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Megalakes in the Sahara? A Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2018

J. Quade ,
E. Dente ,
M. Armon ,
Y. Ben Dor ,
E. Morin ,
O. Adam  and
Y. Enzel
J. Quade*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
E. Dente
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
M. Armon
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Y. Ben Dor
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
E. Morin
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
O. Adam
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Y. Enzel
Affiliation:
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
*
*Corresponding author at: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 East Fourth Street, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Quade).
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Abstract

The Sahara was wetter and greener during multiple interglacial periods of the Quaternary, when some have suggested it featured very large (mega) lakes, ranging in surface area from 30,000 to 350,000 km2. In this paper, we review the physical and biological evidence for these large lakes, especially during the African Humid Period (AHP) 11–5 ka. Megalake systems from around the world provide a checklist of diagnostic features, such as multiple well-defined shoreline benches, wave-rounded beach gravels where coarse material is present, landscape smoothing by lacustrine sediment, large-scale deltaic deposits, and in places, tufas encrusting shorelines. Our survey reveals no clear evidence of these features in the Sahara, except in the Chad basin. Hydrologic modeling of the proposed megalakes requires mean annual rainfall ≥1.2 m/yr and a northward displacement of tropical rainfall belts by ≥1000 km. Such a profound displacement is not supported by other paleo-climate proxies and comprehensive climate models, challenging the existence of megalakes in the Sahara. Rather than megalakes, isolated wetlands and small lakes are more consistent with the Sahelo-Sudanian paleoenvironment that prevailed in the Sahara during the AHP. A pale-green and discontinuously wet Sahara is the likelier context for human migrations out of Africa during the late Quaternary.

Keywords

SaharamegalakespaleolakespaleowetlandsLake ChadLake Victoriapaleohydrology
Type
Review Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , September 2018 , pp. 253 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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