Late Quaternary investigation of sediments from Vankervelsvlei

This study investigates Late Quaternary sediments from Vankervelsvlei, a peatland located at 152 m above present sea level at the southern Cape coast of South Africa. A 15 m long sediment record was recovered from the site in 2016 and analysed using a multi-proxy approach. This includes analyses of water content, loss on ignition, grain size, organic (C, N and their isotopic composition) and inorganic (Al, Fe, Sr, Ti) elemental composition as well as compound-specific stable hydrogen and carbon isotopes from leaf wax-derived n-alkanes and compound-specific stable oxygen isotopes from hemicellulose-derived sugars. Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes are additionally coupled in a δ2Hn-alkane–δ18Osugar paleohygrometer. Parts of the data derive from a pioneer study by Strobel et al (2019) and have subsequently been extended by Strobel et al (submitted). Distinct environmental changes occurred at Vankervelsvlei during the Late Quaternary and the applied multi-proxy approach enables to reconstruct past variations in the atmospheric source of precipitation and local moisture availability at the site, which is coherent with other records located along the southern Cape coast of South Africa.