Late Quaternary environmental phases in the Eastern Cape and adjacent Plettenberg Bay-Knysna region and Little Karoo, South Africa Colin A. Lewis Department of Geography, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa Tel: +27 46 6222416, Fax: +27 46 6361199 e-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT Four major climato-environmental phases have been identified in the Eastern Cape, Plettenberg Bay-Knysna region and Little Karoo between somewhat before ~ 40 000 cal. a BP and the present: the Birnam Interstadial from before 40 000 cal. a BP until ~ 24 000 cal. a BP; the Bottelnek Stadial (apparently equating with the Last Glacial Maximum) from ~24 000 cal. a BP until before ~ 18 350 cal. a BP; the Aliwal North (apparently equating with the Late Glacial) from before ~ 18 350 cal. a BP until ~ 11 000 cal. a BP; the Dinorben (apparently equating with the Holocene) from ~ 11 000 cal. a BP until the present. The evidence for, and the characteristics of, these phases is briefly described. Key words Palaeoclimate. Southern Africa. Late Quaternary. Last Glacial Maximum. Late Glacial. Holocene. 1. Introduction 1.1. Purpose of this paper and use of proxy data The purpose of this paper is to summarise the evidence for, and describe the characteristics of, the major climato-environmental phases that have occurred in the Eastern Cape and adjacent Plettenberg Bay-Knysna region and Little Karoo during the last ~ 40 000 a (Fig. 1). The age of these phases has been established mainly by radiocarbon dating. Events predating ~ 40 000 cal. a BP are effectively beyond the range of radiocarbon dating and are not considered in this paper.