Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T13:01:14.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is the spring water responsible for the fossilization of faunal remains at Florisbad, South Africa?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rod M. Douglas
Rod M. Douglas*
Affiliation:
National Museum, P.O. Box 266, 9300 Bloemfontein, South Africa
*
*Fax: +27 51 4476273.Email Address:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is has been suggested that faunal remains at Florisbad were fossilized in a spring context due to the mineralized spring water. However, the environment conducive to the precipitation of CaCO3 and other authigenic minerals was formed largely through the salinization of the organic layers and clay, and the mineralization of the groundwater. Factors contributing to this favorable environment include: CaCO3 saturation, pH, the decomposition of halophytes, Eh, rainfall, biomineralization, and aeolian deposition. With the exception of pH, none of the above factors feature in a spring context, with evidence suggesting that the spring water may historically never have carried sufficient minerals for fossilization, and that contact with the spring water may actually have resulted in the demineralization of previously fossilized material. In light of this evidence, it is concluded that the fossilization of faunal remains at Florisbad took place in a sedimentary organic matter and clay environment and could not have taken place in the spring vents where there is an undersaturation of Ca.

Keywords

FlorisbadFaunal remainsFossilizationGroundwaterSedimentsSpring waterProcessesMechanismsFactors
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 87 - 95
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, C., Albert, F., Chafetz, H., Combie, J., Graham, C., Kieft, T., Kivett, S., McKay, D., Steele, A., Taunton, A., Thomas-Keptra, K., Westall, F., (2000). The search for signs of ancient Martian microbes: physical bookmarkers in carbonate thermal springs.Lunar Planetary Institute 31st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TexasGoogle Scholar
Blatt, H., Middeleton, G., Murray, R., (1972). Origin of Sedimentary Rocks. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Brady, N.C., (1984). The Nature and Properties of Soil.8th ed. MacMillan Publishers, New York.Google Scholar
Bredenkamp, D.B., (2000). Groundwater monitoring: a critical evaluation of groundwater monitoring in water resources evaluation and management. Water Research Commission Report No 838/1/00. South Africa.Google Scholar
Brink, J.S., (1987). The archaeozoology of Florisbad, Orange free state. Memoirs van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 24, 1–151.Google Scholar
Brink, J.S., (1988). The taphonomy and palaeoecology of the Florisbad spring fauna. Palaeoecology of Africa 19, 169–179.Google Scholar
Butzer, K.W., (1988). Sedimentological interpretation of the Florisbad spring deposit. Palaeoecology of Africa 19, 181–189.Google Scholar
Coetzee, P.P., Yacoby, M., Howell, S., (1966). The role of zinc in magnetic and other physical water treatment methods for the prevention of scale. Water South Africa 22, 319–326.Google Scholar
Deacon, H.J., (1970). The Acheulian occupation at Amanzi Springs Utenhage district, Cape Province. Annals of the Cape Provincial Museums (Natural History.) 8, 89–189.Google Scholar
Deacon, H.J., (1998). Elandsfontein and Klasies River revisited.Ashton, N.M., Healy, F., Pettitt, P.B., A Master of His Craft: Papers in Stone Age Archaeology Presented To John Wymer Oxbow, Oxford.Google Scholar
Deacon, H.J., Wurz, S., (2001). Middle Pleistocene populations and the emergence of modern behaviour.Barham, L.K., Robson Brown, K., Human Roots—Africa and Asia in the Middle Pleistocene Western Academic and Specialist Press, Bristol.Google Scholar
Douglas, R.M., (1992). Investigations into the ecology of the herpetofauna of Florisbad Research Station. Orange Free State, South Africa. M.Sc. thesis, University of Natal, Durban.Google Scholar
Douglas, R.M., (2001a). The quality of the Florisbad spring water in relation to the quality of the groundwater and the effects of rainfall. Water South Africa 27, 39–48.Google Scholar
Douglas, R.M., (2001b). The salinization of the Florisbad organic layers, clay and groundwater. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 17, 1–24.Google Scholar
Dreyer, T.F., (1938). The archaeology of the Florisbad deposits. Argeologiese Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 1, 65–77.Google Scholar
Farmer, J.D., (2000). Hydrothermal systems: doorways to early biosphere evolution. Geological Society of America Today 10, 7 Google Scholar
Ferguson, R.J., (1991). Computerised ion association model profiles complete range of cooling system parameters. 52nd Annual Meeting of the International Water Conference, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPaper IWC-91-47Google Scholar
Fourie, G.P., (1970). Die Geologie van Florisbad. Geological Survey of South Africa. 1–55. Unpublished Rep. D-0144.Google Scholar
Freeze, R.A., Cherry, J.A., (1979). Groundwater. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Engelwood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Grobler, N.J., Loock, J.C., (1988). The Florisbad mineral spring: its characteristics and genesis. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 5, 473–485.Google Scholar
Grün, R., Brink, J.S., Spooner, N.A., Taylor, L., Stringer, C.B., Franciscus, R.G., Murray, A.S., (1996). Direct dating of Florisbad hominid. Nature 382, 500–501.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Millard, A.R., (1995). Bones and groundwater: towards modelling of diagenetic processes. Journal of Archaeological Science 22, 155–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, Z., (1995). Florisbad, South Africa: over 120,000 years of human activity. Nyame Akuma 44, 53–56.Google Scholar
Hillel, D., (1971). Soil and Water: Physical Principals and Processes. Academic Press, New York.LondonGoogle Scholar
Hoch, A., Reddy, M., Aiken, G., (1998). (May). Inhibition of Calcite Growth by Natural Organic Acids from the Everglades at pH 8.5 and 25°C. American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Boston, MA.26–29.(http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/SW_corrosion/calcite-poster/index.html).Google Scholar
Hornberger, R.J., Brady, K.B.C., (1998). Kinetic (Leaching) tests for the prediction of mine drainage quality.Chap. 7 Coal Mine Drainage Prediction and Pollution Prevention in Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Google Scholar
Joubert, A., Visser, J., (1991). Approximate age of the thermal spring and lacustrine deposits at Florisbad, Orange Free State. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 7, 97–111.Google Scholar
Karkanas, P., Bar-Yosef, O., Goldberg, P., Weiner, S., (2000). Diagenesis in prehistoric caves: the use of minerals that form in situ to assess the completeness of the archaeological record. Journal of Archaeological Science 27, 915–929.Google Scholar
Kent, L.E.,(1948). Die Geneeskragtige Bronne van Suid-Afrika. Publisiteits-en Reisdepartement, Suid-Afrikaanse Spoorweë, Pro Ecclesia Drukkery, Stellenbosch. Google Scholar
Krauskopf, K.B., (1967). Introduction to Geochemistry. McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Kuman, K., Clark, R.J., (1986). Florisbad—New investigations at a middle stone age hominid site in South Africa. Geoarchaeology 1, 103–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuman, K., Inbar, M., Clarke, R.J., (1999). Palaeoenvironments and cultural sequence of the Florisbad stone age hominid site, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 26, 1409–1425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larcher, W., (1983). Physiological Plant Ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Lebrón, I., Sáurez, D.L., (1998). Kinetics and mechanisms of precipitation of calcite as affected by PCO2 and organic ligands at 25°C. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, 405–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazor, E., Verhagen, B.T.H., (1983). Dissolved ions, stable and radioactive isotopes and noble gasses in thermal waters of South Africa. Journal of Hydrology 63, 315–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rindl, M.M., (1915). The mineral spring on the farm Rietfontein, district Brandfort, O.F.S.. South African Journal of Science 12, 561–588.Google Scholar
Royer, D.L., (1999). Depth to pedogenic carbonate horizon as a paleoprecipitation indicator. Geology 27, 1123–1126.Google Scholar
St-Cyr, L., Cattaneo, A., Chassé, R., Fraikin, C.G.J., (1997). Technical Evaluation of “Monitoring Methods Using Macrophytes, Phytoplankton and Periphyton to Assess the Impacts of Mine Effluents on the Aquatic Environment. ” Report presented to: Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology. 1–218. Access at: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mets/aete/reports/2_3_2.pdf.Google Scholar
Trueman, C.N., Tuross, N., (2002). Trace elements in recent fossil bone apatite.Kohn, M.J., Rakovan, J., Hughes, J.M., Reviews in Mineralogy Geochemistry, Phosphates: Geochemical, Geobiological and Materials Importance vol. 48, Mineralogical Society of America, 489–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visser, J.N.J., Joubert, A., (1991). Cyclicity in the late pleistocene to holocene spring and lacustrine deposits at Florisbad, Orange Free State. South African Journal of Geology 94, 123–131.Google Scholar