Sands as Archives of Environmental Change: Examples from Egypt, Sudan and Namibia

Abstract

Large parts of the arid zone lack clearly stratified sediment bodies
with organic material. Therefore, the reconstruction of environmental
changes is often a challenge. However, widely distributed sands can
provide such geo-archives if they are examined interdisciplinarily by
different methods (geomorphology, sedimentology, chronology) and
at different spatial and temporal scales. In combination with the
archaeological findings, sands can also be used to reconstruct man-environment interactions. The paper presents examples of ACACIA investigations from Egypt, Sudan and Namibia.

The example from Egypt – perhaps the most spectacular one – shows how a shallow playa can be reconstructed by sedimentological analysis of the surrounding (mega)dune sands. Its former existence is corroborated by near-by prehistoric sites. The example from Sudan studies an artefact-stabilized parabolic or blow-out dune. Its formation from a barchan dune and the environmental change involved can be deduced from sedimentological and archaeological analysis combined
with luminescence and radiocarbon dating. The example from Namibia focuses particularly on the synthesis of methods at different scales from the macro-scale approach of remote sensing via the meso-scale approach of field measurements and sampling to the micro-scale approach in granular sedimentology.

• egypt
• environmental change
• namibia
• sand
• sudan

Resources

• Bubenzer_Besler2010.pdf

Bibliography

O. Bubenzer, H. (2010): Sands as Archives of Environmental Change: Examples from Egypt, Sudan and Namibia. Vol. 15, Cologne