The Olduvai Gorge Coring Project: Drilling high resolution palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental archives to constrain hominin evolution

Jackson K. Njau, Nicholas Toth, Kathy Schick, Ian G. Stanistreet, Lindsay J. McHenry, Harald Stollhofen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Volcano-sedimentary cores recovered from Pleistocene Palaeolake Olduvai by the Olduvai Gorge Coring Project (OGCP) provide a high-resolution record for reconstructing climatic and environmental contexts of hominin evolution. Approximately 612 m were recovered from four cores from three drill sites across the basin depocentre through scientific drilling, and these have yielded unprecedented data that substantially extend the Olduvai record both temporally and spatially. Results from multiproxy analyses based on sedimentological, mineralogical, isotopic, and geochemical measurements, along with analysis of organic matter and microfossils, backed up by new 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeomagnetic reversal analysis and tuff fingerprinting, provide detailed palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental data, and stratigraphic resolution adequate to provide context for the palaeoanthropological records from outcrops. In this Special Issue we present the first phase reporting of the core results, which establishes a new stratigraphic and palaeogeographic framework upon which palaeoenvironmental and palaeoanthropological data can be contextualized. The cores revealed thick intercalated lakebeds below the Bed I Basalt and the even older Naabi Ignimbrite, more than doubling the thickness of the known Olduvai stratigraphy. Seismic studies suggest that the sedimentary sequence contained in the lake's depositional sump extends even further back in time, perhaps back to ~2.5 Ma, nearly 500 kyr older than the deepest strata exposed in outcrop. From stratal characteristics, we deduce that the palaeolake was deeper, more permanent, and longer-lived within the lake sump than previously thought, at least until the Masek Beds (before ~0.82 Ma), although frequent phases of total or nearly total lake emptying/drying were detected, and the lake depocentre was at times filled by volcaniclastic fan progradation during periods of intense volcanic activity in the neighboring Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands. Furthermore, biogeochemical evidence supports our interpretation of the lake history, and documents abrupt transitions in terrestrial vegetation, aquatic biota, and lake dynamics on a Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch scale, which potentially exerted complex influences on hominin-exploited palaeolandscapes. This work revises the longstanding view of the basin history and transforms the scientific debate about the environmental conditions under which hominins evolved in the Olduvai Basin.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)110059
JournalPalaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Volume561
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-02-16
Acknowledgements: rated with OGCP’s research, including the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), the Tanzanian Department of Antiquities and Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). Funding for this research was provided to the Stone Age Institute from the Kaman Foundation (USA), the Gordon and Ann Getty Foundation (USA), the John Templeton Foundation (USA), the Fred Maytag Foundation (USA), Kay and Frank Woods (USA), and to JKN and LJM from the US National Science Foundation grants BCS 1623873 and 1623884, respectively. JKN and IGS also thank the Palaeontological Scientific Trust-PAST (South Africa), and JKN thanks Indiana University, Bloomington for funding support. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for funding the seismic studies that were carried out by Gerard Schuster, Kai Lu, Sherif Hanafy, P. Martin Mai, and Laura Parisi. Special thanks to Jim Brophy, Andy Cohen, Don Dana, Michael Hamburger, Claudia Johnson, Fidelis Masao, Asante Melita, Joshua Mwankunda and Lisa Pratt, for stimulating discussions and help at various stages of the project. Technical and logistical supports from the following organizations are greatly acknowledged: Drilling, Observation and Sampling of the Earth’s Continental Crust (DOSECC), Utah; National Lacustrine Core Facility (LacCore), Minnesota; International Directional Services (IDS), Colorado; Bollore Africa Logistics, Tanzania, and Kintetsu World Express, Saudi Arabia. We are grateful to M. Edmonds, the Layne Drilling crew, and the OGCP field crew including L. Ole Moita, M. Njau, A. Songita, S. Tarimo, M. Laiza, J. Habermann, L. Melau, R. Shitobelo, B. Fenerty, A. Lucian, J. Mahu and J. Laiza for fieldwork assistance. K. Genuchi (IDS), R. Szentmiklosi (DOSECC), B. Marshall (DOSECC), and D. Schnurrenberger (LacCore) provided geophysical and coring support, which are greatly appreciated. A. Noren, K. Brady and A. Stone facilitated core sampling and storage logistics at LacCore. E. Brown, A. Lingwall and R. Brown
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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