Fission-Track Ages of the Villavieja Formation of the Miocene Honda Group in La Venta, Department of Huila, Colombia

Monbusho International Scientific Research Program Reports by 1990 and 1991 Grants for Field ResearchProject Number: 02041050 (1990 to 1991)Phylogenetic Studies of South American MonkeysHead Investigator: Yasuo NOGAMI, Professor, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto Universit

Denudation Process of Crystalline Nappes in a Continental Collision Zone Constrained by Inversion of Fission‐Track Data and Thermokinematic Forward Modeling: An Example From Eastern Nepalese Himalaya

Thermochronological methods were applied to the Higher Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) nappe and the underlying Lesser Himalayan Sequences (LHS) to elucidate the denudation process for the middle- and upper-crust of eastern Nepal over millions of years. Thermochronological inverse modeling was undertaken for new results of fission-track (FT) age and FT length data of zircon and apatite in order to reconstruct the time-temperature (t-T) paths in the temperature range of 60–350°C. Eight t-T paths calculated along the across-strike section show that the cooling process of the HHC nappe in this study area is characterized by the following three aspects: (a) gradual cooling followed by rapid cooling and subsequent gradual cooling, (b) northward-younging of the timing of the rapid cooling, and (c) gradual cooling followed by <2 Myr rapid cooling in the frontmost part of the HHC nappe. The observed FT ages and t-T paths were then compared with those predicted by forwarding thermokinematic modeling. The results of the thermokinematic modeling for the “Flat-Ramp-Flat MHT model”, in which the HHC and the underlying LHS are denudated in direct proportion to the uplift of rocks transported along the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), reproduced the observed t-T paths and FT ages in eastern Nepal. This indicates that the observed FT ages and t-T paths reflect a denudation process driven by the movement of the MHT with a flat-ramp-flat geometry and that the denudation rate and its spatial distribution have roughly been constant in eastern Nepal since ca. 9 Ma

Distributions and ages of the Paleogene deposits in the Kibi Plateau Area, and Paleogene paleogeography

The "Kibi Plateau" forms a unique geomorphic province with the gently-sloping and stable continental feature. Gravel deposites called the "Mountain Gravels", are distributed sporadically in the Kibi Plateau, and have been considered Pliocene deposits. However, recent fission-track ages of the tuff beds intercalated in the deposits have indicated that the ago of deposits are Paleogen in the age. So far, fission-track ages (using zircon) of 61 to 65, 55, 37, 34 to 35 and 27 Ma are obtained. Remaining the belt-like distributions of the Paleogene gravelly valley-full deposits suggest that the Kibe Plateau has been keeping as a stable block, and repeated periods of incision followed by sedimentation of valley-fill deposits are occurred in the area during Paleogene period

Kantis: A new Australopithecus site on the shoulders of the Rift Valley near Nairobi, Kenya

ケニア・ナイロビ郊外で初めて発見されたアウストラロピテクス. 京都大学プレスりリス. 2016-03-24.Most Plio-Pleistocene sites in the Gregory Rift Valley that have yielded abundant fossil hominins lie on the Rift Valley floor. Here we report a new Pliocene site, Kantis, on the shoulder of the Gregory Rift Valley, which extends the geographical range of Australopithecus afarensis to the highlands of Kenya. This species, known from sites in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and possibly Kenya, is believed to be adapted to a wide spectrum of habitats, from open grassland to woodland. The Kantis fauna is generally similar to that reported from other contemporaneous A. afarensis sites on the Rift Valley floor. However, its faunal composition and stable carbon isotopic data from dental enamel suggest a stronger C4 environment than that present at those sites. Although the Gregory Rift Valley has been the focus of paleontologists' attention for many years, surveys of the Rift shoulder may provide new perspective on African Pliocene mammal and hominin evolutio