The structural and environmental history of the Suguta Valley, Northern Kenya Rift

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Trauth
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2007 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 46753714

We propose a last one-week expedition to investigate the late Cenozoic structural inventory and lacustrine history of the remote Suguta Valley, northern Kenya. The fundamental objectives of the project are: Defining the structural boundary conditions of lacustrine paleoclimate archives and deciphering the paleo-environmental history using lacustrine sediments. After having completed structural mapping and investigating the Holocene lacustrine sediments in the valley, the objectives for the final phase of the project with special emphasis on the Mid Pleistocene are: (1) What is the character of climate change in East Africa during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT); (2) What is the role of orbital forcing on East African humidity? (3) What is the internal variability of the wet episode documented in the Suguta Valley and elsewhere in East Africa? (4) What are the faunal responses to the environmental changes in Suguta Valley and the adjacent basins? (5) How can the history of those conditions be related to evolutionary processes and events in hominin species? This investigation of the Mid Pleistocene climate and environmental change in East Africa in concert with the analysis of the tectonic evolution of the lake basins at that time will significantly benefit from our expanded knowledge about the timing, internal variability and causes of dry-wet-dry cycles such as the African Humid Period.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Persons: Dr. Christine Hertler; Professor Dr. Manfred Strecker, Ph.D.