PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN SOUTH-AFRICA AT THE PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TRANSITION

Palaeoenvironmental records which include the interval between 11,000 and 10,000 BP have been investigated for 15 sites in South Africa. Les s than half of them are well dated and have a resolution adequate for elucidating climatic conditions during the time of the Younger Dryas. A sea surface temperature record from a marine mollusc sequence provid es the only unequivocal evidence of cooling during this time. None of the palynological sequences from the interior of the subcontinent sugg est consistent deviations in temperature or moisture attributable to a Younger Dryas equivalent. Based on the available evidence, therefore, it seems that if global Younger Dryas conditions influenced the clima te of South Africa, the effect was too small to regis ter a spatially consistent pattern in the pollen sequences of the interior of the coun try.