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Describing the Great Rift Valley

I share some geological and geographical knowledge from the Omo River valley, one part of the African Rift system.

1 min read
John Hawks in front of a wooded river with badlands in the distance
John Hawks near the Omo River, Ethiopia

I visited the Omo River of southern Ethiopia in 2014. This is an amazing region for fossil hominin discoveries, with fossil material spanning from the Pliocene through the Late Pleistocene. The area is the northernmost part of the Turkana Basin, a key place in the African Rift system.

I took the opportunity to give a quick overview of the geology of the Rift and why it is such a good place for the preservation and discovery of fossil hominins.

Human Evolution: Past and FuturegeologyVideo by John Hawks
John Hawks

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I'm a paleoanthropologist exploring the world of ancient humans and our fossil relatives.

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