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The modern Nile delta developed in the Middle and Late Holocene, and at its most northern-central point is situated at the Burullus Lagoon, which is environmentally diverse, including salt marshes, mudflats, and sand plains, and separated from a sea by a sand barrier overtopped with high sand dunes. The lagoon has been fed since the Middle Holocene by the Sebennitic branch of the Nile and marine intrusions through the Bughaz inlet. A sediment core (BO-1) was collected at the northeastern shore of the lagoon and sampled at centennial scale resolution in order to reconstruct the development of the lagoon. The results show that an initial and limited lagoon had developed at the end of the Early Holocene, but after a dry period ca. 7.2 cal ka BP it has been progressively transformed into a marshy area, with occasional inflows of sea water. Lower water level and higher salinity of the Burullus Lagoon at 6.0-5.5 and 4.8-4.2 cal ka BP reflected droughts in the Nile catchment. Thereafter, the river reactivated in the Burullus Lagoon area, and since 2.8 cal ka BP was accompanied by occasional inflows of sea water. Since ca. 0.8 cal ka BP, increased fluvial activity occurred in this part of the Nile delta, which terminated after construction of the Aswan dams in the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qarun Lake in the Faiyum Oasis (Egypt) provides a unique record of Holocene environmental and climate change in an arid area largely devoid of fossil proxy records. Multiple lithological, palaeontological and geochemical proxies and 32 radiocarbon dates from the 26-m-long core FA-1 provide a time series of the lake's transformation. Our results confirm that a permanent lake appeared in the Holocene at c. 10 cal. ka BP. The finely laminated lake sediments consist of diatomite, in which diatoms and ostracods together with lower concentrations of ions indicate a freshwater environment at the end of the early and middle Holocene. This freshwater supply was closely associated with regular inflows of the Nile water during flood seasons, when the Intertropical Convergence Zone ( ITCZ) migrated northwards in Africa, although it has probably never reached the Faiyum Oasis. Local rainfall, possibly connected with a northern atmospheric circulation, may have been important during winter. Several phases in the lake's evolution are recognized, represented by oscillations between deep open freshwater conditions during more humid climate and shallow fresh to brackish water during drier episodes. After a long freshwater phase, the lake setting has become more brackish since c. 6.2 cal. ka BP as indicated by diatoms and increasing contents of evaporite ions in the sediment. This clearly shows that since that time the lake has occasionally become partly desiccated. This is a result of reduced discharge of the Nile. In the late Holocene the lake was mostly brackish and then gradually turned into a saline lake. This natural process was interrupted about 2.3 cal. ka BP when a man-made canal facilitated water inflow from the Nile. The examined FA-1 core can be used as a reference age model of climate change in the Holocene and its impact on the development and decline of ancient civilizations in northeastern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses radiometric analysis (Pb and Cs) of short sediment cores with high-resolution sampling (1-cm interval) to trace sedimentation rates in the Nile Delta lagoons, particularly since completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1964. A declining trend in Pb as calculated by the CIC model is clearly identified in about 10 cm of the upper-core sediments from the lagoons of Manzala and Edku, accompanied by two spikes of Cs in cores from the lagoons of Burullus and Edku. These findings illustrate average post-dam sedimentation rates ranging from 0.22 to 0.27 cm a in the lagoons, in contrast with those found previously based on low-resolution sampling. The lower sedimentation rates in the lagoons are a consequence of a dramatic reduction in riverine sediment load to the coastal area as a result of the damming. Although widespread erosion occurs along the open estuarine coast, the lagoon setting remains calmer than before due to coastal diking and freshwater regulation in the delta plain in the past decades. This provides the possibility of continuously preserved radiometric records in the less-bioturbated lagoon sediments. Dating individual layers using the CRS model has revealed increasing sedimentation rates in Manzala and Burullus since the 1980s, which can largely be explained as a consequence of the reduction in lagoon area due to intensifying reclamation. The post-dam sedimentation in the shrinking lagoons may have some adverse ecological consequences due to finer sediment's affinity with pollutants. These findings would shed light on the environmental conservation and socioeconomic development in the Nile Delta region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the spatial and temporal distribution of heavy metals (Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, Mn, Cd, Pb and Ni) from three short sediment cores collected from Burullus lagoon of the Nile delta, Egypt. 210Pb and 137Cs measurement is applied to understand sedimentation rate and related chronology. Remarkably low isotopic activities and intensive bioturbation in the lagoonal sediments rendered age determination difficult. Samples with detectable 137Cs in the upper core sediments together with sediment lithology could help infer a sedimentation rate of about 2.0mmyr−1, thereby indicating post-dam (after 1964) sedimentation of the upper 10-cm core sediments. Our results demonstrate that most heavy metals in the surficial sediments after normalization to Al decrease seaward, showing a function of distance to the sewerage outlet on the inland lake coast. Also, there is an upwardly increasing trend of normalized heavy metals, especially in the upper 10-cm core sediments. Relevancy analysis has identified Mn, Pb and Cd as the diagnostic heavy metals in Burullus lagoon, most likely derived from Tanta and Kafrelsheihk, the major downtowns in the central Nile delta plain, from where wastewaters are directly discharging into the lake via canal networks. Although Burullus lagoon is presently least affected by pollution as compared to other major lagoons of the Nile delta, the increasing quantities of diagnostic metals, especially Mn, are extremely toxic, as they are potentially linked to the risks of digestive issues and pancreatic cancer reportedly. The situation calls for a rational planning for sewerage treatment in the protected Burullus coast. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lagoons of the Nile delta are a vital aquacultural base for millions of people in Egypt. Since the 1960s, when the Aswan High Dam was completed, the estuary has changed from high to low turbidity and this has dramatically altered the eco-hydrological environment. In this study we attempt to explore the spatial and temporal distribution of heavy metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) based on 6 short sediment cores recovered from Manzala, Burullus and Edku lagoons on the Nile delta. Radiometric dating indicates that the upper 10–15 cm of the core sediment is post-Aswan Dam. Manzala on the eastern delta coast is severely polluted by almost all metals analyzed in the present study, especially Mn, Pb, Zn and Cd, due to its connection to the city of Cairo, and the direct human input from neighboring megacities, where the petro-chemical industry is thought to be a major source. Although Burullus on the central delta coast has the lowest concentrations of Mn and Pb, there is an increasing trend, implying a linkage to local agricultural sources, and the recently expanding megacities in the central delta plain. Edku on western delta coast seems remote from any major pollution sources, but higher Mn, Pb, and Zn in the upper portion of the lake sediment suggest human influences from Alexandria to the west via the littoral current. The horse-saddle distribution pattern of polluted metals along the Nile coast, as evidenced by the Enrichment Factor (EF), is closely associated with the regulated runoff to the lower delta plain and coast, where extremely low precipitation occurs. This physical setting is certainly prone to concentrating anthropogenic heavy metals in the lagoons. The opposite example is the intensively-cultivated Yangtze estuary in China, where monsoonal precipitation flushes out a huge amount of metals as manifested by the lower EF than that of the Nile. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

During African Humid Period in the Holocene when the summer Intertropical Convergence Zone migrated to its northernmost position, the Qarun Lake in the Faiyum Oasis in Egypt was fed with regular inflows from the Nile River and rainfall brought by the Mediterranean winter circulation. Finely-laminated lake sediments, dated at 8.5–6.7 cal kyr B.P., were examined in terms of lithology, geochemistry, microfossils (diatom, pollen) and magnetic susceptibility. Based on the inferred geographical derivation of pollen, the environmental affiliation of diatom taxa and geochemistry of lake sediments, wind trajectories were distinguished, related to two main atmospheric circulation phases. During the earlier phase (8.50–7.83 cal kyr B.P.) there were northwestern wind trajectories followed by southern ones and during the later phase (7.83–6.70 cal kyr B.P.), the northern winds were followed by northwestern and southern ones. Northwestern and northern winds brought winter rainfall and caused water turbulence in the lake, and the southern winds were associated with regional aridification. This scenario of atmospheric circulation in northeastern Africa extends significantly our understanding of key modes of climatic variability and wind trajectories in the Early to Middle Holocene (Greenlandian to Northgrippian) transition. • Interaction of the Middle Holocene summer monsoon and palaeowesterlies in northeastern Africa • Middle Holocene atmospheric circulation in the eastern Mediterranean • Rain-bearing and dry wind episodes in Egypt in the Middle Holocene • Middle Holocene winter heavy rainfalls in northern Egypt [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the exact technical processes employed in the construction of the pyramids are still a subject of ongoing debate, it is widely recognized that the Giza Plateau served as a hub where various trades converged with the common objective of building the necropolis. Of particular importance was the development of a local and sustainable food supply for the thousands of laborers involved in this monumental undertaking. Here, we explore the long-term behavioural mechanisms that led human societies to gradually colonize the Nile swamps at Giza. They developed herding and farming, paving the way for greater human exploitation of the area during the Dynastic Egypt. We show that transhumance tribes, originally from the Eastern Sahara, settled along the Giza Plateau 5200 years ago, primarily engaging in herding and, more sporadically, agriculture. Giza was transformed into a pastoral landscape, with the development of large swaths of the floodplain, providing societies with permanent access to livestock produce (e.g. proteins, milk, meat and wool). Our palaeoecological data reveal that the initial complex societies at Giza were deeply rooted in transhumance, pastoralism and animal husbandry. These activities played a fundamental role in establishing the foundations of a robust and sustainable food system, while also serving as a crucial logistical support for the subsequent construction of the monumental structures that celebrated the grandeur of pharaonic Egypt. • Two cores extracted from the Khufu branch of the Nile at Giza. • A 7600-year record of agropastoral activities from the pyramids area. • Insight into the first complex societies at Giza. • The area was mainly a pastoral landscape when the necropolis was built. • The Third Intermediate Period was the worst phase for agropastoral activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Nile valley accommodates the world''s longest river and shaped the development of numerous complex societies, providing a reliable source of water for farming and linking populations to sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. Its fertile delta lay at the heart of ancient Egyptian civilization, however little is known of its morpho-sedimentary response to basin-wide changes in Holocene hydrology. Here, we present two well-resolved records from the Nile delta (based on ∼320 radiocarbon dates) to reconstruct the timing and rhythm of catchment-scale modifications during the past 8000 years. On the orbital timescale, we demonstrate that Nilotic hydrology and sedimentation have responded to low-latitude insolation forcing while, on sub-millennial timescales, many of the major phases of deltaic modification were mediated by climate events linked to El Niño Southern Oscillation-type (ENSO) variability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Long-standing arguments regarding the early cultural transition, the domestication of plants and the impacts of climate change on past Egyptian societies remain contentious. In this paper, we demonstrate that grazing started at our study site, Kom El-Khilgan in the NE Nile Delta, ca. 7000 years ago, which was several hundred years prior to crop farming. We examined pollen-spores and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) in a 1-m-deep sediment profile (KH-1) in the study site, defined archaeologically as the Pre-Dynastic (>5.9 ka) in age. Our results show that before ca. 7.0 ka, major floods prevailed in the Nile Delta, as highly-concentrated Podocarpus and Polypodiaceae were transported from the East African highlands and Cyperaceae of higher Nile flow indication. This humid phase was succeeded by a brief period of drying climate ca. 7.0–6.6 ka, allowing the entry of the first settlers who commenced grazing their animals on previously inundated wetlands. This change is indicated by the remarkable increase in fungal spores (Cercophora, Sordaria, Coniochaeta cf. Ligniaria) from accumulations of animal dung. At ca. 6.6 ka, the abrupt appearance of domesticated cereal pollen (Poaceae >35 μm) and cereal grass pathogens (Pericornia and Sorosporium) suggests an amelioration of the climate that allowed the introduction of cereal crops and related water management activities. Grazing and cropping co-existed for the remainder of the record during the time when there occurred a mega-tendency of climate drying towards recent time. A drought event recognized ca. 4.2 ka led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom. • Wet-humid climate occurred prior to 7 ka and followed by long-term drying climate tendency. • Non-pollen palynomorphs were firstly identified in the Nile delta, showing earliest herding ca. 7.0 ka. • Cropping-based farming proceeded several hundred years later than herding, in response to climate fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate how Holocene climate patterns influenced the development of early Egyptian agriculture at the archaeological site of Sais on the Nile Delta, we conducted a palynological study. Seven palynological zones were defined to reveal Holocene climate fluctuations. Zone I (ca. 9000–7000 cal yr BP) was a period of warming climate, succeeded by a progressive drying climate phase in Zones II–VII (ca. 7000–2000 cal yr BP). Pollen records indicate Nile flooding prevailed before 7000 years ago, making the study area uninhabitable, before it later developed into a wetland setting. The earliest farming started at ca. 6700 cal yr BP, as indicated by the abrupt appearance of cereal (Poaceae > 35 μm), during a time of climate warming (Zone III), This material can be differentiated from wild Poaceae (<35 μm), which occurs throughout the profile, indicating the cereal was introduced to this area for agriculture. Results further reveal the transformation of human activities, from passive adaptation to climate, to actively remolding the environment against the background of long-term drying. During the early farming stage (ca. 6700–5500 cal yr BP), climate-human indicators were synchronous in distribution, suggesting lower pressure from climate change on population growth; however, this reversed from ca. 5500 cal yr BP, as intensive agriculture was required to meet shortages of natural resources during climate drying. Perhaps, the best evidence for adaptation is the increased abundance of Azolla from ca. 4000 years ago, a fern that favours growing in still-water bodies, hinting that much more irrigation was required at the time to sustain societal development. • A palynological profile is described at the Sais archaeological site, Nile Delta. • High-resolution studies reveal centennial fluctuations in pollen-climate through Holocene times. • The earliest farming and adaptation to climate change commenced 6700 cal yrs. BP. • Two mechanisms of climate-societal development are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyramids of Giza originally overlooked a now defunct arm of the Nile. This fluvial channel, the Khufu branch, enabled navigation to the Pyramid Harbor complex but its precise environmental history is unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, we use pollen-derived vegetation patterns to reconstruct 8,000 y of fluvial variations on the Giza floodplain. After a high-stand level concomitant with the African Humid Period, our results show that Giza's waterscapes responded to a gradual insolation-driven aridification of East Africa, with the lowest Nile levels recorded at the end of the Dynastic Period. The Khufu branch remained at a high-water level (∼40% of its Holocene maximum) during the reigns of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, facilitating the transportation of construction materials to the Giza Pyramid Complex.