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Geological, geochronological, geomorphological, and faunal context of the Malapa site and the fossils of Australopithecus sediba

James Cook University
Dirks, Paulus
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ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://research.jcu.edu.au/data/published/d74088f357b2548c817a1cec348fb619&rft.title=Geological, geochronological, geomorphological, and faunal context of the Malapa site and the fossils of Australopithecus sediba&rft.identifier=https://research.jcu.edu.au/data/published/d74088f357b2548c817a1cec348fb619&rft.publisher=James Cook University&rft.description=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.&rft.creator=Dirks, Paulus &rft.date=2011&rft.relation=10.1126/science.1184950&rft.coverage=27.7377550383,-25.9156978926 27.7377550383,-25.9836137723 27.8352587004,-25.9823792879 27.8366319914,-25.9156978926 27.7377550383,-25.9156978926&rft.coverage=Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa&rft_rights=Licensing: Creative Commons - Attribution alone (by)&rft_subject=fossil record&rft_subject=clastic sediment&rft_subject=fossil assemblage&rft_subject=hominid&rft_subject=cave system&rft_subject=australopithecus sediba&rft_subject=paleomagnetism&rft_subject=uranium-lead dating&rft_subject=olduvai event&rft_subject=phreatic zone&rft_subject=Geochronology&rft_subject=EARTH SCIENCES&rft_subject=GEOLOGY&rft_subject=Stratigraphy (incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy)&rft_subject=Sedimentology&rft_subject=Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences&rft_subject=EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE&rft_subject=EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data
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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.

Notes

There are two datasets in this record: 1. Paleo-anthropology data: TEXT S1. Fossil preservation, ontogenetic age, and sex of Malapa hominins. TEXT S2. Comparative craniodental materials examined in this study. TEXT S3. Character states based on measures from Table 2. TEXT S4. Digital reconstruction and virtual preparation. Five figures and two tables accompany the text. 2. Geological Data: Geological context and absolute age of the Malapa Australopithecus sediba skeletons from U-Pb dating of flowstone from the Malapa site, magnetostratigraphy of the Malapa site and cosmogenic isotope studies.

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Created: 2011-12-09

Data time period: 2008

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27.73776,-25.9157 27.73776,-25.98361 27.83526,-25.98238 27.83663,-25.9157 27.73776,-25.9157

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text: Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa

Subjects
Earth Sciences | Expanding Knowledge | Expanding Knowledge | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Geology | Geochronology | Sedimentology | Stratigraphy (Incl. Biostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy) | australopithecus sediba | cave system | clastic sediment | fossil assemblage | fossil record | hominid | olduvai event | paleomagnetism | phreatic zone | uranium-lead dating |

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Identifiers
  • Local : e04ede0d096a07b030fc3d4075e68743
  • Local : jcu.edu.au/tdh/collection/2fbe9a82-205b-490e-983b-cb11234d1102
  • Local : https://research.jcu.edu.au/data/published/d74088f357b2548c817a1cec348fb619
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