Vegetation landscape at DK locality, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Albert RM, Bamford M, Stanistreet IG, Stollhofen H, Rivera-Rondón C, Rodríguez-Cintas A (2015)

Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2015

Journal

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Elsevier

Publisher: Elsevier

Book Volume: 426

Pages Range: 34-45

DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.022

Abstract

The Olduvai Gorge palaeoanthropological site, in northern Tanzania, encompasses about two million years of earth history. The sedimentary facies of Palaeolake Olduvai have been used to reconstruct lake transgressions and regressions, up to total drying out, interpreted to reflect wet/dry climate cycles. Although multidisciplinary research has been conducted during the past decades to reconstruct the palaeoenvironments and palaeolandscapes of the Gorge, very few focused on the DK site located about 2 km farther east in the Gorge. We present here a vegetation study at DK for Bed I, the oldest stratum, based upon the phytolith and diatom recovery of the basalt lava to Tuff IB stratigraphic interval. These results have been analysed in relation to the different facies in which they occur: sandy diamictite, sandstone, sandy waxy claystone, waxy claystone, and sandy diatomite. The phytolith results from diamictite samples indicate a similar vegetation composition during these more arid periods. Conversely, waxy claystone and sandy waxy claystone samples show a higher diversity in the vegetation composition. The diatoms
were indicative of a fresh water pool environment. Thus the DK site would have provided plant foods for hominins, such as fruits fromtrees and shrubs and starch-rich rhizomes and tubers fromsedges and reeds. Overall, the results at DK site present a different vegetation landscape in comparison to previously published phytolith results from other Olduvai stratigraphic levels and regions.

Authors with CRIS profile

Harald Stollhofen Lehrstuhl für Geologie (Exogene Dynamik)

Related research project(s)

Plio-Pleistocene volcanism of Lower Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: transportation mechanisms, volcaniclastic sedimentation and ecological significance July 1, 2010 - July 30, 2013

Involved external institutions

Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) / Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies ES Spain (ES) University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) ZA South Africa (ZA) The University of Liverpool GB United Kingdom (GB) Pontifical Xavierian University / Pontificia Universidad Javeriana CO Colombia (CO) Universitat de Barcelona (UB) / University of Barcelona ES Spain (ES)

How to cite

APA:

Albert, R.M., Bamford, M., Stanistreet, I.G., Stollhofen, H., Rivera-Rondón, C., & Rodríguez-Cintas, A. (2015). Vegetation landscape at DK locality, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 426, 34-45. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.022

MLA:

Albert, Rosa Maria, et al. "Vegetation landscape at DK locality, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 426 (2015): 34-45.

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