Scientific drilling and the evolution of the earth system: climate, biota, biogeochemistry and extreme systems
G. S. Soreghan
School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, 100 E. Boyd Street, Norman, OK 73019, USA
A. S. Cohen
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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James M. Russell, Philip Barker, Andrew Cohen, Sarah Ivory, Ishmael Kimirei, Christine Lane, Melanie Leng, Neema Maganza, Michael McGlue, Emma Msaky, Anders Noren, Lisa Park Boush, Walter Salzburger, Christopher Scholz, Ralph Tiedemann, Shaidu Nuru, and the Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project (TSDP) Consortium
Sci. Dril., 27, 53–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-27-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-27-53-2020, 2020
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Our planet experienced enormous environmental changes in the last 10 million years. Lake Tanganyika is the oldest lake in Africa and its sediments comprise the most continuous terrestrial environmental record for this time period in the tropics. This workshop report identifies key research objectives in rift processes, evolutionary biology, geomicrobiology, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, paleoanthropology, and geochronology that could be addressed by drilling this globally important site.
Andrew Cohen, Colleen Cassidy, Ryan Crow, Jordon Bright, Laura Crossey, Rebecca Dorsey, Brian Gootee, Kyle House, Keith Howard, Karl Karlstrom, and Philip Pearthree
Sci. Dril., 26, 59–67, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-26-59-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-26-59-2019, 2019
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This paper summarizes a workshop held in Parker, AZ, USA, to discuss planned scientific drilling in the Miocene(?) or early Pliocene Bouse Formation, a controversial deposit (of lacustrine, marine, or some hybrid origin) found in the lower Colorado River valley. The drilling project is intended to address this controversy as well as shed light on Pliocene climates of southwestern North America during an important period of past climate change.
Andrew S. Cohen and Walter Salzburger
Sci. Dril., 22, 43–48, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-22-43-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-22-43-2017, 2017
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A workshop was held in Basel, Switzerland, to discuss the scientific opportunities for evolutionary biology, paleobiology and paleoecology of a drilling project at Lake Tanganyika, one of the oldest and most biodiverse lakes on Earth. A record of the numerous endemic organisms collected from the lake coupling body fossils, environmental history and potentially aDNA or ancient protein records would be transformative for understanding evolution in isolation and the biogeographic history of Africa.
A. Cohen, C. Campisano, R. Arrowsmith, A. Asrat, A. K. Behrensmeyer, A. Deino, C. Feibel, A. Hill, R. Johnson, J. Kingston, H. Lamb, T. Lowenstein, A. Noren, D. Olago, R. B. Owen, R. Potts, K. Reed, R. Renaut, F. Schäbitz, J.-J. Tiercelin, M. H. Trauth, J. Wynn, S. Ivory, K. Brady, R. O'Grady, J. Rodysill, J. Githiri, J. Russell, V. Foerster, R. Dommain, S. Rucina, D. Deocampo, J. Russell, A. Billingsley, C. Beck, G. Dorenbeck, L. Dullo, D. Feary, D. Garello, R. Gromig, T. Johnson, A. Junginger, M. Karanja, E. Kimburi, A. Mbuthia, T. McCartney, E. McNulty, V. Muiruri, E. Nambiro, E. W. Negash, D. Njagi, J. N. Wilson, N. Rabideaux, T. Raub, M. J. Sier, P. Smith, J. Urban, M. Warren, M. Yadeta, C. Yost, and B. Zinaye
Sci. Dril., 21, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-1-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-1-2016, 2016
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An initial description of the scientific rationale, drilling and core handling, and initial core description activities of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP). HSPDP is a large international consortium whose objective is to collect cores from lakebeds in proximity to important fossil early human fossil sites in eastern Africa, to better understand the environmental and climatic context of human evolution.
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