Transcript File - Vagabond Geology

Senior University Georgetown
Winter 2013
Session 1
Creating Pathways for Ancient Peoples
CREATING PATHWAYS FOR ANCIENT PEOPLES
Join Don and the Vagabonds as we travel the pathways of ancient
peoples. Don will describe the geology influencing the emergence of
the first pre-humans in Africa. He’ll follow the path of human migration
from the Great Rift Valley through Europe, Asia, and into the Americas.
He’ll explain the crucial role geology played in the movement of ancient
peoples as early civilizations searched for natural resources.
The Vagabonds will take you to their favorite sites where early humans
and ancient civilizations thrived - from South Africa through Europe
and Asia into the ‘new world’ of Alaska and Newfoundland. Come meet
Mrs Ples, Little Foot, the Banpo, Zinj, Turkana Man and other early
humans as we follow these ancient pathways together!
Course Outline
Course Outline
Week 1 – Emergence of Humans – East African Rift
Geology (Don)
Geologic overview creating Africa
Geology of East Africa Rift
1st pre-humans (Homo Sapiens) – why east Africa?
Vagabonds meet ‘Handy Man’ (Sandi)
Oluvai Gorge Anthropological site - Tanzania
Laetoli Archeological site
Week 2 – The Path out of the East African Rift – South and North
Geology (Don)
Why early peoples leave central Africa
Influence of rivers/river deltas to emerging
civilizations
Vagabonds meet ‘Mrs Ples’ and ‘Little Foot’ (Sandi)
Sterkfontein anthropological site - South Africa
Course Outline
Week 3 – The Path to Europe
Geology: (Don)
Why early peoples move into Europe
Presence/absence of minerals/metals to emerging
civilizations
Vagabonds meet the Stone Age People (Rocky)
La Grotte de Lascaux archeological site – France
Week 4 – The Path to Asia
Geology (Don)
Why early peoples move into Asia
The search for resources
Vagabonds meet the Neolithic Age People (Rocky)

Banpo anthropological site – China
Zian archeological site - China
Course Outline
Week 5 – The Path to the Americas
Geology (Don)
Geology of Beringia
Pathways into & across the Americas
Vagabonds meet ‘On-Your-Knees’ caveman (Sandi)
Beringia Museum – Yukon, Canada
Prince of Wales Island anthropological site - Alaska
Week 6 – The Path across America
Geology (Don)
Why early people move into eastern North America
Coming from the east – Atlantic Ocean crossing from
Europe/Iceland
Or, coming from the west - land crossing via the
Beringia
Vagabonds meet the Vikings (Rocky)
Stonehenge of New Hampshire
L’Anse aux Meadows archeological site
But first, Geology in the News
Geology in the News
From the New York Times
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013
How high Can the Tides Go?
Ancient shorelines indicate oceans can be expected
to flood much of our present coast lines as world-wide
temperatures increase due, in part, to human activity
Action now to reduce our burning o f fossil fuels
is essential to preventing this catastrophic flooding
Now to Course Resources
Course Resources
Google Earth
Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1972
Natural Resources Maps
Example of Hammond Natural Resources Maps
Example of Hammond Natural Resources Maps
Southern Africa
What natural resources will we be looking for on these maps?
The natural resources that make world empires and powers
1. Large areas of farmland
2. Deposits of copper and tin
3. Deposits of iron and coal
South
Africa
4. Deposits of
oil and
uranium
Example: Hammond Atlas
Natural Resources Maps
Copper
Tin
Iron
Coal
What else do we post on these maps?
The Tropics
Why do we post the tropics?
Farm land
Why have we highlighted copper, tin, iron & coal?
We will try to convince you that these natural resource
shaped & continues to shape human history
The Tropics Climate Zone; Eastern Hemisphere
No world power or empire or religion has ever been created in the tropics
Why do we post the tropics?
Back to why do we postulate that deposits of copper,
tin, iron, coal, and oil have shaped human history
Let’s look at how archeologists divide human history
Archeological Division of Historic Time
Iron, Coal,
Oil
Iron-Coal
Iron, Coal, Petroleum, & Uranium Age
Iron, Coal, & Oil Age
Iron & Coal: Industrial Age
Iron & Coal: Renaissance
1950 to Present
1900 to 1950 AD
1700 to 1830 AD
1450 to 1700 AD
Iron &
Coal: Middle
Agesadd to our knowledge?
What does
Google
Earth
Iron Age 2 Rome
Iron
Copper & tin
Copper
Flint & Obsidian
Iron Age 1 Greece
Bronze Age
470 to 1450 AD
to 470 AD
750 BCE
1400 to 750 BCE
3300 to 1400 BCE
Copper Age
3300 to 3000 BCE
Stone Age (end of Ice Age) 70,000 to 3300 BCE
What dos Google Earth add to our knowledge?
The Tropics
Looking for farm land on Google Earth
Ocean depths & up close farming & grazing areas
Google Earth: Focus on Zimbabwe (former Southern Rhodesia):
Looking for farming areas
Area 1
Area 2
Looking for farming areas on
Google Earth, Area 1
Looking for farming areas on
Google Earth, Area 2
Some references you might want of explore
Why are we interested in farming and grazing areas?
They along with iron, coal, and oil have shaped
human history from the beginning
References:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/earth-atmospheric-and-planetarysciences/12-110-sedimentary-geology-spring-2007/lecturenotes/ch11.pdf
Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1972, Natural Resources Maps
Where will Sandi take us today?
Focus on the east African country of Tanzania
In the Beginning
Where will Sandi take us today
Tanzania
Tanzania up close
In the Beginning
Where will Sandi take us today
gold
diamonds
Tanzania
What natural resources does Tanzania have?
No major rivers, mostly grazing land but
Let’s check
thelong
Hammond
Atlas
note the
narrow lakes
Tanzania: Located on a large, “orange”
plateau (aka regional geological uplift)
Note: A second uplift to the north of Tanzania
Tanzania
Note: A third uplift much less well defined
south of Tanzania
What’s going on here in the
east half of the African Continent?
What’s going on here in the
east half of the African Continent?
What is the earth’s mantle & a convection cell?
The east half of Africa & Saudi Arabia are
breaking away from the rest of Aftica!
Why?
Because the east half of Africa & Saudi Arabia are
above an up-welling heat convection cell in the earth’s mantle
3-D Schematic View of the Earth
Ocean
Continental Crust
Oceanic Crust
Mantle convection
cells here
Radio-active heat
generated here
Next, the heat convection cells in the mantle
Ocean 3 miles deep
New Oceanic Crust
being formed
Another view
Old Oceanic Crust
being destroyed (melted)
Notice the convection cells in the mantle
Mantle Convection Cells
Moving Crustal Plates
Heated
Mantle convection cells define
the crustal plates of the earth
Next, the earth’s crustal plates
Earth Plates defined by Convection Cells
A new plate being formed
by breakup of Africa
Next, a cartoon of a convection cell in action
New oceanic crust is constantly being
formed by molten rock extruded in
the deep oceans along the oceanic ridges
Ocean 3 miles deep
Next week:
We leave the East African Rift
and
to the
country
of South
Whatgo
happens
when
the convection
cell is Africa
under
continental crust rather than oceanic crust?