OMAN (EN)

Title

Study of the Holocene Wet Period in the Arabian Peninsula based on paleolacustrine sediments collected in Oman

Principal Investigator

Charlotte Skoniecnzy

Other participants

Johan Etourneau (co-leader; EPOC, France), Mohammed Alkindi (ESCC, Oman), Enno SchefuB (MARUM, Germany), Maxime Leblanc (GEOPS), Amélie Plautre (GEOPS)

M2 student

Farhana Mederbel (M2 ECLAT, Université Paris-Saclay)

During the Quaternary period, variations in solar radiation received at low latitudes across the African continent and the Middle East governed the dynamics of the monsoon in these regions, thereby giving rise to recurring periods of intense rainfall. These wet periods were characterised by a major transformation of the hydrological cycle, favouring the development of vast river systems, lakes, and tropical flora and fauna in regions that are now among the most arid (the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula). These landscape changes also facilitated the dispersal of human populations by providing green corridors across the Saharo-Arabian desert belt. In the current context of global warming, the environmental mechanisms and responses associated with these wet periods, as well as their transitions to states of extreme aridity, remain crucial to understand in order to improve climate projections for these particularly vulnerable regions of the world. However, although extensively studied and discussed on the African continent, these wet periods remain relatively poorly documented in the Middle East. In this context, the objective of the OMAN project is to study a multi-metre-thick Holocene paleolacustrine sedimentary sequence discovered in the south of the country. More specifically, the combined analysis of organic (TOC, C/N, d¹³C leaf waxes, dD leaf waxes, GDGTs, dating) and inorganic (mineralogy, grain size analysis, elemental geochemistry) planned as part of this project will enhance our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions of this region during the last wet period.