Fig 1.
The Gulf of Sirt and surrounding area; the Cretaceous-Miocene Cyrenaica platform to the north east and east, the Ajdabiya Trough and the coastal plain to the south, the Cretaceous-Miocene hill landscape of the Sirt Basin to the west.
See inset for location within the Mediterranean Sea. Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model, https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 2.
The MIS 5 coast during sea-level highstand and inland depressions in northeast Africa.
A – the hypothetical river courses adopted from [5]. B – Details of the river course in the study area following [14,17]. The Messinian Sahabi channel [18] is shown for comparison. Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 3.
Modern East Mediterranean surface-water circulation along the Tunisian-Libyan coast after [23,26], regional wind regime and the location of the boreholes (CP10BC: 1501 m water depth [3]; 971A: 2026 m water depth [13]; 64PE 349-8: 2095 m water depth [15]; 562MC: 1390 water depth [27]).
SG = Sidra Gyre. The Ghibli winds (yellow arrows) blow northwards on the east flank of Mediterranean low-pressure cells. The Khamsin winds (black arrow) blow over land and push dry sediment eastward. Also shown is the summer position of NE trade winds (white arrows) and summer/winter position of westerlies (green and light green arrows). Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 4.
Geological setting of the Ajdabiya Trough; A – Geological map modified from [38] showing surface strata; B – Cross section (see black line in A for location).
Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 5.
DEM of the Ajdabiya Trough showing sabkha depressions (light blue), wadi courses (blue) and the Ajdabiya-Tobrouq Ridge (yellow).
Reconstructions follow [18] for the position of the Messinian Sahabi channel, [41] for the Cyrenaica escarpment and the Al Kabirah fault and [38] for the Messinian shoreline. Qasar as Sahabi is the key section for the mid-late Miocene succession [41]. See also Fig S6 in S1 File. Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 6.
The water course of the river during MIS 5e reconstructed in this study.
Background data reprinted from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2022: ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74 under a CC BY licence.
Fig 7.
The Chott basins (Tunisia) and late Quaternary deposits.
Photo inserted shows lake deposit dated to ~200 ka by quartz optical dating (see Supporting Information for details).