Sr isotope stratigraphy and lithogenic grain-size distributions of the Pleistocene Turkana Basin, Kenya

Abstract:

The Pleistocene sedimentary infillings of the Turkana basin, a hotspot for early human evolution, document both human evolutionary and climatic events between 2.1-1.4 Ma. During this time interval, several early Homo species inhabited the vicinity of the Lorenyang paleo-lake, which was mainly fed by the Omo River, draining the Ethiopian Highlands. Paleo-Omo discharge could be expected to be modulated by changes in orbital eccentricity, causing wet-dry climate variability at ~20 kyr timescales, superimposed upon a long-term transition to drier conditions. To reconstruct climate and environmental changes during this key period of human evolution, we obtained high-resolution records of strontium (Sr) isotope ratios in lacustrine fossils as well as lithogenic grain-size distributions. High resolution sampling of sediment sequences containing abundant lacustrine fossils was carried out at outcrops situated to the east and the west of the lake. The sequences can be stratigraphically linked by several volcanic tuff layers, as well as paleomagnetic data. The Turkana basin is a half-graben and, as a consequence, the lacustrine sediment sequences along the western margin are relatively more continuous and deposited in a relatively deeper part of the lake, when compared to sequences at the eastern margin, where the paleo-Omo delta was situated. The outcrops to the west of Lake Turkana are situated in close proximity to core WTK13-1A, which was retrieved for the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSDPD), and span approximately the same stratigraphic interval. In this study, we successfully linked the stratigraphies of the sediment core and the outcrops, the latter of which were logged in great detail in the field. In addition, time-synchronous Sr isotope records from both sides of Lake Lorenyang display similar trends in Sr isotope stratigraphy, thereby confirming the lateral correlations. However, large differences in grain-size distribution and accumulation of the lithogenic sediments are noted. The Sr isotope stratigraphy, especially when combined with sedimentological data, provides a useful tool for stratigraphic correlation, as well as studies of climate and environmental change in Lake Loreyang and comparable lakes.