Geological setting and age of australopithecus sediba from southern africa

Paul H.G.M. Dirks; Job M. Kibii; Brian F. Kuhn; Christine Steininger; Steven E. Churchill; Jan D. Kramers; Robyn Pickering; Daniel L. Farber; Anne Sophie Mériaux; Andy I.R. Herries; Geoffrey C.P. King; Lee R. Berger

doi:10.1126/science.1184950

Geological setting and age of australopithecus sediba from southern africa

Paul H.G.M. Dirks, Job M. Kibii, Brian F. Kuhn, Christine Steininger, Steven E. Churchill, Jan D. Kramers, Robyn Pickering, Daniel L. Farber, Anne Sophie Mériaux, Andy I.R. Herries, Geoffrey C.P. King, Lee R. Berger

Geology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

148 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	205-208
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	328
Issue number	5975
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1184950
Publication status	Published - 9 Apr 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Multidisciplinary

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title = "Geological setting and age of australopithecus sediba from southern 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.",

author = "Dirks, {Paul H.G.M.} and Kibii, {Job M.} and Kuhn, {Brian F.} and Christine Steininger and Churchill, {Steven E.} and Kramers, {Jan D.} and Robyn Pickering and Farber, {Daniel L.} and M{\'e}riaux, {Anne Sophie} and Herries, {Andy I.R.} and King, {Geoffrey C.P.} and Berger, {Lee R.}",

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AU - Kibii, Job M.

AU - Kuhn, Brian F.

AU - Steininger, Christine

AU - Churchill, Steven E.

AU - Kramers, Jan D.

AU - Pickering, Robyn

AU - Farber, Daniel L.

AU - Mériaux, Anne Sophie

AU - Herries, Andy I.R.

AU - King, Geoffrey C.P.

AU - Berger, Lee R.

PY - 2010/4/9

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Geological setting and age of australopithecus sediba from southern africa

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