Articles | Volume 5, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-433-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-433-2023
Research article
 | 
01 Dec 2023
Research article |  | 01 Dec 2023

Late Neogene terrestrial climate reconstruction of the central Namib Desert derived by the combination of U–Pb silcrete and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating

Benedikt Ritter, Richard Albert, Aleksandr Rakipov, Frederik M. Van der Wateren, Tibor J. Dunai, and Axel Gerdes

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Cited articles

Allen, J.: Richards K. (ed.) 1987. River Channels, Environment and Process, vi 393 pp. Oxford, New York: Basil Blackwell, Price 39.50 (hard covers), ISBN 0 631 14577 X, Geological Magazine, 126, 313–314, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756800022536, 1989. 
Alonso-Zarza, A. M.: Palaeoenvironmental significance of palustrine carbonates and calcretes in the geological record, Earth-Sci. Rev., 60, 261–298, 2003. 
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Balco, G., Stone, J. O., Lifton, N. A., and Dunai, T. J.: A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements, Quat. Geochronol., 3, 174–195, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2007.12.001, 2008. 
Bierman, P. R. and Caffee, M.: Slow rates of rock surface erosion and sediment production across the Namib Desert and escarpment, southern Africa, Am. J. Sci., 301, 326–358, 2001. 
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Short summary
Chronological information on the evolution of the Namib Desert is scarce. We used U–Pb dating of silcretes formed by pressure solution during calcrete formation to track paleoclimate variability since the Late Miocene. Calcrete formation took place during the Pliocene with an abrupt cessation at 2.9 Ma. The end took place due to deep canyon incision which we dated using TCN exposure dating. With our data we correct and contribute to the Neogene history of the Namib Desert and its evolution.
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