The stratigraphy,chronology and palaeoenvironment of The Pleistocene Cave Fill, Gladysvale Cave, South Africa

Master of Science - ScienceThe South African hominin bearing caves have yielded a wealth of early hominin and other faunal material, which has been the subject of many studies. Little work, however, has been undertaken on the cave fills themselves, as the breccias are complex, poorly stratified, highly calcified, inadequately exposed and too old to date by conventional radiometric means (Partridge, 2000). Gladysvale Cave is an exception to this, as the younger, internal deposits are well exposed from mining, are extremely well stratified, and are preliminarily dated to between 200 and 250 kyr, making this an ideal location to document the three dimensional stratigraphy and sedimentology of a cave fill fan and to test other models of cave sedimentation. The chronostratigraphic approach of Moriarty et al. (2000) was used to divide the deposit at Gladysvale into flowstone bounded units (FBU). The younger, internal deposit at Gladysvale was shown to consist of six major FBU and two minor ones, which in general occur throughout the cave. Binding flowstones are not always present, and are limited to areas directly below and in close proximity to major palaeodrip sources. The majority of sediment entered the cave through a single, central entrance and then split into two lobes around a number of stalagmitic bosses. This entrance eventually choked, and final stage sedimentation entered through a slit-like entrance across the front wall of the cave. As accommodation space inside the cave is fixed, the morphology of the units is defined by their relative position in the cave and the topography of the underlying units. Six major facies types are described, and facies changes from the proximal to distal portions of the deposit are described. Facies changes in time were controlled by the sediment supply rates. A number of intercalated flowstones and stalagmites were dated via ICP-MS Uranium-series dating, and despite problems with detrital contamination, ten reliable and robust dates were acquired, only three of which required correction for excess 232Th. The internal fan deposit is between ~570 and 7 kyr, making it both older and younger than previously thought. The dated speleothems all grew in the recovery period following a full interglacial or major inter stadial, indicating that these were periods of increased effective precipitation, during which the cave entrance was restricted to incoming clastic sediment. The dated flowstones show good concordance with the rainfall record of the Tswaing Impact Crater, and this record was used to generate an age model for the undated flowstones and intercalated breccia units. Carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of the breccias and flowstones provided further climatic control. Oxygen isotopes are invariant between flowstone and breccia, and any original signature was most likely overprinted by the residence time of the groundwater in the dolomite host rock. Carbon isotopes show more variation, and there is clear partitioning between flowstone and breccia, and ä13C values are interpreted as representing changing amounts of C3 and C4 vegetation respectively. The C4 signal for the breccias is confirmed by the presence of granular soil micropeds seen in thin sections. The succession of flowstones and breccias, the U-series dates and the stable light isotope data provide a ~600 kyr record of terrestrial climate change, which is, to date, the oldest such record for southern Africa, and shows excellent concordance with various other climate change records, both global, local and marine. The synchronicity of these records suggests a strong allocyclic control, which is attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation, in particular the size and position of the circumpolar vortex above Antarctica. A climatically controlled model for the nature and rate of sedimentation at Gladysvale Cave is proposed, in which flowstones grow during the warm, wet recovery period following full interglacials, during which C3 vegetation dominates and cave entrances are restricted. Sediments are washed into more open caves, during arid, C4 dominated conditions, corresponding to glacial periods. As this model is climatically controlled, and the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site is a relatively small area, the other caves in the area would have experience the same conditions, and if open at the time should contain fills of similar ages. This study has shown the value of the cave fills themselves, which are often understudied. The breccias at Gladysvale are strongly climatically controlled, being deposited only once certain climactic thresholds are crossed, hence producing a highly punctuated record. The hominin and other faunal remains from these caves should be viewed within this context. Gladysvale Cave also contains a ~600 kyr record of climate change, which will contribute to our understanding of terrestrial climatic changes and the landscape’s response to them

Monuments and commemorations: a consideration

When William Charles Wentworth, the leading conservative politician in the colony of New South Wales, retired from public life in order to travel to Britain in 1853, he informed his devoted followers that he would ‘accept no testimonial except in the form of a colossal statue of his person to be placed in some very conspicuous part of Sydney’. According to the report in a hostile newspaper, Wentworth issued this demand so that ‘his countrymen might have an opportunity of perceiving how a grateful community could appreciate, reward and honour the services of any individual who devoted sincerely his talents and his leisure to the services of his fellow citizens’.

U-Th dating, taphonomy, and taxonomy of shell middens at Klasies River main site indicate stable and systematic coastal exploitation by MIS 5c-d

The archaeological record, particularly of shellfish, from the Klasies River main site (KRM) is important in understanding the fluctuating nature of coastal occupational patterns and changing coastal ecologies. In this paper, we provide new uranium–thorium (U-Th) dates for one of the earlier phases of coastal exploitation at KRM, and the microstratigraphic analyses generate novel information about the taphonomy of shell-bearing deposits from the Later Stone Age (LSA) to the MSA I period that, in turn, provide a broader context for middening at the site. A wide range of syndepositional taphonomic processes related to human activities and post-depositional effects include burning, fragmentation and compaction, chemical alteration, and cementation. Despite such issues influencing recovery, shellfish data are informative and are presented from three layers of the Witness Baulk: Shell Midden One (SMONE), Black Occupational Soils (BOS), and Silty Black Soils (SBLS). These coarse shell midden deposits exhibit visible decalcification coupled with cementation with secondary carbonate formation in association with conditions of high moisture and soft sedimentation deformation of the underlying sediments of SBLS. This stratigraphy section is chronologically anchored for the first time using U-Th dating of speleothems associated with a hiatus after the deposition of BOS. The three ages, 110,060 ± 1,100, 109,800 ± 970, and 106,000 ± 2,100 years, place the BOS layer as the base of the SASL sub-member at over 110 ka, making the underlying middens from the LBS member even older. The zooarchaeological analyses of the three layers indicate coastal ecological changes from more sheltered conditions prior to the hiatus, with the exploitation of alikreukel and brown mussels predominating. Before 110 ka, in BOS and SBLS, more exposed coastal conditions occurred, and the diversity of exploited shellfish increased. SMONE and BOS are associated with MSA II/Mossel Bay lower lithic technology and SBLS with MSA I technology, indicating asynchronous coastal ecological and technological changes. The MIS 5c-d evidence for early coastal occupation at KRM provides details on the period during which coastal occupation became stable and systematic on the South African coast and puts the KRM amongst the handful of sites with shell-bearing deposits, occurring prior to 110 ka in South Africa.publishedVersio

Community and University Building Partner Work-Study Program

1. The UNO Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center 2. Community Partners: Avenue Scholars Foundation and Metropolitan Community College 3. Placement Organization: Service Learning Academy 4. Evaluation Model: Institutional Commitment to Service (Holland, 1997

A window into Africa’s past hydroclimates: The sisal_v1 database contribution

Africa spans the hemispheres from temperate region to temperate region and has a long history of hominin evolution. Although the number of Quaternary palaeoclimatic records from the continent is increasing, much of the history of spatial and temporal climatic variability is still debated. Speleothems, as archives of terrestrial hydroclimate variability, can help reveal this history. Here we review the progress made to date, with a focus on the first version of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and AnaLysis (SISAL) database. The geology of Africa has limited development of large karst regions to four areas: along the northern coast bordering the Mediterranean, eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa, southwestern Africa and southern Africa. Exploitation of the speleothem palaeoclimate archives in these regions is uneven, with long histories of research, e.g., in South Africa, but large areas with no investigations such as West Africa. Consequently, the evidence of past climate change reviewed here is irregularly sampled in both time and space. Nevertheless, we show evidence of migration of the monsoon belt, with enhanced rainfall during interglacials observed in northeast Africa, southern Arabia and the northern part of southern Africa. Evidence from eastern Africa indicates significant decadal and centennial scale rainfall variability. In northwestern and southern Africa, precession and eccentricity influence speleothem growth, largely through changing synoptic storm activity

The ground beneath our feet: A critical reflection on 135 years of landscape evolution models for southern Africa

In his 1925 paper describing the Taung Child fossil, Dart makes various assertions about the landscape around Taung, inferring past climate dynamics, and the role these factors play in the evolution of our early prehuman relatives. He argues that this region of southern Africa is dry today and has been for much of the Cenozoic. This notion of long-term aridity and stability has dominated perspectives on southern African landscape evolution. Here, we present a review of this field, starting with the foundational studies from the late 1890s, which underpin Dart’s hypothesis. We examine the work of 20th-century researchers who developed models of landscape evolution; however, almost all of these models have been qualitative. With technological advancements, new quantitative techniques have emerged to provide evidence of landscape evolution events and to test previous models, and we present a brief overview of these methods. We call for reflection on the framing and languaging of many of these landscape models, specifically the ‘African land surface’ model. While the evidence of a homogeneous and stable landscape is continually being challenged through scientific advancement, this terminology is rooted in outdated colonial thinking. We also note that the key narratives that have driven research on landscape evolution have been largely shaped by selected prominent Western-based scientists. As we mark the centenary of the Taung discovery, we look toward a new era of landscape evolution research: one characterised by technological advancements and more diverse, local teams that will produce more quantitative, nuanced models for southern Africa and create richer, more dynamic backdrops for our own human evolution. Significance: We provide a review of over 100 years of models used to characterise landscape evolution in southern Africa. We argue that it is essential to reconsider current models of landscape evolution and assess their relevance in the southern African context. With technological advancements, we must question whether these models remain applicable or require revision. As scientists, we should also re-evaluate the terminology used in scientific dialogue to ensure it accurately reflects evolving perspectives. Finally, while the use of qualitative and quantitative methods have their unique benefits, we consider the application of more quantitative methods of landscape dating to test the existing models and build new, more complex ones

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin