Paleoclimatic Evidence from Freshwater Wetlands in the East African Rift: a Pilot Project

提出了一项跨学科研究项目，以检验地下水补给的湿地可用作赤道东非古气候指标的假设。这项研究将整合来自一个大型现代淡水湿地(肯尼亚博戈里亚湖附近的洛博伊湿地)的地球化学、生物和沉积学数据，并将这些数据与附近的更新世洛博伊淤泥和可能包含古代湿地沉积物的卡普图林组进行比较。与古气候的联系将通过定位重复的交替(周期？)指记录古地层层序中干湿旋回的岩相。我们选择的两个更新世遗址显示出巨大的希望。将在一年内进行实地工作、实验室分析和对现代和古代环境的结果进行初步整合。

An interdisciplinary research project is proposed to test the hypothesis that groundwater-fed wetlands may be used as paleoclimatic indicators in equatorial East Africa. The study will integrate geochemical, biological and sedimentological data from a large modern freshwater wetland (Loboi Wetland, near Lake Bogoria, Kenya) and compare these data to nearby Pleistocene Loboi Silts and Kapthurin Formation that may contain ancient wetland sediments. The link to paleoclimate will be made by locating repetitive alternations (cycles?) of lithofacies that record wet-dry cycles within a datable ancient stratigraphic sequence. The two Pleistocene sites that we have selected show great promise. The field work, laboratory analyses and preliminary integration of the results from modern and ancient environments will be carried out over a one year period.