NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Aral and Caspian Sea Extent Reconstructions 18,000 YrBP

This directory contains data on the reconstructed extent of the Aral and Caspian Seas during the last glacial maximum 18,000 YBP. The reconstructions were made by Olga Dennisenko (Department of Geography, Moscow State University, Sandy Harrison (Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Colin Prentice (Department of Plant Ecology, Lund University), and Martin Sykes (Department of Ecological Botany, Uppsala University). The data file BIGSEA.DAT is an ASCII file containing the Latitude and Longitude of one-half degree grid cells which were expanded lake areas at 18,000 YBP. The catchment areas computed are based on the work of Kvasov, which indicate a lake level rise of +74m. The Caspian Sea reconstruction is believed to be reliable, while the Aral Sea evidence is equivocal. The authors recommend using only the Caspian Data.