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Phytolith Analysed to Compare Changes in Vegetation Structure of Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins Through the Mid- Pleistocene-Holocene Periods

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Phytolith Analysed to Compare Changes in Vegetation Structure of Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins Through the Mid- Pleistocene-Holocene Periods Phytolith analysed to Compare Changes in Vegetation Structure of Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins through the Mid- Pleistocene-Holocene Periods. By KINYANJUI, Rahab N. Student number: 712138 Submitted on 28th February, 2017 Submitted the revised version on 22nd February, 2018 Declaration A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science in fulfilment of the requirements for PhD degree. At School of Geosciences, Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa. I declare that this is my own unaided work and has not been submitted elsewhere for degree purposes KINYANJUI, Rahab N. Student No. 712138 ii Abstract Phytolith analyses to compare changes in vegetation structure of Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins through Mid-Pleistocene-Holocene Periods. By Rahab N Kinyanjui (Student No: 712138) Doctor of Philosophy in Palaeontology University of Witwatersrand, South Africa School of Geological Sciences, Evolutionary Science Institute (GEOS/ESI) Supervisor: Prof Marion Bamford. The Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins are renowned Hominin sites in the Rift Valley of northern and central Kenya, respectively with fluvial, lacustrine and tuffaceous sediments spanning the Pleistocene and Holocene. Much research has been done on the fossil fauna, hominins and flora with the aim of trying to understand when and how the hominins evolved, and how the environment impacted on their behaviour, land-use and distribution over time. One of the most important factors in trying to understand the hominin-environment relationship is firstly to reconstruct the environment. Important environmental factors are the climate, rate or degree of climate change, vegetation structure and resources, floral and faunal resources. Vegetation structure/composition is a key component of the environments and, it has been hypothesized the openness and/or closeness of vegetation structure played a key role in shaping the evolutionary history not only of man but also other mammals. Various proxies have been studied to determine and reconstruct vegetation history. They include: fossil pollen, stable isotopes, fossilised wood and phytoliths. This study applied phytolith analyses to reconstruct the vegetation history of the Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie Basins during the Pleistocene to Holocene periods respectively. Firstly, modern phytolith analogues from plants and surface soils were used to interpret the past vegetation from fossil phytolith assemblages. Four vegetation structures were clearly recognisable: grasslands, wetlands/riparian, woodlands/forests and mixture of woody and herbaceous dicotyledons. Although the proposed goal of this study was to compare temporal changes in phytolith assemblage, hence vegetation structure for the two basins, this was not achieved due difference in the sampling strategies available for the two basins. A continuous sediment core was drilled from the Olorgesailie iii Basin representing ~970kyr to ~77kyr, while in Koobi Fora sampling was done from well dated archaeological and geological exposures representing the early Pleistocene period (2.525-2.51Ma) and the Holocene period (9.6kyr to 0.93kyr), lacking mid-late Pleistocene deposits Determining the vegetation structure from both basins was possible. Two approaches were applied, a general approach for vegetation reconstruction (phytolith abundance) and phytolith indices (aridity and tree cover indices). Phytolith assemblages from paleosols deposited between 1.525Ma and 1.52Ma suggest a general vegetation cover dominated by woodlands which shifted to woody mixed grasslands that resemble present savanna habitats and a moister grassland habitat is also reflected. From ~970kyr to ~77kyr the vegetation structure comprised open grasslands, wooded grasslands, woodland/forest, and wetland/riparian/riverine habitats. These habitats fluctuated and the environments were unstable. The rate of fluctuations changed from high to low throughout the Olorgesailie sequence. From the Koobi Fora samples the Early Holocene (~9.6kyr to ~4.2kyr) was to the Early Pleistocene with woodlands remaining dominant, mixed grassland always present and a mosaic vegetation. A clear vegetation shift is noted during the late Holocene period (~1.34kyr to 0.93kyr), where woodlands declined while Chloridoideae grasses increased significantly indicating arid habitats similar to present-day savanna grasslands For future research directions it will be a valuable opportunity to have a long sediment core drilled from either the current Lake Turkana basin or a paleolake basin from which phytolith data can be analysed and studied to give a continuous vegetation reconstruction history. Key words: Phytoliths, Pleistocene, Holocene, Paleoenvironments, Koobi Fora, Olorgesailie iv Dedication This work is dedicated to my adorable children Gathoni-, Ngima- and Wahome Ndegwa for being my inspiration. v Acknowledgements First and foremost, I thank the Almighty God for not only granting me the opportunity to study but also for the courage and resilience to walk this journey to completion. Secondly, this research would not have been accomplished without the financial and logistical support received from various institutions and people. Hopefully I will be able to acknowledge each one of them but in case I forget, I sincerely apologise. The research was funded financially by the following institutions: 1. Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences (CoE- Pal) both based at the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI), University of Witwatersrand, paid all costs related to learning and living expenses while in South Africa and analyses costs for the Koobi Fora samples, through Student Bursary funds. 2. Olorgesailie Drilling Project (ODP) supported field work, sampling and analyses of the Olorgesailie samples. 3. The Koobi Fora Field School (KFFS) supported field work and sampling logistics for all the Koobi Fora samples. 4. The National Museums of Kenya for granting me study leave and also offered infrastructural and logistical support in the Palynology and Palaeobotany lab, Earth Sciences department. 5. Lastly but not least, the East African Association for Palaeoanthropology and Palaeontology (EAAPP) society for granting me the opportunity to attend and present my work, for it is in this forum when Prof Jack Harris introduced me to Prof. Marion Bamford who later became my supervisor-greatly indebted to the 2011 EAAPP conference organising committee- to you I say a big thank you! Numerus people have contributed greatly to the success of this study: First of all I am sincerely grateful to my supervisor Prof. Marion Bamford who believed in my potential to undertake this project and who has worked with me patiently and tirelessly, and supported me throughout the process. Her kindness and understanding made this journey bearable especially during those “down moments”-you are the best mentor-thank you! My sincere gratitude goes to Prof. Rick Potts, who has walked with me throughout my entire postgraduate studies; it is through his kind support during my MSc Program that I qualified to get to this level, he did not stop it there but considered me to be part of the ODP team and work on the phytolith component - in my research world you always be star! I would like to thank the KFFS directors- Prof. Jack Harris, Dr. Purity Kiura, Ass. Prof. David Braun and Dr. Emmanuel Ndiema for the support they have accorded me during all the summer field work in Koobi Fora. Special thanks goes to Dr. Purity Kiura for offering me the vi opportunity to participate in the KFFS expeditions as trainer which was a great opportunity to learn more about the basin and interact with renowned paleoanthropologists, archaeologists, palaeoecologists and geologists who added value in the understanding of my research. I would like to thank Dr. Idle Farah and Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia, former and current Director General respectively, for the moral support they have accorded me especially in ensuring that I could access all the equipment I needed during laboratory and microscopic analyses of all the samples in this study. I also do appreciate the moral support accorded to me by the entire Earth sciences colleagues, especially palynology and palaeobotany family, Dr. Stephen Rucina and Ms. Rebecca Muthoni. Special thanks go to Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer who spent her valuable time and expertise to ensure I have the correct geological information reported in this study, for both basins. Drs Amelia Villasenor and Andrew Du for drawing the Koobi Fora geological sections sampled for this work. Last but not least, to my family for support and more so, for the perseverance during my frequent absence while away either in the field or in school. To both my mums, I salute you for your love and support you accorded me and my children during some of the challenging times in the journey. Although this thesis is dedicated to my daughters and son, I sincerely appreciate them for they have been a source of great inspiration, they never complained but they have always regarded me as their role model and best mum in the whole world, to all of you I say–I adore you! Allow me to thank the three anonymous reviewers who took their time to read and suggested valuable revisions which have greatly improved this final thesis. vii Table of contents Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................
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