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Middle–late Miocene palaeoenvironments, palynological data and a fossil fish Lagerstätte from the Central Kenya Rift (East Africa)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2015

CORNELIA RASMUSSEN ,
BETTINA REICHENBACHER ,
OLAF LENZ ,
MELANIE ALTNER ,
STEFANIE B. R. PENK ,
JEROME PRIETO  and
DENNIS BRÜSCH
CORNELIA RASMUSSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
BETTINA REICHENBACHER*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeobiology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
OLAF LENZ
Affiliation:
Institute of Applied Geosciences, Applied Sedimentology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
MELANIE ALTNER
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeobiology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
STEFANIE B. R. PENK
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeobiology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
JEROME PRIETO
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeobiology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
DENNIS BRÜSCH
Affiliation:
Institute of Applied Geosciences, Applied Sedimentology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

The Miocene epoch was a time of major change in the East African Rift System (EARS) as forest habitats were transformed into grasslands and hominids appeared in the landscape. Here we provide new sedimentological and palynological data on the middle–upper Miocene Ngorora Formation (Tugen Hills, Central Kenya Rift, EARS), together with clay mineral characterizations, mammal finds and a description of the Ngorora fish Lagerstätte. Furthermore, we introduce a revised age of c. 13.3 Ma for the onset of the Ngorora Formation. The older part of the Ngorora Formation (c. 13.3–12 Ma) records low-energy settings of lakes, floodplains and palaeosols, and evidence of analcime indicates that lakes were alkaline. The palynomorph spectrum consists of tree pollen (Juniperus, Podocarpus), Euphorbiaceae pollen (Acalypha, Croton) and herbaceous pollen of Poaceae and Asteraceae, suggestive of wooded grasslands or grassy woodlands. Alkaline lakes, floodplains and palaeosols continue upsection (c. 12–9 Ma), but environmental fluctuations become more dynamic. Paucity of palynomorphs and the presence of an equid may point to progressively drier conditions. A total of about 500 articulated fish fossils were recovered from distinctive layers of almost all sections studied and represent different lineages of the Haplotilapiines (Pseudocrenilabrinae, Cichlidae). Some of the fish kills may be attributable to rapid water acidification and/or asphyxiation by episodic ash falls. Repeated instances of abrupt change in water depth in many sections are more likely to be due to synsedimentary tectonic activity of the Central Kenya Rift than to climatic variation. Overall, the preservation of the Ngorora fish Lagerstätte resulted from the interplay of tectonics, formation of alkaline lakes and explosive volcanism. As records of grasslands that pre-date late Miocene time are rare, our finding of middle Miocene (12–13 Ma) grassy savannah in the Central Kenya Rift is also relevant to models of human evolution in East Africa.

Keywords

Tugen HillsNgorora Formationpalaeoclimatepalynologycichlids
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 154 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 24 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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