Paleoenvironmental Research in the Semiarid Lake Manyara Area, Northern Tanzania: A Synopsis

Abstract

The Lake Manyara area is the focus of several paleo-archeological investigations. The Manyara basin is located approximately 70 km east of Olduvai Gorge, where important paleoanthropological artifacts are traced back to Homo habilis. In the Manyara basin itself, two hominin-bearing sites (0.78–0.633 Ma) and plenty of vertebrate bones and teeth as well as stone artifacts from different periods were discovered, especially close to the Makuyuni River. Different methodological approaches with a main emphasis on remote sensing were utilized to contribute to the understanding of the paleo-landscape development. In order to investigate the morphotectonic evolution of the study area, lineaments were detected from Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite scenes. The complex lacustrine development of the Lake Manyara and its paleo-stages was investigated by delineating the extent of paleo-lake sediments (older than 0.633 Ma) with multispectral ASTER data. In addition, lake terraces and shorelines on different levels (up to 80 m above today’s lake level) and an outlet to the neighboring Engaruka basin were detected by analyzing the backscattered intensity of TerraSAR-X data. The distribution of topsoils, identified from multisensory remote sensing datasets, indicates soil formation as well as erosional and depositional processes. The fossils and artifacts were then characterized, and their distribution probabilities were determined using a statistical model. The proposed methods contribute to a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental interrelations within the study area.