Paper No. 219-4
Presentation Time: 2:20 PM
MIOCENE LANDSCAPE RECONSTRUCTION AND FAUNAL EVOLUTION IN KENYA’S TURKANA BASIN: A REPORT FROM THE TURKANA MIOCENE PROJECT
HENKES, Gregory1, BECK, Catherine2, FEIBEL, Craig3, POULSEN, Chris J.4, UNO, Kevin T.5, BAHADORI, Alireza6, BECEL, Anne7, COX, Stephen E.7, FORTELIUS, Mikael8, GREEN, Daniel R.5, HEMMING, Sidney9, HOLT, William1, KINYANJUI, Rahab N.10, LIUTKUS-PIERCE, Cynthia M.11, MALIT, Nasser12, MANA, Sara13, MILLER, Ellen14, ROWAN, John15, RASBURY, E. Troy1, RUSSO, Gabrielle16, SMILEY, Tara17, SOUSA, Francis18, STINCHCOMB, Gary E.19, UNGAR, Peter S.20, VITEK, Natasha21, ŽLIOBAITE, Indrė22 and TMP MEMBERS, Other23, (1)Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, (2)Dept of Geosciences, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, (3)Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80205, (4)Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, (5)Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138, (6)Springer Nature Group, One New York Plaza, Suite 4600., New York, NY 10004-1562, (7)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, (8)Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, n/a 00014, Finland, (9)Columbia University - LDEO Earth and Environmental Sciences, 61 Route 9w, Palisades, NY 10964-1707, (10)Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, 254, Kenya, (11)Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Appalachian State University, 572 Rivers St., Boone, NC 28608, (12)Department of Anthropology, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY 13676, (13)Department of Geological Sciences, Salem State University, 352 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA 01970, (14)Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, (15)Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, (16)Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, (17)Ecology & Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11733-1123, (18)College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 114 Burt Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, (19)Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, (20)Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, (21)Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, 632 Life Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY 11794-0001, (22)Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, n/a 00014, Finland, (23)Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11733
A central goal of the paleosciences is to assign causality to macroevolutionary changes in the paleontological record using the geologic toolkit, including field observations, geophysical data, geodynamic modeling, geochronology, geochemical proxies, and paleoclimate simulations. Inherent challenges exist, however, when trying to develop records and predictions at the same temporal resolution while studying terrestrial rocks at the regional scale. The East African Rift System (EARS) offers an exceptional setting for these efforts due to the availability of outcropping sedimentary rocks and the richness of the faunal record, and provide an opportunity to illuminate the conditions that influenced the origin of our own lineage. Here we present the design, progress, and early results from the Turkana Miocene Project (TMP). The TMP is a highly interdisciplinary team investigating the relationship between tectonics, climate, and the transformation of terrestrial vegetation and faunal assemblages in the Turkana Basin, Kenya, from the latest Oligocene through the Late Miocene (~28 to 5 Ma). The TMP’s integrative research approach combines geophysical, sedimentological, geochemical, and fossil data from the field with cutting-edge global and regional climate simulations of the Miocene that provide direct model-proxy comparisons and a 4D forward thermo-mechanical geodynamic model to assess the tectonic evolution of the basin. The Oligo-Miocene sedimentary rocks in Turkana span an intermediate interval of long-term Neogene cooling, punctuated by the Miocene Climatic Optimum from 17 to 15 Ma. They also cover consequential regional tectonic events like the docking of Africa with Eurasia and the closure of the Tethys seaway, which allowed faunal interchange between the two continents. Initiation of the EARS during the Early Miocene led to increased volcanism and the creation of topographic heterogeneity that supported heterogeneous habitats. This coincided with the rise of apes, and the first hominins - the tribe containing modern humans and their extinct ancestors - emerged in the Late Miocene. The global rise of C4 grasslands, and especially in eastern Africa at ~9.5 Ma, matches closely with the origin of mammal lineages that make up modern Africa’s iconic fauna.
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