As part of their study of the evolution of apes in East Africa, field school students visited a series of geological sites on Wednesday that have yielded fossils critical to that evolutionary history. The Lothodok (or Losodok) range extends along the western border of Lake Turkana, appearing as a series of high ridges or low [...]
Turkana Basin Institute Field School students now begin an intensive two week course studying paleoanthropology, with a focus on East Africa and the Turkana Basin in particular. Led by instructor Cara Roure Johnson of the University of Connecticut, with guest lectures by Meave Leakey, students have begun a study human and vertebrate osteology, and primate [...]
After staying the night in Lothagam's Nawata river beds, professor Craig Feibel, TBI students and staff continued their exploration of the site's complex geology and terrain. Temperatures during the two day excursion were sometimes as high as 115 F, but students were able to navigate a great portion of Lothagam's exposures. Below, students hike through [...]
Lothagam, on the southwest border of Lake Turkana, is one of the most important Miocene fossil bearing sites in the Rift Valley. Rising like a paleontological oasis from the desert, Lothagam consists of a series of high ridges, ravines, and fault planes that expose geological formations dating from 10,000 to 14 million years ago. Professor [...]
TBI students headed east along the Turkwell River, early last week, to map the stratigraphy of the Epim site: a series of lakebed and shoreline deposits that are less than 10,000 years old. Working diligently throughout the early morning hours, as shepherds passed bringing their goats to graze or feed at the river, students documented [...]
Craig Feibel brought Field School students on Sunday to Central Island, one of three volcanic islands in Lake Turkana. Formed within the last 10,000 years and active as recently as the 1970's, Central Island is the perfect place to study the tectonic and volcanic processes that continue to shape East Africa's Rift Valley. Craig Feibel [...]
Aiyangiyang is an anomaly in the Turkana landscape. Dominated by sand dunes, thorny acacias and a relentless sun, Turkana receives so little rain that it is often classified as a desert. But for a few months each year Aiyangiyang becomes an oasis for the people and animals who live in this region. During the spring [...]
The geography of a landscape is key to understanding its geology and natural history. The Turkana Basin Institute, located along the Kenyan portion of the Rift Valley west of Lake Turkana, overlooks a complex terrain that includes not only the modern Turkwell river, but also bluffs, ravines and terraces that are thousands, and sometimes millions [...]
Following an introduction by professor Craig Feibel in geological mapping and stratigraphic processes, TBI students apply their knowledge to begin a study of the Turkwell River and its history. The Turkwell in its modern form is an important source of livelihood for the Turkana people, and the center of a semidesert ecosystem west of Lake [...]
The Turkwel River has had an important influence on the landscape on which our human ancestors lived. The river provided water to support a riverine forest, eroded parts of the land, and deposited massive amounts of sediments too. The TBI Turkwel camp overlooks 3.5 million year old deposits of the ancient Turkwel river The Turkwel [...]
The first module of the field school is being taught by Professor Craig Feibel. This course will give a good overview of the sediments in the Turkana Basin going back several million years, This comprehensive course covers everything from details of the geology to how to map, measure sections and looking at modern examples of [...]
The flight left from Nairobi to Lodwar on the morning of the 17th of January and the students were met in Lodwar and driven the 3/4 hour to the field station at Turkwel. The flight left from Nairobi to Lodwar on the morning of the 17th of January and the students were met in Lodwar [...]