Relevant bibliographies by topics / Karst – South Africa – Sterkfontein Caves

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Academic literature on the topic 'Karst – South Africa – Sterkfontein Caves'

Author: Grafiati
Published: 4 June 2021
Last updated: 17 February 2022

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Journal articles on the topic "Karst – South Africa – Sterkfontein Caves"

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Pickering, Travis Rayne, Jason L. Heaton, Ron J. Clarke, and Dominic Stratford. "Hominin hand bone fossils from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa (1998–2003 excavations)." Journal of Human Evolution 118 (May 2018): 89–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.02.014.

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Emsley, Robin. "Focus on psychiatry in South Africa." British Journal of Psychiatry 178, no. 4 (April 2001): 382–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.178.4.382.

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South Africa is a country of great fascination to those interested in the origins, development and behaviour of humankind. For example, recent fossil discoveries appear to confirm Darwin's hunch that Africa – and perhaps southern Africa – was the cradle of humankind. Caves in the Sterkfontein Valley near Johannesburg have produced abundant scientific information on the evolution of modern man over the past 3.5 million years. This is of interest not only from a historical point of view but also in terms of modern science. With the significant advances in medical genetics in general, and psychiatric genetics in particular, there has been a growing interest in homogeneous populations with novel gene pools. South Africa is a rich source of homogeneous populations with an apparently common ancestry.
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Martini, Jacques E. J. "Caves of South Africa / Les cavités d'Afrique du Sud." Karstologia : revue de karstologie et de spéléologie physique 5, no. 1 (1985): 39–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/karst.1985.2087.

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Hobbs, P., and N. de Meillon. "Hydrogeology of the Sterkfontein Cave System, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa." South African Journal of Geology 120, no. 3 (September 1, 2017): 403–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.25131/gssajg.120.3.403.

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Abstract A water level rise of almost 3 m in the space of two years in the Sterkfontein Cave system since late-2009 necessitated the re-routing of the tourist path through the cave to successively higher elevations on three occasions. It also raised concern for a possible association with copious acidic and sulphate-rich mine water drainage from the West Rand Goldfield (a.k.a. Western Basin) starting in early-2010, and the related threat to the UNESCO-inscribed fossil site. Although these circumstances have had little impact on the tourist value of the site, a prognosis of the impact on cave water level and quality is indicated by virtue of its karst setting and palaeontological significance. Historical and recent potentiometric data, together with ancillary hydrogeological and hydrochemical information acquired in the course of a water resources monitoring programme for the broader Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, provides new insight into the hydrogeology of the cave system. An improved understanding of the hydrophysical and hydrochemical response of the cave water system sheds light on the location of this system within the water resources environment. It is proposed that the present-day maximum cave water level is constrained to an elevation of ~1440 m above mean sea level. The recent electrical conductivity of 78 mS/m for cave water is 32% greater than the 59 mS/m recorded in mid-2010 and earlier. Similarly, the recent sulphate concentration of 161 mg/L is 178% greater than the 58 mg/L recorded before 2010. Compared to coeval values for ambient karst groundwater represented by the normative Zwartkrans Spring water, the magnitude of the increases in the springwater are similar, viz. 48% (from 84 to 124 mS/m) in salinity and 166% (from 154 to 409 mg/L) in sulphate. Although a distinct mine water impact is evident in both instances, the values indicate a muted impact on the cave water chemistry compared to the springwater. These and other documented observations better inform the threat from various poorer quality water sources to the fossil site in particular, and to the broader karst water resource in general. This contextualises concern for the hydroenvironmental future of Sterkfontein Cave and other nearby fossil sites such as Swartkrans, Rising Star and Bolt’s Farm. The dynamic response of the water resources environment to a variety of hydrological and hydrogeological drivers reinforces the need for monitoring vigilance across a range of disciplines.
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Pickering, Travis Rayne, Jason L. Heaton, R. J. Clarke, and Dominic Stratford. "Hominin vertebrae and upper limb bone fossils from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa (1998-2003 excavations)." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168, no. 3 (December 23, 2018): 459–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23758.

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Stratford, Dominic, and Robin Crompton. "Introduction to special issue: A 3.67 Ma Australopithecus prometheus skeleton from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." Journal of Human Evolution 158 (September 2021): 103008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103008.

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Georgiou, Leoni, Christopher J. Dunmore, Ameline Bardo, Laura T. Buck, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Dieter H. Pahr, Dominic Stratford, Alexander Synek, Tracy L. Kivell, and Matthew M. Skinner. "Evidence for habitual climbing in a Pleistocene hominin in South Africa." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 15 (March 30, 2020): 8416–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914481117.

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Bipedalism is a defining trait of the hominin lineage, associated with a transition from a more arboreal to a more terrestrial environment. While there is debate about when modern human-like bipedalism first appeared in hominins, all known South African hominins show morphological adaptations to bipedalism, suggesting that this was their predominant mode of locomotion. Here we present evidence that hominins preserved in the Sterkfontein Caves practiced two different locomotor repertoires. The trabecular structure of a proximal femur (StW 522) attributed to Australopithecus africanus exhibits a modern human-like bipedal locomotor pattern, while that of a geologically younger specimen (StW 311) attributed to either Homo sp. or Paranthropus robustus exhibits a pattern more similar to nonhuman apes, potentially suggesting regular bouts of both climbing and terrestrial bipedalism. Our results demonstrate distinct morphological differences, linked to behavioral differences between Australopithecus and later hominins in South Africa and contribute to the increasing evidence of locomotor diversity within the hominin clade.
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Clarke, Ronald J. "Excavation, reconstruction and taphonomy of the StW 573 Australopithecus prometheus skeleton from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." Journal of Human Evolution 127 (February 2019): 41–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.010.

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Clarke, Ronald J., and Kathleen Kuman. "The skull of StW 573, a 3.67 Ma Australopithecus prometheus skeleton from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." Journal of Human Evolution 134 (September 2019): 102634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.06.005.

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Stratford, Dominic Justin, and Matthew V. Caruana. "The Long-Term Conservation of the Australopithecus-bearing Member 4 Excavation Walls at the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." Studies in Conservation 63, no. 4 (April 4, 2017): 201–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2017.1307635.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Karst – South Africa – Sterkfontein Caves"

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Stratford, Dominic Justin. "The underground central deposits of the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/11470.

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Ph.D., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011
Work on Sterkfontein cave deposits has generally focussed on clarifying the life histories of interned hominin remains. Less attention has been paid to the depositional context of the fossils and the specific stratigraphic processes involved in the formation of deposits, and their interaction within the cave system. Also lacking is an understanding of the complex processes influencing the distribution and integrity of the faunal and artefact assemblages. This research applied a broad-spectrum multidisciplinary approach to investigate a previously unexamined area of the caves with a particularly rich depositional history. The underground central deposits represent several infills of important fossil and artefact-bearing sediments. These sediments have accumulated into one of the deepest central areas of the Sterkfontein cave system creating a confluence area with a complex formation history. Three excavations (STK-MH1, STK-MH2 and STK-EC1) uncovered seven deposits. These deposits document a depositional history ranging from the earliest introduction of allogenic sediments (STK-MH1 T4), to the commercial exploitation of the caves through mining and tourism (STK-MH1 T1, STK-MH2). The stratigraphic sequence for the underground central deposits exhibits multiple formation processes including deposition (through numerous processes), erosion, collapse, diagenetic modification, deformation and displacement. The detailed stratigraphic history of these deposits was elucidated utilising sedimentological, fabric, stratigraphic, taphonomic and taxonomic analyses. As well as deciphering the complex formation history of this important area, this research attempted to identify the influence of cave sedimentation processes on faunal distribution and assemblage integrity. Faunal assemblages are prone to extensive modification caused by sedimentation and re-sedimentation processes mixing and distributing deposits through the caves. Varying sedimentological properties within fossil-bearing sediment gravity flows can cause the destruction of primary context taphonomic evidence, the concentration of fossils representing multiple stratigraphically distinct facies, and deposit-wide fossil distributions based on element size and shape. In addition to these processes, it was found that different skeletal elements change shape in different ways through breakage, thereby changing the specific mobility of the fossils and their potential distribution through the sediment body. Not identifying or not accounting for these post-depositional processes can lead to non-representative sampling, and to the misinterpretation of taphonomic and taxonomic data.
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Venter, Claudia Nicole. "Environmental analysis of modern speleothems from Sterkfontein Caves and its implications for reconstructing palaeoenvironments." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24030.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2017
During the Plio-Pleistocene, the Earth experienced a period of gradual cooling, leading to a decrease in atmospheric temperature and increased seasonality. This resulted in the aridification of large parts of Africa, and this is believed to have encouraged human evolution and innovation. Palaeoenvironmental analyses using sediment deposits as palaeoclimate proxies in the Cradle of Humankind have been used to understand the timing and intensity of this aridification by determining how changes in environmental conditions and seasonal cycles affected the South African landscape. These changes are recorded within the carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures of speleothems, which have precipitated within the Sterkfontein Caves system. The aim of this study is to understand the degree to which modern speleothems represent the modern climate and environment, and thereby deduce the reliability of speleothem deposits in the Sterkfontein Caves system as palaeoclimate proxies. Samples of modern speleothems were collected from different chambers of the Sterkfontein Caves, along with the collection of modern drip water samples bi-weekly over a period of 14 months. Oxygen and carbon stable light isotope analyses of these modern speleothem and drip water samples were used to obtain modern temperature, precipitation and vegetation data. These data were then compared to modern climatic and environmental records for atmospheric temperatures and precipitation from weather stations around the Sterkfontein Caves area. The δ13C trends produced from the modern speleothem samples reflected the current vegetation distribution in terms of C4 and C3 vegetation very well, while the temperatures calculated from the δ18O values of the modern speleothem and drip water samples displayed variations related to kinetic fractionation effects, rendering these data less useful in reflecting the current atmospheric temperatures. The δ18O values of the drip water samples, along with the measured drip rate reflected current precipitation seasonality, taking into account groundwater residence time and recharge rate. The conditions within the cave conducive to formation of the speleothems was well reflected by the pH and electro-conductivity values produced from the drip water samples. These values also provided further insight into the exterior climatic conditions. Overall, the carbon and oxygen stable light isotope data revealed patterns present in the modern speleothem and drip water samples, which could be further related to changes in local climate during the precipitation of these modern speleothems from drip water sources. This, to a certain degree, provides evidence of the reliability of speleothems in the Sterkfontein Caves system as suitable palaeoclimate proxies with regards to vegetation and precipitation interpretations, over a longer term scale and at higher sampling resolution.
MT 2018
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Mokokwe, Dipuo Winnie. "Taxonomy, taphonomy and spatial distribution of the cercopithecoid postcranial fossils from Sterkfontein caves." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/21692.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the higher degree of Doctor of Philosophy. July, 2016.
Fossil primates are some of the most well represented fauna in South Africa’s fossil Plio-Pleistocene cave sites. Sterkfontein preserves the largest number of fossil primates and a large portion of these are cercopithecoid remains. This research project provides a taxonomic analysis of the abundant fossil cercopithecoid post-cranial limb elements discovered at the site. One thousand five hundred fourteen identifiable fossil cercopithecoid postcrania from the Sterkfontein caves are analysed. From these, five genera are identified from morphologically diagnostic postcranial elements; these are Papio, Parapapio, Theropithecus, Cercopithecoides and Cercopithecus. Theropithecus is identified in Member 4, earlier than previously known. It is established that size, form and function are important factors in taxonomic studies. They play a major role in taxonomic examinations; however, they cannot be treated as disconnected facets of a taxonomic exercise. Each plays an essential role in taxonomic analyses. The study confirms that the Member 4 environment, which illustrates the turn from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene and the most mosaic of all the Plio-Pleistocene sites of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, samples the most faunal variability in the Sterkfontein Cave deposits. This research supports the hypothesis that carnivores were not the main accumulating agent for the cercopithecoid fossil remains within the caves. The carnivores, however, impacted the fossil cercopithecoid assemblage. Leopards and hyaenas are identified as some of the carnivores which accumulated the fossil cercopithecoids within the Sterkfontein caves. The research has opened a new scope for taxonomic analysis of isolated fossil cercopithecoid postcrania in the southern African fossil cave sites.
LG2017
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Book chapters on the topic "Karst – South Africa – Sterkfontein Caves"

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Stratford, Dominic. "A Review of the Geomorphological Context and Stratigraphy of the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." In Hypogene Karst Regions and Caves of the World, 879–91. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53348-3_60.

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Clarke, Ronald. "Australopithecus from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa." In The Paleobiology of Australopithecus, 105–23. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5919-0_7.

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Thackeray, J. Francis. "A summary of the history of exploration at the Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site." In Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein, South Africa, 1936-1995, 3–7. Oxford University Press, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197507667.003.0001.

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Sterkfontein Caves, near Pretoria, South Africa, are part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. The caves have yielded hundreds of hominin fossils recovered over a period spanning more than a century. Exploration of the deposits has occurred in three phases. In the first phase from 1895–1935, fossils of various animals were recovered unsystematically by limestone miners, who noted fossiliferous breccias. The second phase, from 1936–1966, involved teams led by Robert Broom and John Robinson. Broom and Robinson’s excavations recovered many hominin fossils from Members 4 and 5, stone artifacts, and initial mapping of the Sterkfontein deposits. The third phase, 1966 until the present, included excavations led by Philip Tobias, Alun Hughes, Tim Partridge, Ron Clarke, Kathy Kuman, and Dominic Stratford. During this phase, the six members of the Sterkfontein deposits were recognized and characterized, and additional fossils of hominins and other fauna, as well as stone artifacts were recovered. Importantly, extensive analysis of fauna and paleonvironments was conducted. Hominin fossils were also recovered from Member 2. Considerable geochronological work has been done to characterize the complex stratigraphy and dating of these deposits. This chapter reviews the history of fieldwork at Sterkfontein.
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Stratford, Dominic. "The geological setting, cave formation, and stratigraphy of the fossil-bearing deposits at Sterkfontein Caves." In Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein, South Africa, 1936-1995, 8–20. Oxford University Press, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197507667.003.0002.

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Understanding the formation of the Sterkfontein Caves is critical for interpreting the geologic age and patterns of accumulation of the fossils found there. The complex stratigraphy of the caves has been investigated for decades, often yielding conflicting interpretation. Current research at Sterkfontein aims to apply new mutlidisciplinary stratigraphic analyses to new stratigraphically sensitive excavations, thereby providing high-resolution contextual support to recovered assemblages and attempts to increase our understanding of excavated deposit morphology through identification and study of sedimentary and stratigraphic features preserved in the remnants of previous excavations. The Sterkfontein deposits separated into six members, Member 1 to Member 6, of which Member 2, 4, and 5 have yielded hominin remains. Partial collapses and localized erosion of deposits are common, and the spaces created are often filled with sediments from distinct sources, complicating interpretation. This is especially the case with Members 4 and 5. Characterizing taxonomic, morphological, or cultural variability from excavated deposits where no stratigraphy was recognized is difficult but is the subject of ongoing work.
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Pickering, Robyn, and Andy I. R. Herries. "A new multidisciplinary age of 2.61–2.07 Ma for the Sterkfontein Member 4 australopiths." In Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein, South Africa, 1936-1995, 21–30. Oxford University Press, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197507667.003.0003.

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Sterkfontein Caves is the single richest early hominin site in the world, with deposits yielding two potential species of Australopithecus, Paranthropus robustus, and early Homo, as well as an extensive faunal collection and stone tools. Recent advances in uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of speleothems and palaeomagnetic analysis at Sterkfontein provide the first consistent chronological framework for Member 4 (MB4) and so the interned australopith fossils. Current data suggest that the MB4 deposit and so australopith remains accumulated over at least 400,000 years (2.4–2.0 Ma) if not 500,000–800,000 years. This long period of deposition should be taken into account when studying the MB4 australopith remains and looking at variability in both anatomy and other data such as isotopic evidence for diet.
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