101:. They have also estimated that the lake extended to 100,000 km (38,610 sq mi) in MIS 11, and this was when it was at its maximum size. By MIS 5, the lake was reduced to 1,400 km (541 sq mi) and less than 100 km (39 sq mi) during the most recent iteration in the
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The climate of this region has varied greatly in the past, with pluvial and dry periods alternating; the current arid phase averages less than 20 mm (0.8 in) of precipitation per year. During its geologic history, the Fazzan Basin has on at least four occasions during the
105:. However, Armitage et al. (2007), citing Brooks et al. (2003), put the Holocene lake area at 76,250 km (29,440 sq mi). Although there is some disagreement about the exact timing and the size of Lake Megafazzan, both authorities agree that there has been no
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under its own weight to form a depression in the ground, the Fazzan Basin. Since then, there has been a deposition of "continental intercalaire" and other continental rocks, and large quantities of water have been trapped in underground
199:
Armitage, S.J.; Drake, N.A.; Stokes, S.; El-Hawat, A.; Salem, M.J.; White, K.; Turner, P.; McLaren, S.J. (2007). "Multiple phases of North
African humidity recorded in lacustrine sediments from the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara".
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been inundated with water to form a large lake. On each occasion, a thick layer of limestone was deposited. Armitage et al. (2007) estimated that two of these events occurred earlier than 400,000 years ago, another one was in
147:, increased volcanic activity in northeastern Libya resulted in the damming back of the Wadi Nashu, which caused water to accumulate in the Fazzan Basin, forming the proto-Lake Megafazzan during humid periods.
227:
Geyh, Mebus A.; Thiedig, Friedhelm (2008). "The Middle
Pleistocene Al Mahrúqah Formation in the Murzuq Basin, northern Sahara, Libya evidence for orbitally-forced humid episodes during the last 500,000 years".
293:
Drake, N.A.; El-Hawat, A.S.; Turner, P.; Armitage, S.J.; Salem, M.J.; White, K.H.; McLaren, S. (2008). "Palaeohydrology of the Fazzan Basin and surrounding regions: The last 7 million years".
258:
Smith, J. R. (2012). "Spatial and
Temporal Variation in the Nature of Pleistocene Pluvial Phase Environments Across North Africa". In Hublin, Jean-Jacques; McPherron, Shannon P. (eds.).
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in Libya. It has no outlet to the sea and contains large areas of desert or semi-arid land. It is one of two basins in southern
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93:(between 130,000 and 80,000 years ago). Geye and Thiedig (2008) recognise further lake sedimentation periods in
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occurs between the Fazzan and the Kufra Basins, and both are overlaid by sand.
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activity between MIS 5 and the
Holocene. The MIS 5 deposits include fossils of
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period and caused thickening of the Earth's crust, which then
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The Fazzan Basin is situated on the junction between two
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in the centre and east. In the late
Miocene and early
295:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
230:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
173:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–42.
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261:Modern Origins: A North African Perspective
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89:(~400,000 years ago) and a further one in
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16:Interior drainage basin in Libya
167:Bridges, Edwin Michael (1990).
35:on the northern flanks of the
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332:Sedimentary basins of Africa
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214:10.1016/j.quageo.2006.05.019
270:10.1007/978-94-007-2929-2_3
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327:Endorheic basins of Africa
139:River in the west and the
202:Quaternary Geochronology
47:, further to the east.
43:, the other being the
112:Cerastoderma glaucum
170:World Geomorphology
279:978-94-007-2929-2
180:978-0-521-28965-8
133:Mediterranean Sea
37:Tibesti Mountains
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337:Geology of Libya
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301:(3–4): 131–145.
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123:Lake Megafazzan
57:tectonic plates
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39:in the central
29:endorheic basin
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25:Fezzan Basin
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21:Fazzan Basin
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127:During the
82:Pleistocene
45:Kufra Basin
321:Categories
151:References
137:Wadi Nashu
107:lacustrine
65:downwarped
145:Messinian
61:Paleozoic
51:Formation
117:brackish
103:Holocene
70:aquifers
129:Miocene
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135:, the
87:MIS 11
74:basalt
99:MIS 7
95:MIS 9
91:MIS 5
33:Libya
23:, or
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19:The
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