A 300-KYR HIGH-RESOLUTION ARIDITY RECORD OF THE NORTH-AFRICAN CONTINENT

New oxygen isotope data and a high-resolution carbonate record of a co re from the northwest African margin are presented, in combination wit h geochemical (Zr/Rb ratio, Al, Pa, organic carbon, and biogenic opal fluxes) and sedimentological (median grain size) parameters, to show v ariations in African continental aridity, wind strength, and upwelling productivity. The carbonate record is diluted by the supply of aeolia n dust from the arid Saharan region of north Africa and is seen to var y with a characteristic sawtooth pattern indicating rapid increases in dust flux followed by gradual declines. Spectral analysis of the carb onate profile and comparison with SPECMAP (stacked oxygen isotope) and ETP (solar radiation) profiles shows that the precessional (23 kyr) i nsolation-induced African climate system is decoupled from global (ice volume) climate changes operating on a 100 kyr frequency. Detailed st udies of glacial terminations I, II, and III confirm the presence of r apid, short timescale climatic variations (in aridity).