Biography

2010/2013

‘DFG own position’ at the University of Potsdam. Project GA 1629/1-1&2: “Reconstructing tropical African hydrology using hydrogen isotope ratios of lacustrine sedimentary biomarkers: a calibration transect across Cameroon” (http://tinyurl.com/DFG-garcin).

2008/2009

‘DFG Leibniz Center for Surface Process and Climate Studies’ postdoc at the University of Potsdam.

2007/2008

‘Alexander von Humboldt’ research fellow in Geosciences at the University of Potsdam.

2003/2006

PhD Thesis: ‘Interactions between erosion, lake hydrology and vegetation in tropical regions: an example from the Lake Masoko basin (Tanzania) during the last 45,000 years’, Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Géosciences de l’Environnement (CEREGE), Université Paul Cézanne (Marseille, France).

2005

1 month onboard the Marion Dufresne Research Vessel to recover long sediment cores offshore Indonesia, Papua New-Guinea and Australia (Oceanographic campaign PECTEN-IMAGES: Past Equatorial Climate: Tracking El Niño).

2002

4 months at TOTALFINAELF (Carbonate Exploration Team, Pau) for a modeling training with the aim to reconstruct the 3D structure of oil fields offshore Libya.

2001/2002

MSc Thesis: ‘Evolution of the Provence platform (Southeast France) from the Pliensbachian up to the Aalelian: tectonic, climatic and carbonate production crisis’, Reefs and Carbonate Platforms Team, Université de Provence (Marseille, France).

Research

My research mainly focuses on the lacustrine environments of tropical Africa. I am particularly interested in the African climatic variability and its impact on the ecosystems. I use lake sediment archives as well as ancient lake shorelines to reconstruct the past fluctuations of the African climate. I am currently developing a palaeoproxy calibration of lipid biomarkers.

Proxy development/calibration: the δD values of sedimentary lipid biomarkers in tropical African lakes (DFG project GA 1629/1-1&2)

Interest in compound-specific hydrogen isotope ratio analysis as a continental palaeohydrological proxy has emerged during the past decade. To date, calibration studies for sedimentary lipid δD have only been available for mid- to high-latitude environments. However, a calibration focusing specifically on the tropical realm, which occupies half of the Earth’s surface, does not exist yet. The need for such calibration is also important because lipid biomarker δD values are increasingly used to reconstruct past changes in tropical African hydrology. Here, we aim to identify the main environmental processes that control the hydrogen isotopic composition of sedimentary biomarkers and to develop a solid framework for the quantitative application of compound-specific hydrogen isotopes in tropical Africa. For this purpose, a 8°-long latitudinal transect of lake basins across Cameroon was chosen because it encompasses a wide range of contrasting climates and vegetation classes that are representative of the entire tropical African realm. We measured the δD values of sedimentary lipid biomarkers along extraordinarily steep climate and vegetation gradients as well as a wide range of possible water sources of the organisms, including lake water, precipitation, river water, groundwater, and plant-xylem water. Our approach allows us to identify the potential source organisms and the environmental water pools feeding into lipid biosynthesis. Finally, our data validate the use of sedimentary lipid δD as a robust proxy for surface water δD and possibly for evaporation in tropical Africa.

• Garcin, Y., Schwab, V.F., Gleixner, G., Kahmen, A., Todou, G., Séné, O., Onana, J.-M., Achoundong, G., Sachse, D., 2012, Hydrogen isotope ratios of lacustrine sedimentary n-alkanes as proxies of tropical African hydrology: insights from a calibration transect across Cameroon: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 79, p. 106-126, doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2011.11.039.

Reconstructing lake levels from relict shorelines along the Northern Kenya Rift

Ancient shorelines can be used to reconstruct changes in the elevation of lakes through time. Shorelines are ubiquitous on the flanks of the Suguta Valley and Turkana Basin (Northern Kenya). We mapped and dated these prominent geomorphic features to reconstruct the water-level fluctuations in the Northern Kenya Rift during the Holocene period. We further used those deformed shorelines to infer the Holocene extension rate and structural style of the Northern Kenya Rift.

• Garcin, Y., Melnick, D., Strecker, M.R., Olago, D., Tiercelin, J.-J., 2012, East African mid-Holocene wet–dry transition recorded in palaeo-shorelines of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya Rift: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.016.
• Melnick, D., Garcin, Y., Quinteros, J., Strecker, M.R., Olago, D., Tiercelin, J.-J., 2012, Steady rifting in northern Kenya inferred from deformed Holocene lake shorelines of the Suguta and Turkana basins: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.007.
• Garcin, Y., Junginger, A., Melnick, D., Olago, D.O., Strecker, M.R., and Trauth, M.H., 2009, Late Pleistocene-Holocene rise and collapse of Lake Suguta, northern Kenya Rift: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 28, p. 911-925, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.016.

Publications

11. Garcin, Y., Melnick, D., Strecker, M.R., Olago, D., Tiercelin, J.-J., 2012, East African mid-Holocene wet–dry transition recorded in palaeo-shorelines of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya Rift: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.016.

10. Melnick, D., Garcin, Y., Quinteros, J., Strecker, M.R., Olago, D., Tiercelin, J.-J., 2012, Steady rifting in northern Kenya inferred from deformed Holocene lake shorelines of the Suguta and Turkana basins: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.007.

9. Garcin, Y., Schwab, V.F., Gleixner, G., Kahmen, A., Todou, G., Séné, O., Onana, J.-M., Achoundong, G., Sachse, D., 2012, Hydrogen isotope ratios of lacustrine sedimentary n-alkanes as proxies of tropical African hydrology: insights from a calibration transect across Cameroon: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 79, p. 106-126, doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2011.11.039.

8. Garcin, Y., Junginger, A., Melnick, D., Olago, D.O., Strecker, M.R., and Trauth, M.H., 2009, Late Pleistocene-Holocene rise and collapse of Lake Suguta, northern Kenya Rift: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 28, p. 911-925, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.006.

7. Garcin, Y., 2008, Comment on “Abrupt change in tropical African climate linked to the bipolar seesaw over the past 55,000 years” by Brown, E. T., Johnson, T. C., Scholz, C. A., Cohen, A. S., and King, J. W. (2007): Geophysical Research Letters, v. 35, L04701, doi:10.1029/2007GL032399.

6. Vincens, A., Garcin, Y., and Buchet, G., 2007, Influence of rainfall seasonality on African lowland vegetation during the Late Quaternary: pollen evidence from Lake Masoko, Tanzania: Journal of Biogeography, v. 34, p. 1274-1288, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01706.x.

5. Garcin, Y., Vincens, A., Williamson, D., Buchet, G., and Guiot, J., 2007, Abrupt resumption of the African Monsoon at the Younger Dryas-Holocene climatic transition: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 26, p. 690-704, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.10.014.

4. Garcin, Y., Williamson, D., Bergonzini, L., Radakovitch, O., Vincens, A., Buchet, G., Guiot, J., Brewer, S., Mathé, P. E., and Majule, A., 2007, Solar and anthropogenic imprints on Lake Masoko (southern Tanzania) during the last 500 years: Journal of Paleolimnology, v. 37, p. 475-490, doi:10.1007/s10933-006-9033-6.

3. Garcin, Y., Vincens, A., Williamson, D., Guiot, J., and Buchet, G., 2006, Wet phases in tropical Southern Africa during the last glacial period: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 33, L07703, doi:10.1029/2005GL025531.

2. Garcin, Y., Williamson, D., Taieb, M., Vincens, A., Mathé, P. E., and Majule, A., 2006, Centennial to millennial changes in maar-lake deposition during the last 45,000 years in tropical Southern Africa (Lake Masoko, Tanzania): Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 239, p. 334-354, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.02.002.

1. Delalande, M., Bergonzini, L., Beal, F., Garcin, Y., Majule, A., and Williamson, D., 2005, Contribution to the detection of Lake Masoko (Tanzania) groundwater outflow: isotopic evidence (O-18, D): Hydrological Sciences Journal-Journal Des Sciences Hydrologiques, v. 50, p. 867-880, doi:10.1623/hysj.2005.50.5.867.