Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2018

Presentation information

[JJ] Oral

H (Human Geosciences) » H-QR Quaternary research

[H-QR04] Quaternary, Diachronic dynamics of human-environment interactions

Sun. May 20, 2018 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM A08 (Tokyo Bay Makuhari Hall)

convener:Mamoru Koarai(Earth Science course, College of Science, Ibaraki University), Toshihiko Sugai(Department of Natural Environmental Studies, Institute of Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo), Kiyohide Mizuno(国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所地質情報研究部門, 共同), Minoru YONEDA(The University Museum, The University of Tokyo), Chairperson:Mizuno Kiyohide, Aoki Kaori

2:15 PM - 2:30 PM

[HQR04-08] Luminescence dating of alluvial and fluvial sediments from Bat, Oman: implications to the humidity changes and human activities in the SE Arabia

*Sumiko Tsukamoto1, Kyoko S Kataoka2, Yasuhisa Kondo3, Takehiro Miki5, Taichi Kuronuma6, Yuichi Hayakawa4, Takashi Oguchi4 (1.Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, 2.Niigata University, 3.Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 4.The University of Tokyo, 5.Free University of Berlin, 6.Tokyo Metropolitan University)

Keywords:OSL dating, moisture changes, alluvial fan, Bat archaeological sites

The southeast Arabian Peninsula has been experienced extreme variations of arid/humid climatic conditions, due to the changes in the intensity of the Indian Ocean Monsoon. Past studies reconstructed the early Holocene moist period and the mid Holocene arid period, and suggested a link between the aridification and the start of oasis irrigation. To investigate the possible relationship between the human activity and the change in the environments in the SE Arabia, trench excavations at small alluvial fans were carried out along the Wadi Sharsah, east of the Bat archaeological sites. The results of the detailed sedimentological description and OSL dating indicate the followings: 1) alluvial fan formation in an arid-semiarid period at ca. 12ka, 2) a very moist period with the existence of perennial river channels between 10 and 8.5 ka, and 3) an aridification after 8.5 ka. A wadi terrace was formed during the mid Holocene (dated to 6-5.5ka by a previous study), shortly before the commencement of the Hafid period (5.2 ka). Our study also indicates that the combination of sedimentological investigation and OSL dating is a powerful tool for understanding the relation of human activity and climate in the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere.