近日，德国科隆大学Huw S. Groucutt团队研究了过去800万年中阿拉伯半岛反复出现的湿润阶段。该研究于2025年4月9日发表在《自然》杂志上。

撒哈拉-阿拉伯沙漠是地球上最大的生物地理屏障之一，阻碍了非洲和欧亚大陆之间的迁徙，包括过去人类的迁徙。最近的研究表明，这一障碍至少在1100万年前就已经存在。相比之下，中新世晚期和更新世的化石证据表明，撒哈拉-阿拉伯沙漠内部偶尔存在依赖水的动物群（例如鳄鱼、马科动物、河马和长鼻目动物），这些动物群由河流和湖泊维持，而这些河流和湖泊在今天的干旱景观中基本上是不存在的。尽管在过去的110万年里，阿拉伯半岛南部发生了许多湿润阶段，但在此之前，人们对阿拉伯半岛的古气候知之甚少。

根据沙漠洞穴沉积物的气候记录，研究组显示了过去800万年来阿拉伯中部内陆反复出现的潮湿间隔。随着季风的影响减弱，潮湿时段的降水量减少，并且随着时间的推移变得更加多变，这与更新世期间北半球极地冰盖的增强相吻合。潮湿的条件可能促进了哺乳动物在非洲和欧亚大陆之间的分散，阿拉伯半岛是大陆规模生物地理交换的关键十字路口。

附：英文原文

Title: Recurrent humid phases in Arabia over the past 8 million years

Author: Markowska, Monika, Vonhof, Hubert B., Groucutt, Huw S., Breeze, Paul S., Drake, Nick, Stewart, Mathew, Albert, Richard, Andrieux, Eric, Blinkhorn, James, Boivin, Nicole, Budsky, Alexander, Clark-Wilson, Richard, Fleitmann, Dominik, Gerdes, Axel, Martin, Ashley N., Martnez-Garca, Alfredo, Nicholson, Samuel L., Price, Gilbert J., Scerri, Eleanor M. L., Scholz, Denis, Vanwezer, Nils, Weber, Michael, Alsharekh, Abdullah M., Al Omari, Abdul Aziz, Al-Mufarreh, Yahya S. A., Al-Jibreen, Faisal, Alqahtani, Mesfer, Al-Shanti, Mahmoud, Zalmout, Iyad, Petraglia, Michael D., Haug, Gerald H.

Issue&Volume: 2025-04-09

Abstract: The Saharo-Arabian Desert is one of the largest biogeographical barriers on Earth, impeding dispersals between Africa and Eurasia, including movements of past hominins. Recent research suggests that this barrier has been in place since at least 11million years ago1. In contrast, fossil evidence from the late Miocene epoch and the Pleistocene epoch suggests the episodic presence within the Saharo-Arabian Desert interior of water-dependent fauna (for example, crocodiles, equids, hippopotamids and proboscideans)2,3,4,5,6, sustained by rivers and lakes7,8 that are largely absent from today’s arid landscape. Although numerous humid phases occurred in southern Arabia during the past 1.1million years9, little is known about Arabia’s palaeoclimate before this time. Here, based on a climatic record from desert speleothems, we show recurrent humid intervals in the central Arabian interior over the past 8million years. Precipitation during humid intervals decreased and became more variable over time, as the monsoon’s influence weakened, coinciding with enhanced Northern Hemisphere polar ice cover during the Pleistocene. Wetter conditions likely facilitated mammalian dispersals between Africa and Eurasia, with Arabia acting as a key crossroads for continental-scale biogeographic exchanges.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08859-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08859-6