Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Changes in Tropical East Africa Since the LGM: New Record from the Cherangani Hills Kenya.

A 3.5 m radiocarbon-dated sediment core was recovered from the Kapkanyar mire, Cherangani Hills, Kenya, to reconstruct the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental variations in Tropical East Africa since the last glacial maxima. Through a multi-proxy approach of pollen, elemental geochemistry, and LOI analysis, different deductions were made based on the relationship of the patterns exhibited by each proxy. Associations of varying pollen type groupings: the arboreal, herbaceous and shrubs were used to infer the prevailing paleoclimates considering the vegetation-climate relationship that has been observed and exploited in pioneering palynological studies. Findings from this study reveal notable climate dynamics of sub-orbital scale global climate signals including the East African monsoon signals, the African Humid period (16Ka-6Ka) and Pleistocene aridity events such as the Younger Dryas (14Ka-12Ka). Although anthropogenic activities are observed to be a principal driver in environmental change, it is evident that they do not entirely oust natural background climatic changes