Le chapitre: “What can be extracted from ‘desert peat’? New methods for the palaeoenvironmental investigation of arid wetlands, Dead Sea edge, Jordan” Sous presse dans l’ouvrage “Soils, Paleosols and Sediments in the Subtropics as Archives of Environmental Change“

Claire Rambeau sur le terrain, entre Madaba et la Mer Morte, Jordanie

Claire Rambeau sur le terrain, entre Madaba et la Mer Morte, Jordanie

video_iconLe chapitre “What can be extracted from ‘desert peat’? New methods for the palaeoenvironmental investigation of arid wetlands, Dead Sea edge, Jordan” par Rambeau, C., Gobet, E., Grand-Clément, E., Monna, F. et Mithen, S. est sous presse dans l’ouvrage “Soils, Paleosols and Sediments in the Subtropics as Archives of Environmental Change“, édité par B. Lucke, R. Bäumler, and M. Schmidt. Franconian Geographical Society.

Claire Rambeau, Université de Berne, Suisse (rambeauc@googlemail.com), s’intéresse depuis plusieurs années aux relations Homme-Milieu-Climat dans le Levant. Le plus souvent, ce type d’étude passe par la lecture du signal paléo-environnemental contenu dans des séquences lacustres ou tourbeuses. Celles-ci sont particulièrement rares en contexte aride, et a fortiori en milieu clairement désertique. Pourtant Claire Rambeau a découvert de tels objets en Jordanie, entre Madaba et la Mer Morte. Leur analyse pose toutefois un certain nombre de problèmes qui sont discutés ici…

Abstract: Wetlands, especially in arid or semi-arid environments, are invaluable repositories of palaeoenvironmental information. Due to the dry climate, however, wetlands are rare in arid Southern Levant, and the environmental data they contain can be a challenge to extract. Considering the paucity of palaeoenvironmental records for the driest parts of this region – and other arid regions of the globe – analysing deposits from such wetlands is however of paramount importance. In this case study we describe how palaeoenvironmental proxies can be extracted from pyrite-rich peat deposits that formed in unusual desert wetlands, in Jordan. A new technique to separate palynomorphs, using a controlled nitric acid attack instead of acetolysis, is provided. We also discuss charcoal and macroplant remains extraction, particularly in light of radiocarbon dating. We hope that this case study will be useful to palaeoenvironmental scientists confronted with the same type of sediments, which can prove difficult to analyse with conventional techniques.

 

 

Comments are closed.