Late Holocene vegetation in the Azraq Wetland Reserve, Jordan

Shifts in aquatic and terrestrial vegetation associations and hydrology during the past > 3100 yr are indicated by the pollen and sediment sequences in a core retrieved from the Azraq wetland, Jordan. The pollen sequence provides evidence for a relatively stable wetland during the period of study until ca. AD 1400 when the wetland apparently declined as desert shrubland expanded. Springs continually supplied fresh water that maintained the shallow pools and marsh. In periods of increased winter precipitation, runoff from the surrounding wadis may have inundated the wetland and deposited silts and clays. During dryer episodes the influx of winter storm water would have been much less but the springs would have still provided water to the wetland and deposited peat. This is shown by the sequences of clay, silty and sandy clay loam, and peat in the core.