Geological and palaeontological context of a Pliocene juvenile hominin at Dikika, Ethiopia
Geological and palaeontological context of a Pliocene juvenile hominin at Dikika, Ethiopia
复制标题
埃塞俄比亚迪基卡上新世幼年人类的地质和古生物学背景
作者：
J. Wynn;Z. Alemseged;René Bobe;D. Geraads;Denné N. Reed;D. Roman
自1999年以来，Dikika研究项目（DRP;由Z.A.发起）在埃塞俄比亚阿瓦什河以南的荒地进行了调查和挖掘，揭露了上新世和更新世的沉积物，这些沉积物位于哈达尔、戈纳和中阿瓦什地区周围的人类地点之间。在这里，我们报告我们的地质测绘和DRP地区的地层测量，以及在Dikika DIK-1地点保存得非常完好的最早的青少年古人类骨架的背景。我们对DRP地区的测绘允许对含人类的哈达尔组进行完整的定义，并提供了一个有凝聚力的结构和构造框架，以确定其与相邻地层的关系。我们的研究结果揭示了该地区的盆地规模的构造，沉积和古环境的历史，以及一个明确的埋藏和古生物学背景的少年人。这些数据对于了解人类进化的环境背景至关重要，可以纳入更大规模的构造和古环境研究。我们的盆地规模的古环境的方法提供了一种手段来阐明复杂的地质历史发生在时间和地理控制的化石点的地方，这发生在丰富的构造和沉积历史的阿瓦什谷的规模。
Since 1999, the Dikika Research Project (DRP; initiated by Z.A.) has conducted surveys and excavations in badlands that expose Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments south of the Awash River in Ethiopia, between surrounding hominin localities at Hadar, Gona and the Middle Awash region. Here we report our geological mapping and stratigraphic measurement of the DRP area, and the context of a remarkably well-preserved skeleton of the earliest known juvenile hominin at the Dikika DIK-1 locality. Our mapping of the DRP area permits a complete definition of the hominin-bearing Hadar Formation and provides a cohesive structural and tectonic framework defining its relationships to adjacent strata. Our findings reveal the basin-scale tectonic, depositional and palaeoenvironmental history of the area, as well as a clear taphonomic and palaeontological context for the juvenile hominin. Such data are crucial for understanding the environmental context of human evolution, and can be integrated into larger-scale tectonic and palaeoenvironmental studies. Our basin-scale approach to palaeoenvironments provides a means to elucidate the complex geological history occurring at the scale of temporally and geographically controlled fossil point localities, which occur within the rich tectonic and depositional history of the Awash Valley.