Environmental changes in the Maryut lagoon (northwestern Nile delta) during the last ∼2000 years |
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Authors: | Clé ment Flaux,Mena El-Assal,Nick Marriner,Christophe Morhange,Jean-Marie Rouchy,Ingeborg Soulié -Mä rsche,Magdy Torab |
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Affiliation: | 1. CEREGE CNRS UMR 6635, Université Aix-Marseille, Europôle de l''Arbois, BP 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 04, France;2. Alexandria University, Department of Geography, Damanhour Branch, Egypt;3. Département Histoire de la Terre, Muséum National d''Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France;4. Institut des Sciences de l''Evolution, UMR 5554 du CNRS, Université Montpellier 2, C.P. 061, Place E. Bataillon F, 34095 Montpellier-Cedex 5, France |
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Abstract: | Here, we interpret the evolution of Maryut lagoon (Egypt) during the past ∼2000 years. Chronostratigraphy and laboratory analyses have enabled us to identify four main phases since the 3rd century AD: (1) a fluvial-dominated lagoon between the 2nd–3rd and the 8–9th centuries cal. AD; (2) a gradual desiccation of the lagoon toward a sebkha-like environment from the 9–10th to the 13th centuries cal. AD; (3) a fluvial-dominated lagoon from the 13th century cal. AD; and (4) a second gradual desiccation between the 17th and the 18th centuries cal. AD. The general aridification trend described throughout the study period may be linked to the gradual decline of the Canopic branch, which supplied the Maryut lagoon with freshwater. Nonetheless, at shorter timescales, the different phases of lagoon aridification and flooding coincide with land abandonment and irrigation works in the region. It is suggested that the history of the Alexandria countryside has been a key driver in shaping the environmental history of the Maryut during the past ∼2000 years. |
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Keywords: | Alexandria Lake Mareotis Nile Holocene Coastal geomorphology Bio-sedimentology Palaeoenvironment Human impacts Geoarchaeology |
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