Erin
DiMaggio
Ph.D.
Candidate in Geological Sciences
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Arizona
State
University
School
of Earth and Space Exploration
17711
South Rural Road, PSF 686
Tempe,
AZ 85287-1404 |
office:
Interdisciplinary A 121
phone:
(480) 965-4053
email: erin.dimaggio@asu.edu
View
Curriculum Vitae |
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- Research in Ethiopia - |
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conferences
education
spain
ethiopia
about
me
My
Ph.D. research
project is
focused on investigating the tectonic, stratigraphy, and volcanic
deposits in a region called eastern Ledi-Geraru located in southern
Afar Depression, Ethiopia. The area is significant for its exposures of
fossiliferous sedimentary deposits from the Pliocene to Pleistocene
(5.3 - .01 Ma) that are well known because they yield abundant fossils
and artifacts of early humans, including the famous Australopithecus afarensis
specimens 'Lucy' and 'Selam'. This region is also important because it
lies in a triple rift junction between oceanic spreading centers and
continental rifting, and is volcanically active.
My
project targets a time period (ca. 2.9-2.7 Ma) that corresponds to
important biologic, climatic, and tectonic events, but where we do not
have a good sedimentary record of these events. The methods i employ
include geologic mapping, stratigraphic analysis, tephrochronology
(40Ar/39Ar dating technique using minerals from volcanic ash), and
tephrostratigraphy (the geochemical correlation of volcanic ash in a
stratigraphy section). The results of this research will contribute to
understanding past environments in East Africa and how they varied with
time - variations that may have significantly influenced faunal
populations, including early humans. This work also provides insight
into the timing of tectonic, climatic, and volcanic processes
controlling the development of an active region of the Afar Depression
where continental crust is heavily stretched.
Publications:
DiMaggio, E.N., Campisano, C.J., Arrowsmith, J.R., Reed, K.E., Swisher,
C.C., III, and Lockwood, C.A., 2008, Correlation and stratigraphy of
the BKT-2 volcanic complex in west-central Afar, Ethiopia, in Quade,
J., and Wynn, J.G., eds., The Geology of Early Humans in the Horn of
Africa: Geological Society of America Special Paper 446, doi:
10.1130/2008.2446(07). -download .pdf-
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Roman, D.C., Campisano, C., Quade, J., DiMaggio, E., Arrowsmith, J R.,
and Feibel, C., 2008, Composite tephrostratigraphy of the Dikika, Gona,
Hadar, and Ledi-Geraru project areas, northern Awash, Ethiopia, in
Quade, J., and Wynn, J.G., eds., The Geology of Early Humans in the
Horn of Africa: Geological Society of America Special Paper 446, doi:
10.1130/2008.2446(05). -download
.pdf-
Dupont-Nivet, G., Sier, M., Campisano, C.J., Arrowsmith, R., DiMaggio,
E., Reed, K., Lockwood, C., Franke, C., and Hüsing, S., 2008,
Magnetostratigraphy of the eastern Hadar Basin (Ledi-Geraru research
area, Ethiopia) and implications for hominin paleoenvironments, in
Quade, J., and Wynn, J.G., eds., The Geology of Early Humans in the
Horn of Africa: Geological Society of America Special Paper 446, doi:
10.1130/2008.2446(03). -download
.pdf-
DiMaggio, E.N., 2007, Volcanic and stratigraphic characterization of
Pliocene tephra from the Ledi-Geraru region of Afar, Ethiopia [MS.
thesis]: Arizona State University, 120 p. -download .pdf-
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