Geology and Geochronology Lecture Videos
Craig S. Feibel
Where giants trod: the geology and geochronology of East Africa
Geological context is a critical component in the broader understanding of fossils and sites in East Africa. From Olduvai Gorge to the Turkana Basin, field geologists have explored the geology and geochronology of the Human Cradle and their broad shoulders provide a solid platform upon which future generations will continue to discover new and exciting perspectives on the past.
Marine Frouin
The contribution of luminescence dating to the chronology of Pleistocene deposits
in Turkana, Kenya
Past advances in radiometric and relative dating techniques have fundamentally changed our capacity to piece together our evolutionary past over millions of years. Marine Frouin's research is focused on the development and application of luminescence dating techniques for the study of Human evolution.
Patrick Nduru Gathogo
Physical stratigraphic dating methods in the Turkana Basin —leveraging on tectonic
and volcanic events
The geochronology of Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in the Turkana Basin, where many hominin fossils have been discovered, is largely based on isotopic dating and geochemical correlation of volcanic materials such as tephra and basalts. Age control therefore remains challenging for fossil sites that are isolated by faults and which lack suitable materials for isotopic dating or geochemical correlation. This talk will present a petrology approach, based on which key rock features can be used for the physical stratigraphic dating method at local and regional scales.
Darryl Granger
Dating Sterkfontein Australopithecus to 3.4-3.7 million years
Cosmogenic nuclide dating shows that Australopithecus-bearing cave breccias at Sterkfontein were deposited from about 3.4-3.7 million years ago, considerably older than previously supposed. Newly recognized stratigraphic unconformities at the site reconcile these older ages with previous work by showing that the faunal assemblage is mixed with a much younger member, and that dated flowstones are younger than the breccia in which they crystallized.
Troy Rasbury
U-Pb dating of carbonate petrified wood: what these unusual deposits record about
conditions of formation
The talk will focus on the discovery of carbonate petrified wood with extremely favorable U/Pb ratios and similar carbonate precipitates found broadly across the Turkana Basin at about 14 Ma. Troy Rasbury will put this in the context of the basin setting at the time based on geodynamic models.