. Bonnefille
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Bonnefille, R. Evidence for a cooler and drier climate in the Ethiopian uplands towards 2.5 Myr ago. Nature 303, 487–491 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303487a0

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