Chronology and paleohydrology of late Quaternary high lake levels in the Manyara basin (Tanzania) from isotopic data (18O, 13C, 14C, ) on fossil stromatolites

Abstract

Superimposed phases of stromatolite buildup are observed on the eastern margin of Lake Manyara and depict a paleoshoreline at about 20 m above modern lake level. Radiocarbon and ThU measurements permitted the dating of the last two phases of stromatolite formation at ca. 90,000 yr and between 27,000 and 23,000 yr B.P., respectively. The ThU chronology is based on the decay of a strong 230Th-excess (over 234U) inherited with the detrital particles cemented into the stromatolites. The various generations of stromatolites show comparable stable carbon and oxygen isotope contents and are located at the same paleolake stabilization levels. This indicates that stringent hydrological conditions are necessary for the development of the encrusting benthic microbial communities responsible for stromatolite formation. A comparison with similar stromatolitic units from the nearby Lake Natron-Lake Magadi basin shows that such conditions occurred during only a few of the late Quaternary humid episodes known in eastern Africa and that they are different in each basin. Stromatolites do not necessarily represent all high lake levels that Lake Manyara experienced during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.