Geologists correct a rift in Africa
2012-03-27
(Press-News.org) EAST LANSING, Mich. — The huge changes in the Earth's crust that influenced human evolution are being redefined, according to research published today in Nature Geoscience.
The Great Rift Valley of East Africa – the birthplace of the human species – may have taken much longer to develop than previously believed.
""We now believe that the western portion of the rift formed about 25 million years ago, and is approximately as old as the eastern part, instead of much younger as other studies have maintained," said Michael Gottfried, Michigan State University associate professor of geological sciences. "The significance is that the Rift Valley is the setting for the most crucial steps in primate and ultimately human evolution, and our study has major implications for the environmental and landscape changes that form the backdrop for that evolutionary story."
Gottfried worked with an international team led by Eric Roberts at Australia's James Cook University who added that the findings have important implications for understanding climate change models, animal evolution and the development of Africa's unique landscape.
The Rukwa Rift (a segment of the western branch) is an example of a divergent plate boundary, where the Earth's tectonic forces are pulling plates apart and creating new continental crust. The East African Rift system is composed of two main segments: the eastern branch that passes through Ethiopia and Kenya, and a western branch that forms a giant arc from Uganda to Malawi, interconnecting the famous rift lakes of eastern Africa.
Traditionally, the eastern branch is considered much older, having developed 15 to 25 million years earlier than the western branch.
This study provides new evidence that the two rift segments developed at about the same time, nearly doubling the initiation age of the western branch and the timing of uplift in this region of East Africa.
"A key piece of evidence in this study is the discovery of approximately 25 million-year-old lake and river deposits in the Rukwa Rift that preserve abundant volcanic ash and vertebrate fossils," Roberts said.
These deposits include some of the earliest anthropoid primates yet found in the rift, added Nancy Stevens of Ohio University.
The findings imply that around 25 to 30 million years ago, the broad uplift of East Africa occurred and re-arranged the flow of large rivers such as the Congo and the Nile to create the distinct landscapes and climates that mark Africa today.
###
Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-03-27
Developing a drug or vaccine requires a delicate balancing act with the immune system. On one hand, medications need to escape detection by the immune system in order to perform their function. But vaccinations — de-activated versions of a disease or virus — need to do the reverse. They prompt the immune system to create protective antibodies. But scientists are still stumped by how the immune system recognizes different particles, and how it chooses whether or not to react against them.
Using nanoparticles made of pure gold, Dr. Dan Peer, head of Tel Aviv University's ...
2012-03-27
Advances in chemotherapy have dramatically improved the outlook for many cancer patients, but the side effects of this treatment are daunting. A new generation of chemotherapy drugs with fewer side effects is the goal of Edward J. Merino, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati.
Merino will discuss his efforts toward designing these new anticancer agents Tuesday, March 27, at The Chemistry of Life: Spring National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
At that meeting, Merino will show a new anticancer agent ...
2012-03-27
Newport Beach estate planning attorney and mom, Darlynn Morgan, along with her colleagues and the OCBA President, has recently spearheaded the formation of Mommy Esquire, a committee of the Orange County Bar Association. Women lawyers nationwide seek to achieve that ever-elusive balance of legal work and family life. Hence, in January 2012, Mommy Esquire was formed—the first OCBA committee that focuses specifically on practicing lawyers with school-age children. Estate planning lawyer, Darlynn Morgan, of Morgan Law Group, will serve as Chair of the newly formed committee.
"Mommy ...
2012-03-27
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University food scientist has developed a way to encase nutritional supplements in food-based products so that one day consumers might be able to sprinkle vitamins, antioxidants and other beneficial compounds right onto their meals.
Srinivas Janaswamy, a research assistant professor of food science, said many of the nutraceuticals, or nutritional supplements, added to foods today are not structurally stable. Heat, light, oxygen and other external factors could degrade the supplements, rendering them ineffective.
"There are many methods ...
2012-03-27
The award winning speech-to-speech translation application with many integrated features, the Speechtrans Gold, is now for free to all Android users. This version of Speechtrans lets you text-to-text, text-to-speech, and two-way Speech to Speech communication translations in multiple languages. This application also lets you have a conversation to any one's telephone around the world and understand each other's language. SpeechTrans has partnered with GetJar rewards to support users to have free access to SpeechTrans technology.
SpeechTrans Gold allows speech-to-speech ...
2012-03-27
Scientists recently concluded an expedition aboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution to learn more about Atlantis Massif, an undersea mountain, or seamount, that formed in a very different way than the majority of the seafloor in the oceans.
Unlike volcanic seamounts, which are made of the basalt that's typical of most of the seafloor, Atlantis Massif includes rock types that are usually only found much deeper in the ocean crust, such as gabbro and peridotite.
The expedition, known as Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 340T, marks the first time ...
2012-03-27
While most American's knew Red Skelton for his starring rolls on radio, in movies and his own television variety show where he was known as the king of comedy and adlibs, few people knew he was pursuing another talent.
Red Skelton started dabbling in painting as a way to relax and unwind. Years of producing a weekly variety show brings great pressure to create new material and routines. The work load can be overwhelming.
Everyone needs a way to relax and the creative side of Red was always working overtime. His wife Georgia, having some experience in the arts, suggested ...
2012-03-27
Alexander Meissner, Assistant Professor at Harvard University will give a keynote presentation on ¡°DNA Methylation Dynamics in Development and Stem Cells¡± at the 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery Conference taking place on May 30-31, 2012 in Boston, MA.
Cytosine methylation in mammals is an epigenetic modification that is largely restricted to CpG dinucleotides and serves multiple critical functions including stable repression of target promoters, maintaining genomic integrity, establishing parent-specific imprinting patterns, and silencing endogenous retrotransposon ...
2012-03-27
Working with genetically engineered mice and the genomes of thousands of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they now better understand how both nature and nurture can affect one's risks for schizophrenia and abnormal brain development in general.
The researchers reported in the March 2 issue of Cell that defects in a schizophrenia-risk genes and environmental stress right after birth together can lead to abnormal brain development and raise the likelihood of developing schizophrenia by nearly one and half times.
"Our study suggests that if ...
2012-03-27
Casual apparel and activewear company OBX Outfitters is providing a free online resource for Outer Banks groups and organizations to publicize their springtime charity running and other outdoor events, http://www.obxspringtraining.com.
Additionally, OBX Outfitters is offering a 25% off its North Carolina-Made Find Your Stride activewear for runners and supporters of the events.
"We're committed to helping community organizations in the Outer Banks, and providing free publicity and discounts on our running shirts is just one small way we can make a contribution," ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Geologists correct a rift in Africa
