The Geologic Context of Korsi Dora and the Partial Skeleton KSD-VP-1/1

Beverly Z. Saylor; Mulugeta Alene; Alan Deino; Luis Gibert; Yohannes Haile-Selassie; Stephanie M. Melillo; Gary Scott

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7429-1_2

The Geologic Context of Korsi Dora and the Partial Skeleton KSD-VP-1/1

Beverly Z. Saylor, Mulugeta Alene, Alan Deino, Luis Gibert, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Stephanie M. Melillo, Gary Scott

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

KSD-VP-1/1, a partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, was excavated from Pliocene strata at Korsi Dora, 3.3 km southeast of the confluence of the Waki and Mille rivers in the northwestern part of the Woranso-Mille paleoanthropological research site. A tuff collected from ~2.7 m below the fossil horizon, at the bottom of a trench dug 25 m to the east of the fossil excavation, yielded an ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 3.60 ± 0.03 Ma for anorthoclase feldspar. Strata in the trench and the fossil excavation site comprise a single normal magnetozone interpreted as part of the normal subchron C2An.3n, immediately above the Gauss/Gilbert paleomagnetic transition. Geologic mapping and tephrochemical analyses combined with paleomagnetic data place the fossil horizon and the trench section into local and regional stratigraphic context by constraining the partial skeleton to be younger than the Kilaytoli tuff (KT), a ~4 m thick vitric ash with an anorthoclase feldspar age of 3.570 ± 0.014 Ma. This unit is widely recognized at Korsi Dora, in collection areas north of the Waki-Mille confluence and outside the field area. The KT correlates with the Lokochot Tuff of the Omo-Turkana Basin in Kenya. Sedimentological features of the mudstone and sandstone in and near the excavation site are consistent with deposition in a floodplain or floodplain lake proximal to a stream channel.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
Publisher	Springer
Pages	13-23
Number of pages	11
Edition	9789401774277
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7429-1_2
State	Published - 2016
Externally published	Yes

Publication series

Name	Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
Number	9789401774277
ISSN (Print)	1877-9077

Keywords

Ar–Ar dating
Geological correlations
Korsi Dora
Sedimentological features
Woranso-Mille

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Ecology
Palaeontology

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10.1007/978-94-017-7429-1_2

Cite this

Saylor, B. Z., Alene, M., Deino, A., Gibert, L., Haile-Selassie, Y., Melillo, S. M., & Scott, G. (2016). The Geologic Context of Korsi Dora and the Partial Skeleton KSD-VP-1/1. In Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (9789401774277 ed., pp. 13-23). (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology; No. 9789401774277). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7429-1_2

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abstract = "KSD-VP-1/1, a partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, was excavated from Pliocene strata at Korsi Dora, 3.3 km southeast of the confluence of the Waki and Mille rivers in the northwestern part of the Woranso-Mille paleoanthropological research site. A tuff collected from ~2.7 m below the fossil horizon, at the bottom of a trench dug 25 m to the east of the fossil excavation, yielded an 40Ar/39Ar age of 3.60 ± 0.03 Ma for anorthoclase feldspar. Strata in the trench and the fossil excavation site comprise a single normal magnetozone interpreted as part of the normal subchron C2An.3n, immediately above the Gauss/Gilbert paleomagnetic transition. Geologic mapping and tephrochemical analyses combined with paleomagnetic data place the fossil horizon and the trench section into local and regional stratigraphic context by constraining the partial skeleton to be younger than the Kilaytoli tuff (KT), a ~4 m thick vitric ash with an anorthoclase feldspar age of 3.570 ± 0.014 Ma. This unit is widely recognized at Korsi Dora, in collection areas north of the Waki-Mille confluence and outside the field area. The KT correlates with the Lokochot Tuff of the Omo-Turkana Basin in Kenya. Sedimentological features of the mudstone and sandstone in and near the excavation site are consistent with deposition in a floodplain or floodplain lake proximal to a stream channel.",

keywords = "Ar–Ar dating, Geological correlations, Korsi Dora, Sedimentological features, Woranso-Mille",

author = "Saylor, {Beverly Z.} and Mulugeta Alene and Alan Deino and Luis Gibert and Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Melillo, {Stephanie M.} and Gary Scott",

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AU - Melillo, Stephanie M.

AU - Scott, Gary

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AB - KSD-VP-1/1, a partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, was excavated from Pliocene strata at Korsi Dora, 3.3 km southeast of the confluence of the Waki and Mille rivers in the northwestern part of the Woranso-Mille paleoanthropological research site. A tuff collected from ~2.7 m below the fossil horizon, at the bottom of a trench dug 25 m to the east of the fossil excavation, yielded an 40Ar/39Ar age of 3.60 ± 0.03 Ma for anorthoclase feldspar. Strata in the trench and the fossil excavation site comprise a single normal magnetozone interpreted as part of the normal subchron C2An.3n, immediately above the Gauss/Gilbert paleomagnetic transition. Geologic mapping and tephrochemical analyses combined with paleomagnetic data place the fossil horizon and the trench section into local and regional stratigraphic context by constraining the partial skeleton to be younger than the Kilaytoli tuff (KT), a ~4 m thick vitric ash with an anorthoclase feldspar age of 3.570 ± 0.014 Ma. This unit is widely recognized at Korsi Dora, in collection areas north of the Waki-Mille confluence and outside the field area. The KT correlates with the Lokochot Tuff of the Omo-Turkana Basin in Kenya. Sedimentological features of the mudstone and sandstone in and near the excavation site are consistent with deposition in a floodplain or floodplain lake proximal to a stream channel.

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The Geologic Context of Korsi Dora and the Partial Skeleton KSD-VP-1/1

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