Yang, J;
Nie, J;
Garzanti, E;
Limonta, M;
Andò, S;
Vermeesch, P;
Zhang, H;
... Pan, B; + view all
(2021)
Climatic Forcing of Plio-Pleistocene Formation of the Modern Limpopo River, South Africa.
Geophysical Research Letters
, 48
(14)
, Article e2021GL093887. 10.1029/2021GL093887.
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Abstract
Understanding the evolution of river systems in southern Africa is fundamental to constrain the evolution of landscape and sediment dispersal patterns. It is widely considered that the upper Zambezi River was connected with the Limpopo River during the Cretaceous, forming what was then the largest river in Africa. Crustal flexure during the Paleogene severed the upper Zambezi drainage from the Limpopo, setting the framework of the modern Zambezi and Limpopo River systems. We present first evidence—based on heavy-mineral assemblages from cores drilled offshore of the Limpopo River mouth and samples collected in different reaches of the modern Limpopo River, integrated with magnetic susceptibility, detrital-zircon geochronology, and geomorphological analysis—suggesting that the current Limpopo River formed recently in the Plio-Quaternary. Plio-Quaternary climate change is envisaged to have controlled the recent dynamics of river drainage and consequent distribution of sediment loads, as observed in many other transcontinental rivers worldwide.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Climatic Forcing of Plio-Pleistocene Formation of the Modern Limpopo River, South Africa |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2021GL093887 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093887 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Plio-Pleistocene, Limpopo River, climatic forcing, heavy minerals, IODP Site U1478 |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10133075 |
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