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Lake Edward, Uganda-Congo

Studies of piston cores from Lake Edward, located on the equator in central Africa, have provided an unparalleled record of paleoclimatic change. Results to date have documented a gradual, precessionally-driven shift in rainfall in the region between 6 and 2 cal. kyr BP, a 725-year cycle that arises as a harmonic of the high-latitude's 1,500 year cycle, and strong links between decade to century-scale climate changes in Indian Ocean topical sea-surface temperatures and central African rainfall.

Ongoing projects seek to develop:


  • A century-scale record of early Holocene climate variability using organic geochemical techniques

  • A high-resolution (biannually sampled) record of Lake Edward's salinity spanning the last 1,500 years

  • A quantified hydrologic, chemical, and stable isotopic model of Lake Edward through modern limnologic sampling

  • A paleorecord of sulfur biogeochemistry in Lake Edward using sulfur isotopic and elemental techniques.


References:
Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., 2005. An equatorial harmonic of the high latitude's 1500-year cycle. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi:10.1029/2005GL023295.

Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., accepted. The water balance and stable isotope hydrology of Lake Edward, Uganda-Congo. Journal of Great Lakes Research.

Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., 2005. A high-resolution geochemical record from Lake Edward, Uganda Congo and the timing and causes of tropical African drought during the Late Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 24: 1375-1389.

Beuning, K.R.M., Russell, J.M., 2004. Vegetation and sedimentation in the Lake Edward basin, Uganda-Congo during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Journal of Paleolimnology 32: 1-18.

Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., Talbot, M.R., 2003. A 725 yr cycle in the climate of central Africa during the Late Holocene. Geology 31 (8): 677-680.

Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., Kelts, K.R., Laerdal, T., Talbot, M.R., 2002. An 11,000 year lithostratigraphic and paleohydrologic record from equatorial Africa: Lake Edward, Uganda-Congo. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 193: 25- 49.

Laerdal, T, Talbot, MR, Russell, JM, 2002. Late Quaternary sedimentation and climate in the Lake Edward and George area, Uganda-Congo. In: Olago, D, Odada, EO (eds): The East African Great Lakes: Limnology, Palaeolimnology, and Biodiversity. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 429-470.

Brown faculty collaborators:

None

Other project collaborators:

See publications list.

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Research at Brown: James Russell: Lake Edward, Uganda-Congo
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