Kuiseb River Basin, Namibia 2000 Year Hyrax Midden Pollen Data Scott, L. Scott, L. PAGES 2k Network PAGES Africa 2k earth science/paleoclimate/pollen (Kuiseb River Basin>LATITUDE -23.4167>LONGITUDE 15.25) Well-preserved and dateable faunal middens in rock shelters of dry areas in southern Africa occur as desiccated urine-rich masses. Under local conditions, which exclude microbial decomposition and oxidation, urine cements together faecal pellets and other inclusions. Nine radiocarbon dated hyrax (Procavia capensis) dung middens from the Kuiseb River Basin of the Namib Desert were sub-sampled and analysed for fossil pollen. Some contain small proportions of rat droppings, but not many macro-fossils. Comparative modern pollen in faecal samples were also studied. Most plant macro-fossils are severely digested, but seeds are well-preserved. Some insect inclusions were identified. Small scale changes in vegetation over the last two millennia were observed, representing environmental fluctuations in cycles of ca. 100-200 years. The fluctuations partly agree with other palynological data from southern Africa and with geomorphologic evidence for environmental changes in the desert region. STUDY NOTES: 2000 year pollen percentage record from 9 Hyrax middens collected in the Kuiseb River Basin, Namibia. Kuiseb River Basin, Namibia: ~23°25'S, ~15°15'E NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Scott, L. 2012-07-25 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13154 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13154 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/pollen/africa/kuiseb1996pollen.txt Scott, L. 1996. Palynology of hyrax middens: 2000 years of palaeoenvironmental history in Namibia. Quaternary International, Vol. 33, pp. 73-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/1040-6182(95)00093-3 START YEAR: 2128 cal yr BP * END YEAR: 0 cal yr BP 15.25 -23.4167 15.25 -23.4167