Scientific Drilling (Feb 2016)
The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project: inferring the environmental context of human evolution from eastern African rift lake deposits
- A. Cohen,
- C. Campisano,
- R. Arrowsmith,
- A. Asrat,
- A. K. Behrensmeyer,
- A. Deino,
- C. Feibel,
- A. Hill,
- R. Johnson,
- J. Kingston,
- H. Lamb,
- T. Lowenstein,
- A. Noren,
- D. Olago,
- R. B. Owen,
- R. Potts,
- K. Reed,
- R. Renaut,
- F. Schäbitz,
- J.-J. Tiercelin,
- M. H. Trauth,
- J. Wynn,
- S. Ivory,
- K. Brady,
- R. O'Grady,
- J. Rodysill,
- J. Githiri,
- J. Russell,
- V. Foerster,
- R. Dommain,
- S. Rucina,
- D. Deocampo,
- J. Russell,
- A. Billingsley,
- C. Beck,
- G. Dorenbeck,
- L. Dullo,
- D. Feary,
- D. Garello,
- R. Gromig,
- T. Johnson,
- A. Junginger,
- M. Karanja,
- E. Kimburi,
- A. Mbuthia,
- T. McCartney,
- E. McNulty,
- V. Muiruri,
- E. Nambiro,
- E. W. Negash,
- D. Njagi,
- J. N. Wilson,
- N. Rabideaux,
- T. Raub,
- M. J. Sier,
- P. Smith,
- J. Urban,
- M. Warren,
- M. Yadeta,
- C. Yost,
- B. Zinaye
Affiliations
- A. Cohen
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- C. Campisano
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- R. Arrowsmith
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- A. Asrat
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- A. K. Behrensmeyer
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, USA
- A. Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
- C. Feibel
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
- A. Hill
- Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- R. Johnson
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- J. Kingston
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- H. Lamb
- Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK
- T. Lowenstein
- Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
- A. Noren
- CDSCO and LacCore, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- D. Olago
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
- R. B. Owen
- Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
- R. Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, USA
- K. Reed
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- R. Renaut
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK S7N 5E2, Canada
- F. Schäbitz
- Seminar of Physical Geography and Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- J.-J. Tiercelin
- CNRS Géosciences Rennes, Université de Rennes, 35042 Rennes, CEDEX, France
- M. H. Trauth
- Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- J. Wynn
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
- S. Ivory
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- K. Brady
- CDSCO and LacCore, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- R. O'Grady
- CDSCO and LacCore, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- J. Rodysill
- LacCore, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- J. Githiri
- Department of Physics, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
- J. Russell
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- V. Foerster
- Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- R. Dommain
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, USA
- S. Rucina
- Earth Sciences Department, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- D. Deocampo
- Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
- J. Russell
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- A. Billingsley
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- C. Beck
- Department of Geosciences, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
- G. Dorenbeck
- Seminar of Physical Geography and Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- L. Dullo
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
- D. Feary
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- D. Garello
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- R. Gromig
- Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
- T. Johnson
- Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
- A. Junginger
- Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
- M. Karanja
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
- E. Kimburi
- National Oil Corporation of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- A. Mbuthia
- Tata Chemicals Magadi, Magadi, Kenya
- T. McCartney
- Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
- E. McNulty
- Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
- V. Muiruri
- Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
- E. Nambiro
- National Oil Corporation of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- E. W. Negash
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- D. Njagi
- Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
- J. N. Wilson
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
- N. Rabideaux
- Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
- T. Raub
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9AJ Scotland, UK
- M. J. Sier
- Paleomagnetics Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD Utrecht, the Netherlands
- P. Smith
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
- J. Urban
- Seminar of Physical Geography and Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- M. Warren
- ConocoPhillips, Houston, TX 77079, USA
- M. Yadeta
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- C. Yost
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- B. Zinaye
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-1-2016
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 21
pp. 1 – 16
Abstract
The role that climate and environmental history may have played in influencing human evolution has been the focus of considerable interest and controversy among paleoanthropologists for decades. Prior attempts to understand the environmental history side of this equation have centered around the study of outcrop sediments and fossils adjacent to where fossil hominins (ancestors or close relatives of modern humans) are found, or from the study of deep sea drill cores. However, outcrop sediments are often highly weathered and thus are unsuitable for some types of paleoclimatic records, and deep sea core records come from long distances away from the actual fossil and stone tool remains. The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) was developed to address these issues. The project has focused its efforts on the eastern African Rift Valley, where much of the evidence for early hominins has been recovered. We have collected about 2 km of sediment drill core from six basins in Kenya and Ethiopia, in lake deposits immediately adjacent to important fossil hominin and archaeological sites. Collectively these cores cover in time many of the key transitions and critical intervals in human evolutionary history over the last 4 Ma, such as the earliest stone tools, the origin of our own genus Homo, and the earliest anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Here we document the initial field, physical property, and core description results of the 2012–2014 HSPDP coring campaign.
