Tephrochronology of rare Plio-Pleistocene fossiferous strata in south-central Afar, Ethiopia
Abstract
Sedimentary basins in the south and central Afar Depression archive the complex structural, climatic, volcanic, and biologic development of the region during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The lower Awash Valley in central Afar has long served as a focus for these investigations, including the extensive work conducted to place fossil assemblages (including hominins) into stratigraphic and temporal context. Here we present a detailed analysis of tephra chemistry, correlations, and ages of the newly mapped and fossiliferous area of eastern Ledi-Geraru (ELG) in the lower Awash Valley (~3-2.5 Ma). Our results allow us to construct a tephrostratigraphic framework that provides important constraints for regional studies previously lacking a calibrated sedimentary record spanning 3 to 2.7 Ma. Based on glass chemistry and morphology, 40Ar/39Ar dating of feldspars, and stratigraphic mapping, we identified 23 distinct tephras (8 of which were dated) in >100 m of newly mapped fluvial and lacustrine sediments at ELG. The oldest tuff at ELG (Kuhulta Tuff; 2.994 Ma) is exposed in lake sediments (diatomite) that lie 3-5 m above basalt flows dated to ca. 3 Ma. The youngest ELG tephra (ca. 2.44 Ma) outcrops as a lenticular channel tuff in sediments faulted against older strata (~2.7 Ma). Between these two tephras lies the Gurumaha Tuff (ca. 2.82 Ma) and the Daáma and Bulinan Tuffs (both ca. 2.85 Ma), which provide excellent stratigraphic ties across a distance of 7.5 km, allowing us to document a lateral facies change from lacustrine in northern ELG to more nearshore in the south. These tuffs also confirm the presence of a fossiferous sedimentary record spanning the late Pliocene sedimentary gap in lower Awash Valley stratigraphy (ca. 2.94 - 2.7 Ma). While the youngest and oldest tephras at ELG temporally overlap with dated tephras from the well-described Hadar (3.8 - 2.94 Ma) and Busidima (2.7 - 0.016 Ma) Formations, we have yet to confirm geochemical correlates to any tephra layer external to ELG. Our work provides an exciting opportunity to examine local basin structure and its influences on paleogeography, test proposed links between biotic events and global/regional climate change, and to study sediments that may help resolve long-standing evolutionary questions about the origin of our genus, Homo.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.T13G..03D
- Keywords:
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- 1145 GEOCHRONOLOGY Tephrochronology;
- 8404 VOLCANOLOGY Volcanoclastic deposits;
- 8109 TECTONOPHYSICS Continental tectonics: extensional;
- 9305 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION Africa