Sediment and particulate organic carbon fluxes in various lacustrine basins of tropical Africa and in the Gulf of Guinea

This study presents a synthetic approach based on the combined use of sediment and C org accumulation rates of well studied lake systems and oceanic margins. Importance of latitude is expressed by the advected flux of terrestrial sediment and, especially, of particulate organic carbon. This most important factor varies throughout the Quaternary, particularly with the intensification of fluxes during Holocene. These changes are linked to the strengthening of monsoon circulation.In various lake systems from Cameroon (Barombi Mbo, Ossa, Assom and Bambili), Gabon (Kamalete) and Congo (Kitina and Sinnda), the global sedimentation and the C org accumulation were slow during dry period and increased during wet period. This relationship is verified to the scale of the Gabon and Congo oceanic margins where the accumulation rates increase during extent of ombrophilous forest. However, the greatest fluxes of organic carbon during wet periods would be balanced by higher concentrations values during the dry period resulting in a nearly homogenous carbon accumulation. These carbon concentrations are generally explained by the input of coarse debris by abrupt floods and by a less degraded organic matter as a result of the cooling of the climate. But, according to specific morphology features or vegetation cover, some lake systems exhibit distinct trends of the sedimentary and C org accumulation rates: (1) Highest accumulation rates coincided with a forest retreat when the slope is too steep (Kamalete in Gabon and Bosumtwi in Ghana) or when river flood overrun (Nguene in Gabon) (2) Increase of the accumulation rate are registered without change of the vegetal cover and express only rainfall growth (Bambili and Assom).