Mikropaläontologische Untersuchung an den Sedimenten der Laguna Salada (Spanien)

Abstract

Nowadays it is taken as demonstrated, that Modern Man developed in Africa and then spread throughout western Eurasia. But what induced the humans to leave their homeland and which routes they used to get to Eurasia is nowhere near to be sufficiently investigated.
There is a good case to believe that the humans were forced to resettle by extraneous circumstances, such as drastic climatic changes. To answer the question of their motives and their migratory route in a satisfactory manner, "climatic archives" of the source and sink areas as well as of the trajectories have to be examined. The Laguna Salada which is located in southern Spain is such an archive on one the assumed trajectories. Its examined shallow-water sediments allow the reconstruction of the paleoclimate over a long period of time. To examine the sediments, two drilling cores were drilled in 2012, from both of which
13 samples were taken. These samples were rehashed in the laboratory and then examined for fossil content under a reflected light microscope. Fossil plants and animals are bound to certain habitats during their lifetime. Provided that the demands of the present species are known, climate variables such as temperature and precipitation can be extrapolated from their distribution patterns. In almost all of the examined samples fossil charales and ostracods were found. Due to their diversity and since demands on habitat change from species to species, these fossils are qualified indicators for the paleoclimate. The characteristic attributes, which are necessary for the classification of species, could not be determined. Consequently no definite results but various models could be extrapolated.

Resources

• Berit Schwarze 2014.pdf

Bibliography

Schwarze, B. (2014): Mikropaläontologische Untersuchung an den Sedimenten der Laguna Salada (Spanien). RWTH Aachen