A 700-YEAR RECORD ON THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND HUMAN IMPACT ON THE SOUTHERN CAPE COAST INFERRED FROM LAKE SEDIMENTS OF EILANDVLEI, WILDERNESS EMBAYMENT, SOUTH AFRICA BASTIAN REINWARTH 1 , SARAH FRANZ 1 , JUSSI BAADE 1 , TORSTEN HABERZETTL 1 , THOMAS KASPER 1 , GERHARD DAUT 1 , JÖRG HELMSCHROT 2 , KELLY L. KIRSTEN 3 , LYNNE J. QUICK 3 , MICHAEL E. MEADOWS 3 and ROLAND MÄUSBACHER 1 1 Physische Geographie, Institut für Geographie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany 2 Biozentrum Klein Flottbek & Botanischer Garten, Universität Hamburg, Germany 3 Department of Environmental & Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, South Africa Reinwarth, B., Franz, S., Baade, J., Haberzettl, T., Kasper, T., Daut, G., Helmschrot, J., Kirsten, K.L., Quick, L.J., Meadows, M.E. and Mäusbacher, R., 2013. A 700-year record on the effects of climate and human impact on the southern Cape coast inferred from lake sediments of Eilan- dvlei, Wilderness Embayment, South Africa. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography, 95, 345–360. doi: 10.1111/geoa.12015 ABSTRACT. The southern Cape coast, South Africa, is sensitive to climate fluctuations as it is influenced by differ- ent atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems. Palaeoeco- logical evidence of Holocene climate variations in this region is presently limited. Here, we present a lake sediment record spanning approximately the last 670 years from Eilandvlei, a brackish coastal lake situated mid-way between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The results from geochemi- cal and sedimentological analyses point to an increase in minerogenic sediment input from the catchment starting around ad 1400. Changes in the seasonal distribution of rainfall during the Little Ice Age may have altered river discharge and increased erosion rates and fluvial sediment transport in pre-colonial times. A rising mean lake level, possibly associated with an altered water balance or relative sea-level rise, may offer an explanation for the deposition of finer sediments. After ad 1450, reduced burial flux of ele- ments associated with autochthonous sediment formation may have resulted from ecological changes in Eilandvlei. Enhanced sedimentation rates, increasing carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and biogenic silica concentrations, as well as high concentrations of proxies for allochthonous sediment input (e.g. aluminium, titanium, zirconium) point to increas- ing sediment and nutrient flux into Eilandvlei from the late nineteenth century onwards. The most likely factor involved in these recent changes is land-use change and other forms of human impact. Key words: South Africa, southern Cape, coastal lake, lake sediments, geochemistry, sedimentology, Little Ice Age, human impact Introduction South Africa is affected by tropical and subtropical, atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems leading to strong climatic and environmental gradi- ents across the subcontinent (Scott and Lee-Thorp 2004). A long-term perspective on climatic oscilla- tions and the effects of human interference are essential for environmental management and mod- elling of environmental and climate change sce- narios. Unfortunately, climatic conditions often constrain the preservation of sedimentary records across much of the subcontinent, which partly explains the scarcity of palaeoenvironmental data from terrestrial archives (Chase and Meadows 2007). Sediments of coastal lakes provide an opportu- nity for palaeoecological research and were previ- ously used to reconstruct the evolution of South Africa’s coastal environments and its driving forces, that is, climate, sea level fluctuations and human impact (Baxter and Meadows 1999; Gordon et al. 2012). Here, we present a sediment record from Eilandvlei, a coastal lake located in the Wil- derness Embayment at the southern Cape coast (Fig. 1a). The sensitivity of this region to climate and sea-level change throughout the Holocene has already been demonstrated by studies of diatom, pollen and charcoal assemblages from Groenvlei (Martin 1959, 1968), palynological evidence from the Norga peat (Scholtz 1986) and the examination of large mammal remains at Nelson Bay Cave (Klein 1983; Fig. 1a). Detailed evidence for late Holocene temperature oscillations was inferred from a stalagmite record of the Cango Caves, © 2013 Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography DOI:10.1111/geoa.12015 345