Late quaternary environmental reconstruction and climate modelling in the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape, South Africa

• Main Author: Mulock-Houwer, Anne
• Other Authors: Hewitson, Bruce C
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Subjects: Environmental and Geographical Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6069

Bibliography: leaves 124-144. === The southwestern Cape of South Africa is a floristically diverse region experiencing winter rainfall, and is important as it represents a significant southern hemisphere example of a Mediterranean climate regime. Acquiring palaeoenvironmental data from this region is imperative in understanding the climatic changes that have occurred during the Late Quaternary, with a view to improved palaeclimatic modelling. The spatial distribution of studies for the Late Quternary in the southwestern Cape is uneven and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions have been largely restricted to sites, which are easilty accessible, and appropriate only for the methods being used (e.g. palynology for wetlands). Moreover, many of the palaeoenvironmental reconstructions implemented thus far fall outside the winter rainfall region sensu stricto. Hence spatial differentiation in climatic response may have remained obscured due to the 'selection' of sites used.