Paleoclimatology - Orbital Controls on African Aridity

This study investigates the periodicity of Melosira diatom abundance in marine sediment cores to understand its relationship to orbital forcing and climate dynamics. Orbital forcings influence the Earth’s climate system which influences monsoon strength and regional aridity over geologic timescales.

I revisited the diatom record collected near West Africa, to explore the impact of orbital cycles on Saharan and Sahelian aridity over the past 150,000 years. By updating the age model using oxygen isotope stratigraphy and conducting spectral analysis, the study identifies periodicities in diatom abundance and their correlation with orbital parameters.

Figures were created using Python 3.7.