Abstract
A review of the stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental context of the main sedimentary units that outcrop at Laetoli is presented here, with a primary focus on the Upper Laetolil Beds. The lithological sequences at many of the numbered paleontological localities, as designated by Leakey (1987a), are described and sedimentary logs for many of these localities are presented. The litho-facies as described by Hay (1987) are reassessed in the light of recent developments in the understanding of volcano-sedimentary processes. Hay (1987) recognized the majority of sediments in the Laetolil Beds as aeolian tuffs, but it is possible that some of these sediments are the product of lahars or hyper-concentrated flows. Gullies and minor channels are relatively common in the Upper Laetolil Beds, indicating that a well-developed drainage system, larger than the present-day Garusi River system, was in place during the Pliocene. Streams and rivers were probably seasonal, but would have been associated with a complex vegetational mosaic, including woodland along the river courses. The general direction of the paleo-flow suggests that run-off originated as precipitation in the elevated areas towards the volcanic highlands in the east and that it flowed southwest across the Laetoli area towards the Eyasi basin. Ponds dotted the landscape during the rainy season, but were dry for much of the year. Primary ash fall deposits periodically blanketed the Laetoli area, forming distinctive marker tuffs. These inundations of volcanic ash would have had an adverse effect on the local ecosystem, leading to a landscape dominated by grasslands and open woodlands. However, these periods of disruption in the climax vegetation were relatively short-lived, with grasslands being quickly replaced by a mosaic of woodland, bushland and grassland.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adelsberger, K. A., Wirth, K. R., Mabulla, A. Z. P., & Bowman, D. C. (2011). Geochemical and mineralogical characterization of Middle Stone Age tools of Laetoli, Tanzania and comparisons with possible source materials. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 143–165). Dordrecht: Springer.
Andrews, P. J. (1989). Palaeoecology of Laetoli. Journal of Human Evolution, 18, 173–181.
Andrews, P., Bamford, M. K., Njau, E. F., & Leliyo, F. (2011). The ecology and biogeography of the Endulen-Laetoli area in northern Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 167–200). Dordrecht: Springer.
Bamford, M. K. (2011a). Fossil wood. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 217–233). Dordrecht: Springer.
Bamford, M. (2011b). Fossil leaves, fruits and seeds. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology, and paleoenvironment vol. 1, pp. 235–252). Dordrecht: Springer.
Deino, A. L. (2011). 40Ar/39Ar dating of Laetoli, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 77–97). Dordrecht: Springer.
Dietrich, W. O. (1942). Altesquartäre Säugetiere aus der südlichen Serengeti, Deutsch-Ostafrika. Paläontographica, 94, 44–75.
Drake, R., & Curtis, G. H. (1979). Radioisotope date of the Laetoli Beds, the Hadar Formation and the Koobi Fora-Shungura formation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 50, 433–434.
Drake, R., & Curtis, G. (1987). K–Ar geochronology of the Laetoli fossil localities. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 48–52). Oxford: Clarendon.
Harrison, T. (2011a). Hominins from the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Fossil Hominins and the associated fauna, vol. 2, pp. 141–188). Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T. (2011b). Coprolites: Taphonomic and paleoecological implications. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology, and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 279–292). Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T., & Kweka, A. (2011). Paleontological localities on the Eyasi Plateau, including Laetoli. In T. Harrison (Ed.), (Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology, and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 17–45). Dordrecht: Springer.
Hay, R. L. (1976). Geology of the Olduvai Gorge. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hay, R. L. (1978). Melilitite–carbonatite tuffs in the Laetoli Beds of Tanzania. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 17, 255–274.
Hay, R. L. (1987). Geology of the Laetoli area. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 23–47). Oxford: Clarendon.
Hay, R. L., & Leakey, M. D. (1982). The fossil footprints of Laetoli. Scientific American, 246, 50–57.
Hay, R. L., & Reader, R. J. (1978). Calcretes of Olduvai Gorge and the Ndolanya Beds of northern Tanzania. Sedimentology, 25, 649–673.
Hedberg, H. D. (Ed.). (1976). International stratigraphic guide: A guide to stratigraphic classification, terminology, and procedure by The International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification of IUGS Commission on Stratigraphy. New York: Wiley.
Kaiser, T. M. (2011). Feeding ecology and niche partitioning of the Laetoli ungulate faunas. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 329–354). Dordrecht: Springer.
Kent, P. E. (1941). The recent history and Pleistocene deposits of the plateau north of Lake Eyasi, Tanganyika. Geological Magazine, 78, 173–184.
Kingston, J. D. (2011). Stable isotope analyses of Laetoli fossil herbivores. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 293–328). Dordrecht: Springer.
Kingston, J. D., & Harrison, T. (2007). Isotopic dietary reconstructions of Pliocene herbivores at Laetoli: Implications for early hominin paleoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 243, 272–306.
Kovarovic, K., & Andrews, P. (2011). Environmental change within the Laetoli fossiliferous sequence: Vegetation catenas and bovid ecomorphology. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 367–380). Dordrecht: Springer.
Krell, F.-T., & Schawaller, W. (2011). Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera). In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, Fossil hominins and the associated fauna, vol. 2, pp. 535–548). Dordrecht: Springer.
Leakey, M. D. (1987a). Introduction. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 1–22). Oxford: Clarendon.
Leakey, M. D. (1987b). The Laetoli hominid remains. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 108–117). Oxford: Clarendon.
Leakey, M. D. (1987c). Animal prints and trails. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 451–469). Oxford: Clarendon.
Magori, C. C., & Day, M. H. (1983). Laetoli Hominid 18: An early Homo sapiens skull. Journal of Human Evolution, 12, 747–753.
Manega, P. C. (1993). Geochronology, geochemistry and isotopic study of the Plio-Pleistocene hominid sites and the Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands in northern Tanzania. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.
McHenry, L. J. (2011). Geochemistry and mineralogy of the Laetoli area tuffs: Lower Laetolil through Naibadad Beds. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 121–141). Dordrecht: Springer.
Mollel, G. F., Swisher, C. C., III, Feigenson, M. D., & Carr, J. D. (2011). Petrology, geochemistry and age of Satiman, Lemagurut and Oldeani: Sources of the volcanic deposits of the Laetoli area. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 99–119). Dordrecht: Springer.
Murphy, M. A., & Salvador, A. (1999). International stratigraphic guide – An abridged version. Episodes, 22, 255–271.
Ndessokia, P.N.S. (1990). The mammalian fauna and archaeology of the Ndolanya and Olpiro Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
Peters, C. R., Blumenschine, R. J., Hay, R. L., Livingstone, D. A., Marean, C. W., Harrison, T., Armour-Chelu, M., Andrews, P., Bernor, R. L., Bonnefille, R., & Werdelin, L. (2008). Paleoecology of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. In A. R. E. Sinclair, C. Packer, S. A. R. Mduma, & J. M. Fryxell (Eds.), Serengeti III: Human impacts on ecosystem dynamics (pp. 47–94). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pickering, R. (1964). Endulen. Quarter Degree Sheet, 52. Dodoma: Geological Survey of Tanzania.
Rage, J. C., & Bailon, S. (2011). Amphibia and Squamata. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Fossil hominins and the associated fauna, vol. 2, pp. 467–478). Dordrecht: Springer.
Smith, G., & Lowe, D. R. (1991). Lahars: Volcano-hydrologic events and deposition in the debris flow-hyperconcentrated flow continuum. In R. V. Fisher & G. A. Smith (Eds.), Sedimentation in volcanic settings. (pp. 59–74) SEPM Special Publication No. 45.
Su, D. F. (2011). Large Mammal Evidence for the Paleoenvironment of the Upper Laetolil an Upper Ndolanya Beds of Laetoli, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, vol. 1, pp. 381–392). Dordrecht: Springer.
Su, D. F., & Harrison, T. (2007). The paleoecology of the Upper Laetolil Beds at Laetoli: A reconsideration of the large mammal evidence. In R. Bobe, Z. Alemseged, & A. K. Behrensmeyer (Eds.), Hominin environments in the East African Pliocene: An assessment of the faunal evidence (pp. 279–313). Dordrecht: Springer.
Su, D., & Harrison, T. (2008). Ecological implications of the relative rarity of fossil hominins at Laetoli. Journal of Human Evolution, 55, 672–681.
Whittaker, A., Cope, J. C. W., Cowie, J. W., Gibbons, W., Hailwood, E. A., House, M. A., Jenkins, D. G., Rawson, P. F., Rushton, A. A. W., Smith, D. G., Thomas, A. T., & Wimbledon, W. A. (1991). A guide to stratigraphic procedure. Journal of the Geological Society, 148, 813–824.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ditchfield, P., Harrison, T. (2011). Sedimentology, Lithostratigraphy and Depositional History of the Laetoli Area. In: Harrison, T. (eds) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9956-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9956-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9955-6
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9956-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)