Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Kalodirr and Moruorot, Kenya using Stable Carbon Isotopes

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dc.contributor.advisorCote, Susanne
dc.contributor.authorButts, Catherine Frances Rita
dc.contributor.committeememberTheodor, Jessica M.
dc.contributor.committeememberKatzenberg, Mary Anne
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-28T16:46:30Z
dc.date.available2019-01-28T16:46:30Z
dc.date.issued2019-01-24
dc.description.abstractEarly Miocene environments in East Africa are proposed to have consisted of entirely dense forest systems composed strictly of C3 vegetation, which has affected our understanding of Miocene ape habitats. However, new environmental data from the early Miocene sites of Moroto (21 Ma), Napak (20 Ma), Tinderet (20 Ma), Rusinga Island (20-18 Ma), and Bukwa (19 Ma) indicate a more open environment consisting of open canopied forests, woodlands and wooded grasslands with evidence of some C4 vegetation. This study builds on this new data by analyzing stable carbon isotopes in mammalian tooth enamel collected from Kalodirr and Moruorot, Kenya (17.5-16.8 Ma). These δ13Cenamel signatures suggest a mosaic of C3 vegetation too enriched to indicate a closed canopy forest. Rather, they are more similar to values found in woodlands, with some indications of C4 vegetation. This supports the hypothesis that the forest canopies of East Africa were opening before the middle Miocene, demonstrating that the environmental history of East Africa was more dynamic than previously described.en_US
dc.identifier.citationButts, C. F. R. (2019). Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Kalodirr and Moruorot, Kenya using Stable Carbon Isotopes (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36119
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/109862
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectMioceneen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental Reconstructionen_US
dc.subjectisotopeen_US
dc.subjectenamelen_US
dc.subjectEast Africaen_US
dc.subjectKalodirren_US
dc.subjectMoruoroten_US
dc.subject.classificationAnthropologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationPaleontologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Environmentalen_US
dc.titlePaleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Kalodirr and Moruorot, Kenya using Stable Carbon Isotopesen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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