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The Holocene
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Fulgurites in the southern Central Sahara, Republic of Niger and their palaeoenvironmental significance

B. Sponholz

Geographisches Institut, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D(W)-8700 Würzburg, Germany

R. Baumhauer

Fachbereich VI Geographie/Geowissensch., Universität Trier, D(W)-5500 Trier, Germany

P. Felix-Henningsen

Institut für Geographie, Universität Münster, Robert-Koch-Str. 26, D(W)-4400 Münster, Germany

The mineralogical and chemical characteristics of fulgurites (= natural glasses formed by lightning strikes to the ground) from the southern Central Sahara (Niger) are presented. The fulgurites are indicators of thunderstorms. The northernmost important fulgurite formation in the study area reached up to about 18°N, with decreasing fulgurite concentration from south to north. Their distribution pattern and the relative dating of their formation in relation to landscape history from the Late Pleistocene onwards (e.g., palaeolakes, palaeosols), and to Neolithic settlement reveals their value as palaeoenvironmental indicators. They indicate: (1) local palaeoenvironmental conditions depending on the topographical situation in a complex dune relief; (2) climatic change during the mid-Holocene from northerly rains to southerly rains; and (3) the northernmost limit of important thunderstorms and rainfall activity since this time in the southern Central Sahara.

Key Words: fulgurites • lightning • thunderstorms • Sahara • Holocene • climatic change • palaeosols • Neolithic.

The Holocene, Vol. 3, No. 2, 97-104 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/095968369300300201
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