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Geological Setting and Age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa.

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Title: Geological Setting and Age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa.
Authors: Dirks, Paul H. G. M., Kibii, Job M., Kuhn, Brian F., Steininger, Christine, Churchill, Steven E., Kramers, Jan D., Pickering, Robyn, Farber, Daniel L., Mériaux, Anne-Sophie, Herries, Andy I. R., King, Geoffrey C. P., Berger, Lee R.
Source: Science (pre-March 2025). 4/9/2010, Vol. 328 Issue 5975, p205-208. 4p.
Subjects: Fossil hominids, Australopithecines, Archaeological geology, Geochronometry, Uranium-lead dating, Geological time scales, Geomorphology, Caves
Geographic Terms: South Africa
Abstract: We describe the geological, geochronological, geomorphological, and faunal context of the Malapa site and the fossils of Australopithecus sediba. The hominins occur with a macrofauna assemblage that existed in Africa between 2.36 and 1.50 million years ago (Ma). The fossils are encased in water-laid, clastic sediments that were deposited along the lower parts of what is now a deeply eroded cave system, immediately above a flowstone layer with a U-Pb date of 2.026 ± 0.021 Ma. The flowstone has a reversed paleomagnetic signature and the overlying hominin-bearing sediments are of normal polarity, indicating deposition during the 1.95- to 1.78-Ma Olduvai Subchron. The two hominin specimens were buried together in a single debris flow that lithified soon after deposition in a phreatic environment inaccessible to scavengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Description
Abstract:We describe the geological, geochronological, geomorphological, and faunal context of the Malapa site and the fossils of Australopithecus sediba. The hominins occur with a macrofauna assemblage that existed in Africa between 2.36 and 1.50 million years ago (Ma). The fossils are encased in water-laid, clastic sediments that were deposited along the lower parts of what is now a deeply eroded cave system, immediately above a flowstone layer with a U-Pb date of 2.026 ± 0.021 Ma. The flowstone has a reversed paleomagnetic signature and the overlying hominin-bearing sediments are of normal polarity, indicating deposition during the 1.95- to 1.78-Ma Olduvai Subchron. The two hominin specimens were buried together in a single debris flow that lithified soon after deposition in a phreatic environment inaccessible to scavengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00368075
DOI:10.1126/science.1184950