Holocene Saharan dust deposition on the Cape Verde islands: Sedimentological and Nd-Sr isotopic evidence

Holocene aeolian silts deposited on the Cape Verde Islands provide information about the origin of African palaeodusts that have fallen on the north-eastern Atlantic ocean over the last 10 000 years. Sedimentological composition indicates that most of these aeolian silts are unquestionably of continental origin. Their Sr and Nd isotopic composition identifies a Saharan origin-suggesting transport by Harmattan winds. We estimate that Saharan dust comprises 75-95% of material in these Holocene silts, the rest coming fi om the weathering of local basaltic bedrock.