Late Quaternary of Simen and other mountains in Ethiopia

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Abstract
Late Quaternary investigations in the Simen mountains in northwestern Ethiopia, supplemented with observations from almost all other high mountains in Ethiopia, are used to assess spatial distribution, altitudinal zonation, and palaeoclimatic reconstruction for geomorphic features of the last cold period and the subsequent Holocene. The last cold period glaciation, found in Simen mainly on north- facing slopes above 3750m, helped to reconstruct the climatic snow line at 4250 m asl. Periglacial slope deposits, extending down to about 3600 m asl, assisted in the reconstruction of paleoclimate, which was about 7°C cooler, and reduced in precipitation and runoff. Such climate was possible during the Late Würm, between 20,000 and 12,000 yrs BP. 14C datings resulted in lower ages, showing that the glaciation of the mountain tops is not recent. An absolute age of glaciation, however, is not given. Holocene processes may be distinguished in a phase of intensive natural erosion, followed by a long and stable period of soil formation, until human activities accelerated soil erosion through agricultural activities during the last 2000 years. A comparison with other Ethiopian high mountains shows that no other mountains north of Addis Abeba (9°N) were glaciated in the last cold period, because the tops were not penetrating the snowline. Periglacial deposits, however, as well as the Holocene processes, could be verified on all mountains. The mountains South of Addis Abeba with the same altitudes were more extensively glaciated in the last cold period, with the largest glaciation in the Bale Mountains. The snowline for this area was lower than in the north, between 3900 and 4000 m asl for the Late Würm period.

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