ICDP workshop on the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin Project:Exploring the link between environmental factors and hominin evolution over the past 4 Myr

Scientific drill cores provide unique windows into the processes of the past and present. In the dynamic tectonic, environmental, climatic, and ecological setting that is eastern Africa, records recovered through scientific drilling enable us to look at change through time in unprecedented ways. Cores from the East African Rift System can provide valuable information about the context in which hominins evolved in one of the key regions of hominin evolution over the past 4 Myr. The Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin (DDTB) project seeks to explore the impact of several types of evolution (tectonic, climatic, biological) on ecosystems and environments. This includes addressing questions regarding the region’s complex and interrelated rifting and magmatic history, as well as understanding processes of sedimentation and associated hydrothermal systems within the East African Rift System. We seek to determine the relative impacts of tectonic and climatic evolution on eastern African ecosystems. We ask, what role (if any) did climate change play in the evolution of hominins? How can our understanding of past environmental change guide our planning for a future shaped by anthropogenic climate change? To organize the scientific community’s goals for deep coring in the Turkana Basin, we hosted a 4-day ICDP supported workshop in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2022. The team focused on how a 4 Myr sedimentary core from the Turkana Basin will uniquely address key scientific research objectives related to basin evolution, paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, and modern resources. Participants also discussed how DDTB could collaborate with community partners in the Turkana Basin, particularly around the themes of access to water and education. The team concluded that collecting the proposed Pliocene to modern record is best accomplished through a 2-phase drilling project with a land-based transect of four cores spanning the interval from 4 Ma to Middle/Late Pleistocene (<0.7 Ma) and a lake-based core targeting the interval from ~1 Ma to present. The second phase, while logistically more challenging due to the lack of drilling infrastructure currently on Lake Turkana, would revolutionize our understanding of a significant interval in the evolution and migration of Homo sapiens for a time period not currently accessible from the Kenyan part of the Turkana Basin. Collectively, the DDTB project will provide exceptional tectonic and climatic data directly associated with one of the world’s richest hominin fossil localities

ICDP workshop on the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin Project:Exploring the link between environmental factors and hominin evolution over the past 4 Myr

Scientific drill cores provide unique windows into the processes of the past and present. In the dynamic tectonic, environmental, climatic, and ecological setting that is eastern Africa, records recovered through scientific drilling enable us to look at change through time in unprecedented ways. Cores from the East African Rift System can provide valuable information about the context in which hominins evolved in one of the key regions of hominin evolution over the past 4 Myr. The Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin (DDTB) project seeks to explore the impact of several types of evolution (tectonic, climatic, biological) on ecosystems and environments. This includes addressing questions regarding the region’s complex and interrelated rifting and magmatic history, as well as understanding processes of sedimentation and associated hydrothermal systems within the East African Rift System. We seek to determine the relative impacts of tectonic and climatic evolution on eastern African ecosystems. We ask, what role (if any) did climate change play in the evolution of hominins? How can our understanding of past environmental change guide our planning for a future shaped by anthropogenic climate change? To organize the scientific community’s goals for deep coring in the Turkana Basin, we hosted a 4-day ICDP supported workshop in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2022. The team focused on how a 4 Myr sedimentary core from the Turkana Basin will uniquely address key scientific research objectives related to basin evolution, paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, and modern resources. Participants also discussed how DDTB could collaborate with community partners in the Turkana Basin, particularly around the themes of access to water and education. The team concluded that collecting the proposed Pliocene to modern record is best accomplished through a 2-phase drilling project with a land-based transect of four cores spanning the interval from 4 Ma to Middle/Late Pleistocene (<0.7 Ma) and a lake-based core targeting the interval from ~1 Ma to present. The second phase, while logistically more challenging due to the lack of drilling infrastructure currently on Lake Turkana, would revolutionize our understanding of a significant interval in the evolution and migration of Homo sapiens for a time period not currently accessible from the Kenyan part of the Turkana Basin. Collectively, the DDTB project will provide exceptional tectonic and climatic data directly associated with one of the world’s richest hominin fossil localities

Morphological analysis and related volcanic features of the Kolumbo submarine volcanic chain (NE of Santorini Island, Aegean Volcanic Arc)

Kolumbo submarine volcano is located in a small, elongated, rifted basin northeast of Santorini Island, Greece, and has been the site of recent submarine volcanism in the central Hellenic Volcanic Arc. It is the largest of a chain of nineteen volcanic cones occurring within this small rift zone and its most known eruption in 1650 A.D. had a serious impact on Santorini and the surrounding islands. According to previous studies, a range of ages is suggested for the activity along this volcanic line since many of the smaller volcanic cones seem to have been built above the present seafloor, while others are partly buried by Quaternary sediments. The ROVs Hercules and Argus of O.E.T. (Ocean Exploration Trust) were used to explore the slopes, summits and craters of 17 of the 19 submarine volcanic centres identified on multibeam map of the area with E/V Nautilus (NA007) in August 2010. In this paper we present some of the most interesting submarine morphological features along the Kolumbo Volcanic Chain

Morphological analysis and related volcanic features of the Kolumbo submarine volcanic chain (NE of Santorini Island, Aegean Volcanic Arc)

Kolumbo submarine volcano is located in a small, elongated, rifted basin northeast of Santorini Island, Greece, and has been the site of recent submarine volcanism in the central Hellenic Volcanic Arc. It is the largest of a chain of nineteen volcanic cones occurring within this small rift zone and its most known eruption in 1650 A.D. had a serious impact on Santorini and the surrounding islands. According to previous studies, a range of ages is suggested for the activity along this volcanic line since many of the smaller volcanic cones seem to have been built above the present seafloor, while others are partly buried by Quaternary sediments. The ROVs Hercules and Argus of O.E.T. (Ocean Exploration Trust) were used to explore the slopes, summits and craters of 17 of the 19 submarine volcanic centres identified on multibeam map of the area with E/V Nautilus (NA007) in August 2010. In this paper we present some of the most interesting submarine morphological features along the Kolumbo Volcanic Chain

Maka Niu: A low-cost, modular imaging and sensor platform to increase observation capabilities of the deep ocean

The deep sea (&amp;gt;200 m) is vast, covering 92.6% of the seafloor and largely unexplored. Imaging and sensor platforms capable of surviving the immense pressures at these depths are expensive and often engineered by individuals and institutions in affluent countries as unique, monolithic vehicles that require significant expertise and investment to build, operate, and maintain. Maka Niu was co-designed with a global community of deep-sea researchers. It is a low-cost, modular imaging and sensor platform that leverages off-the-shelf commodity hardware along with the efficiencies of mass production to decrease the price per unit and allow more communities to explore previously unseen regions of the deep ocean. Maka Niu combines a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, a Pi Camera Module V2, and a novel pressure housing and viewport combination capable of withstanding 1,500 m water depth. Other modules, including high-lumen LEDs, can be engineered to use the same battery charging and control system and form factor, allowing for an ever-increasing number of capabilities to be added to the system. After deployment, imagery and sensor data are wirelessly uploaded to Tator, an integrated media management and machine learning backend for automated analysis and classification. Maka Niu’s mobile mission programming and data management systems are designed to be user-friendly. Here, Maka Niu is described in detail along with data and imagery recorded from deployments around the world.</jats:p