Holocene Lake Deposits in Northwest-Sudan

The valleys have been disintegrated into several small basins by up to 20 meter high valley-floor divides which at least in one case consisted of fossil dune sand partly covered by slope deposits. Formation of such dune barriers can be observed still today. The sediments of the lower limnic acculuation were composed of brown and grey silt and clay with numerous plant moulds. Loose fine sands up to more than 3 meter thick made up the next stratigraphic unit. The upper limnic accumulation displayed varying facial character. Chronological interpretation is based on the fact that all stratigraphic units displayed concordance and no indications of a stratigraphic hiatus were detected. The nature of the limnic deposits and their faunal and floral content in connection with the archaeological evidence make up the basis of the palaeoecological interpretation.