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Published Online August 18, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1112964

Reports

Submitted on March 30, 2005
Accepted on August 2, 2005

Late Cenozoic Moisture History of East Africa

Martin H. Trauth 1*, Mark A. Maslin 2, Alan Deino 3, Manfred R. Strecker 1

1 Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, POB 601553, D-14415 Potsdam, Germany.
2 Environmental Change Research Center, Department of Geography, University College London, UK.
3 Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Martin H. Trauth , E-mail: trauth{at}geo.uni-potsdam.de

Lake sediments in ten Ethiopian, Kenyan and Tanzanian rift basins suggest there were three humid periods at 2.7-2.5 Ma, 1.9-1.7 Ma and 1.1-0.9 Ma before the present superimposed on the longer-term aridification of East Africa. These humid periods correlate with increased aridity in Northwest and Northeast Africa and significant global climate transitions. These episodes could have had important impacts on the speciation and dispersal of mammals and hominins because a number of key species, such as the origin of the genus Homo and the species Homo erectus evolved in this region during that time.


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