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Modern and Ancient Animal Traces in the Extreme Environments of Lake Magadi and Nasikie Engida, Kenya Rift Valley

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Limnogeology: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

Part of the book series: Syntheses in Limnogeology ((SYNLIMNO))

Abstract

Modern Lake Magadi and Nasikie Engida in the inner southern Kenya Rift exemplify the extreme conditions in some continental rift settings, with abundant inflow from hot springs and magmatic CO2, producing high-carbonate-bicarbonate, high-sodium waters with little calcium in a semi-arid closed lake basin. Hypersalinity, hyperalkalinity, and hydrothermal conditions characterize the modern lake and lake margins, and also contributed to the environmental conditions represented by the Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentary record of the basin. Micro- and macro-organisms are restricted in diversity and distribution in the modern lake basin. This study documents modern animal traces present in lake-margin sites around Lake Magadi and Nasikie Engida, and those preserved in Pleistocene and Holocene sediment outcrops in the Magadi Basin. These findings are then applied to the interpretation of examples preserved in drill-cores (HSPDP-MAG14) that span the Pleistocene to recent sedimentary record of Lake Magadi. Observed associations among animal traces, substrates, and environmental conditions in the modern sedimentary lake-margin environments help to interpret ancient lacustrine sediments in the geologic record.

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Acknowledgments

Beth Gierlowski-Kordesch inspired us in our approach to investigating modern and ancient traces in heterogeneous environments in the Kenya Rift, and her scientific contributions, encouragement, and friendship through the years will always be cherished. We are very grateful for scientific contributions and support provided by colleagues from the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project, the Smithsonian Institution Olorgesailie Drilling Project, and LacCore Laboratories at the University of Minnesota. Shangde Luo (National Cheng-Kung University) and Chuan-Chou Shen (National Taiwan University) are gratefully acknowledged for significant contributions by dating the cherts. J.J.S., R.W.R., and L.A.B. were supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC to LAB: grant 311726-13; RWR: grant GP629) and a PhD scholarship to J.J.S. R.B.O. acknowledges the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for continued support (HKBU12300815 and 12304018). M.S. gratefully acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation grant P300P2 158501. Drilling of the MAG14 cores was funded by ICDP and NSF grants (EAR-1123942, BCS-1241859, EAR-1115118, and EAR-1338553). Analyses were supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKBU-201912 and 12304018). We thank the National Museums of Kenya, the Kenyan National Council for Science and Technology, the Kenyan Ministry of Mines, and the National Environmental Management Authority of Kenya for providing permits. Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited and the Magadi Administrative District of Kajiado County provided local support during drilling and field research. This is publication #30 of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP). Thank you to Editor Michael Rosen for his persistence and dedication to this volume in Beth’s honor, and to reviewer Daniel Hembree for his constructive comments and helpful edits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Jennifer J. Scott

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Robin W. Renaut, Luis A. Buatois & M. Gabriela Mángano

  3. Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    R. Bernhart Owen

  4. Department of Geological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA

    Emma P. McNulty, Kennie Leet & Tim K. Lowenstein

  5. Large Lakes Observatory (LLO), University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN, USA

    Mona Stockhecke

  6. EAWAG Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Mona Stockhecke

Authors
  1. Jennifer J. Scott
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  2. Robin W. Renaut
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  3. Luis A. Buatois
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  4. R. Bernhart Owen
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  5. Emma P. McNulty
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  6. Mona Stockhecke
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  7. Kennie Leet
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  8. Tim K. Lowenstein
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  9. M. Gabriela Mángano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer J. Scott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. United States Geological Survey California Water Science Center, Carson City, NV, USA

    Michael R. Rosen

  2. Department of Geosciences, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA

    David B. Finkelstein

  3. Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Lisa Park Boush

  4. Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Sila Pla-Pueyo

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Scott, J.J. et al. (2021). Modern and Ancient Animal Traces in the Extreme Environments of Lake Magadi and Nasikie Engida, Kenya Rift Valley. In: Rosen, M.R., Finkelstein, D.B., Park Boush, L., Pla-Pueyo, S. (eds) Limnogeology: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities . Syntheses in Limnogeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66576-0_2

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