Paleolandscape-reconstructions of tectonically active regions - a new tool to predict fossil site locations and discern patterns of hominin inhabitance

构造活动景观在理解我们人类祖先的进化和扩散方面发挥着关键作用。在非洲，最早的人类化石发现与东非裂谷的构造活动有关，而北美最古老的人类存在也位于构造活动活跃的美国西部。但是，在长期的构造、地貌和气候过程的驱动下，早期人类居住的景观随着时间的推移发生了巨大的变化。量化构造和地貌过程的样式和速率，并重建其对景观演变的影响，因此是一个强大的方法，“风回时钟”，并通过这可视化景观，因为他们可能已经存在的一些更早的时间。 我的建议的目的是在博尔德的科罗拉多大学环境科学研究合作研究所（CIRES）进行一项研究，在构造活动环境中重建区域尺度的自然景观，并确定促进人类土地利用的关键因素。使用地质地貌遥感分析和计算机建模方法相结合，我的目标是创建一个paleolandscape模型，具有早期人类景观居住的关键时间片。我将把我的研究集中在两个关键地点：东非和北美西部。东非的肯尼亚裂谷南部是一个以其丰富的上新世-更新世人类遗址而闻名的地区。美国西部的南俄勒冈州因在北美最后一个冰河时代结束时发现最早的现代人类之一而闻名。这两个目标区域具有相似的构造地貌特征，如火山高原景观中密集的伸展断层，以及一系列以复杂的古湖泊历史为特征的断层边界和内部排水湖盆。通过比较这两个研究区域，我的目的是表明，在整个人类进化的不同阶段，构造活动区的景观特征的组合创造了独特的条件，促进人类定居和扩散。本研究的结果将：（1）改善古环境和古人类学的解释有关早期人类如何战略性地利用复杂景观的有益元素;（2）导致在世界其他构造活跃地区发现人类化石遗址的新方法。

Tectonically active landscapes play a key role in understanding the evolution and dispersal of our human ancestors. In Africa, the earliest findings of hominin fossils are associated with the tectonically active sectors of the East African Rift, and the oldest dated human presence in North America is also located in the tectonically active western United States. But the landscapes inhabited by early humans have undergone massive changes over time, driven by long-term tectonic, geomorphic and climatic processes. Quantifying styles and rates of tectonic and geomorphological processes and reconstructing their impact on landscape evolution is thus a powerful method to 'wind back the clock' and by this to visualize landscapes as they might have existed at some earlier time. The aim of my proposal is to carry out a research study at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at University of Colorado, Boulder, to reconstruct physical landscapes at regional scales in tectonically active settings and to identify key elements promoting hominin land use. Using a combination of geological and geomorphological remote sensing analysis and computer modeling approaches, I aim to create a paleolandscape model, featuring time slices critical for early human landscape inhabitance. I will focus my research on two key locations: East Africa and western North America. The southern Kenya Rift in East Africa is an area well-known for its high abundance of Plio-Pleistocene hominin sites. Southern Oregon in the western United States is famous for one of the earliest findings of modern humans at the end of the last ice age in North America. Both target regions share similar tectonogeomorphic features, such as closely-spaced extensional faults in volcanic plateau landscapes, as well as a series of fault-bounded and internally drained lake basins characterized by a complex paleolake history. By comparing the two study regions I aim to show that throughout different stages of human evolution a combination of landscape features characteristic for tectonically active regions created distinct conditions promoting hominin settlement and dispersal. Results of this study will: (1) improve paleoenvironmental and paleoanthropological interpretations related to how early humans have strategically exploited beneficial elements of complex landscapes; (2) lead to new methods in discovering hominin fossil sites in other tectonically active regions in the world.