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The unexpectedly short Holocene Humid Period in Northern Arabia
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  • Ina Neugebauer,
  • Michèle Dinies,
  • Birgit Plessen,
  • Nadine Dräger,
  • Achim Brauer,
  • Helmut Brückner,
  • Peter Frenzel,
  • Gerd Gleixner,
  • Philipp Hoelzmann,
  • Kim J Krahn,
  • Anna Pint,
  • Valérie F Schwab,
  • Anja Schwarz,
  • Rik Tjallingii,
  • Max Engel
Ina Neugebauer
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Michèle Dinies
German Archaeological Institute (DAI)
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Birgit Plessen
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Nadine Dräger
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Achim Brauer
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Helmut Brückner
University of Cologne
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Peter Frenzel
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
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Gerd Gleixner
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena
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Philipp Hoelzmann
Freie Universität Berlin
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Kim J Krahn
Technische Universität Braunschweig
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Anna Pint
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
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Valérie F Schwab
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena
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Anja Schwarz
Technische Universität Braunschweig
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Rik Tjallingii
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Max Engel
Heidelberg University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The early to middle Holocene Humid Period (HHP) was the last time when precession-forced intensification of summer monsoons and northward migration of associated rainfalls led to a greening of today’s arid Saharo-Arabian desert belt. While this wet phase is well confined in N Africa and the S Arabian Peninsula, robust evidence from N Arabia is lacking. Here, we fill this gap with unprecedented annually to sub-decadally resolved proxy data from Tayma, the only known varved lake sediments in N Arabia. Based on stable isotopes, micro-facies analyses and precise varve and radiocarbon dating we distinguish five phases of lake development and prove that the wet phase in N Arabia from 8,800–7,900 years BP is considerably shorter than the commonly defined HHP (11,000–5,500 years BP). Moreover, we find a two century-long peak humidity at Tayma at times when a centennial-scale dry anomaly around 8,200 years BP interrupted the HHP in adjacent regions. This regional disparity is explained by an increased frequency of tropical plumes reaching N Arabia and compensating for the weakened monsoons and/or winter rains. This peak humidity possibly favoured Neolithic migrations into N Arabia indicating very dynamic human response to environmental changes.