Bir Ali

The current project aims to reconstruct the Holocene environmental and climatic conditions in the southern part of the Arabian desert belt. For this purpose, a set of reliable lacustrine and palustrine sedimentary archives were retrieved from two sites in southern Yemen: Gayal el Bazal and Bir Ali. Through initial investigation of the chemical properties measured on thin laminae sequences as recovered in both records, we estimate that these sites may hold important clues past environmental changes. Moreover, the cores are spatially distributed and hence allow to better understand the impact of climate on the environment through the Holocene both in space and time. The current study will enhance our knowledge on the role of past northwards migrations of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and associated monsoonal fronts and their impact on the environment.