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Lake level fluctuations are one of the most important and widely distributed sources of palaeo-hydrological and palaeo-climatic information for continental areas over the late Quaternary in Morocco (El Hamouti et al., 1991; Benkadour, 1993; Barker et al., 1994; Lamb et al., 1995, Lamb et al., 1999; Damnati, 1997; Damnati and Taieb, 2003; Fig. 1 and 2).
The pollen record from lake Ifrah allowed us to perform a quantitative climate reconstruction which shows that the winter temperatures during the last glacial maximum were lower than present by about 10 to 12 °C. The annual amount of rainfall during the same period did not exceed 400 mm/year (Fig. 2; Cheddadi et al., 2004). Nowadays the area of lake Ifrah receives between 800 and 900 mm/year.
The climate and vegetation changes during the Holocene in Morocco are known in a more or less continuous way through studies of diatoms, sedimentology, geochemistry, and pollen analysis (Lamb et al., 1995, Lamb et al., 1999).


References:

Barker, P.A., Roberts, N., Lamb, H.F., Van der Kaars, S & Benkaddour, A., 1994. Holocene Lake Level change interpreted from diatom assemblages in lake Sidi Ali, Middle Atlas, Morocco. Journal of Paleolimnology, 12: 223-234.
Benkaddour, A., 1993. Changements hydrologiques et climatiques dans le moyen Atlas marocain: Chronologie, minéralogie, géochimie isotopique et élémentaire des sédiments lacustre de Tigalmamine. PhD Thesis, Paris-Sud University, 1 volume, 156 p.
Cheddadi, R., Taieb, M., Damnati, B., Ortu, E., Guiot, J., and Lamb, H., 2004. Climate changes since the last glacial maximum in Morocco and predicted impact on the Mediterranean ecosystems. In Leroy S. and Costa P. (Eds). Environmental catastrophes in Mauritania, the desert and the coast: 39-43.
Damnati, B., 1997. Les variations paléoclimatiques et environnementales en Afrique depuis 30000 ans B.P. Université d’Aix Marseille II. Habilitation Thesis, Aix-Marseille II University, Marseille. volume 1:304p; volume 2: annexes 2:144p.
Damnati, B., & Taieb, M., 2003. La sédimentation sub-actuelle dans le lac Iffir (Moyen Atlas, Maroc): Résultats préliminaires. Notes et Mém. Serv. Géol. Maroc, n° 452 : 301-306.
El Hamouti, N., Lamb, H., Fontes, J.C., and Gasse, F., 1991. Changements hydroclimatiques abrupts dans le moyen Atlas marocain depuis le dernier maximum glaciaire. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, t. 313, Série II, 259-265.
El Hamouti, N., 2003. Changements hydrologiques et climatiques dans le moyen Atlas marocain à partir de l’étude des diatomées du site de Tigalmamine. Thèse de doctorat d’Etat., Université Mohamed I, Faculté des Sciences d’Oujda, 1 volume, 345 p.
Gasse, F., Téhet, R., Durand, A., Elisabeth, G., and Fontes, J.C., 1990. The arid-humid transition in the Sahara and the Sahel during the last deglaciation. Nature. vol 346, 141-146.
Gasse, F., and Fontes, J.C. 1992. Climatic changes in Nothwest Africa during the last deglaciation (16-7 ka BP). NATO ASI Series, Vol. I 2: The Last Deglaciation: Absolute and Radiocarbon Chronologies. Edited by E. Bard and W.S. Broecker, Berlin, 295-325.
Lamb, H., Gasse, F., Benkaddour, A., El Hamouti, N., Van der Kaars, S., Perkins, W.T., Pearce, N.J., & Roberts, C.N., 1995. Relation between centry-scale Holocene arid intervals in tropical and temperate zones. Nature, 373: 134-137.
Lamb, H., Roberts, N., Leng, M., Barker, P., Benkaddour, A., & Van der Kaars, S., 1999. Journal of Paleolimnology 21: 325-343.

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