A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans
The Ethiopian Rift Valley hosts the longest record of human co-existence with volcanoes on Earth, however, current understanding of the magnitude and timing of large explosive eruptions in this region is poor. Detailed records of volcanism are essential for interpreting the palaeoenvironments occ...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2016
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| _version_ | 1826279678477860864 |
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| author | Hutchison, W Fusillo, R Pyle, D Mather, T Blundy, J Biggs, J Yirgu, G Cohen, B Brooker, R Barfod, D Calvert, A |
| author_facet | Hutchison, W Fusillo, R Pyle, D Mather, T Blundy, J Biggs, J Yirgu, G Cohen, B Brooker, R Barfod, D Calvert, A |
| author_sort | Hutchison, W |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The Ethiopian Rift Valley hosts the longest record of human co-existence with volcanoes on Earth, however, current understanding of the magnitude and timing of large explosive eruptions in this region is poor. Detailed records of volcanism are essential for interpreting the palaeoenvironments occupied by our hominin ancestors; and also for evaluating the volcanic hazards posed to the 10 million people currently living within this active rift zone. Here we use new geochronological evidence to suggest that a 200 km long segment of rift experienced a major pulse of explosive volcanic activity between 320–170 ka. During this period, at least four distinct volcanic centers underwent large volume (> 10 km3) caldera- forming eruptions and eruptive fluxes were elevated five times above the average eruption rate for the past 700 ka. We propose that such pulses of episodic silicic volcanism would have drastically remodeled landscapes and ecosystems occupied by early hominin populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:02:22Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:76637de7-490d-4743-ad53-2a1f8432aa1b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:02:22Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:76637de7-490d-4743-ad53-2a1f8432aa1b2022-03-26T20:15:34ZA pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humansJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:76637de7-490d-4743-ad53-2a1f8432aa1bSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Publishing Group2016Hutchison, WFusillo, RPyle, DMather, TBlundy, JBiggs, JYirgu, GCohen, BBrooker, RBarfod, DCalvert, AThe Ethiopian Rift Valley hosts the longest record of human co-existence with volcanoes on Earth, however, current understanding of the magnitude and timing of large explosive eruptions in this region is poor. Detailed records of volcanism are essential for interpreting the palaeoenvironments occupied by our hominin ancestors; and also for evaluating the volcanic hazards posed to the 10 million people currently living within this active rift zone. Here we use new geochronological evidence to suggest that a 200 km long segment of rift experienced a major pulse of explosive volcanic activity between 320–170 ka. During this period, at least four distinct volcanic centers underwent large volume (> 10 km3) caldera- forming eruptions and eruptive fluxes were elevated five times above the average eruption rate for the past 700 ka. We propose that such pulses of episodic silicic volcanism would have drastically remodeled landscapes and ecosystems occupied by early hominin populations. |
| spellingShingle | Hutchison, W Fusillo, R Pyle, D Mather, T Blundy, J Biggs, J Yirgu, G Cohen, B Brooker, R Barfod, D Calvert, A A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title | A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title_full | A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title_fullStr | A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title_full_unstemmed | A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title_short | A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
| title_sort | pulse of mid pleistocene rift volcanism in ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans |
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