A late Glacial/late Holocene pollen record from a highland peat at Tamsaa, Bale Mountains, south Ethiopia

Pollen analysis of a 1 m 80 core, taken from Tamsaa swamp at 3000 m on the northern side of the Bale Mountains, southern Ethiopia, shows, from ca. 13,000–10,000 14C year BP, Apiaceae-dominated pioneer treeless vegetation on the deglaciated landscape. A rise in Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae around 10,000 year BP may indicate a change to a drier climate. A hiatus in peat accumulation occurred during the early to mid Holocene. This may be related to the destruction of organic matter during dry intervals of the early Holocene and during the mid-Holocene aridity. Late Holocene peat accumulation is thought to be related to the onset of a moist phase around 2500 year BP. During the same period, pollen from the present day forest limit taxa, namely Juniperus and Hagenia, which presently grow around the studied site, began to rise.