TY  - JOUR
A1  - Trauth, Martin H.
A1  - Bergner, Andreas G. N.
A1  - Foerster, Verena
A1  - Junginger, Annett
A1  - Maslin, Mark A.
A1  - Schäbitz, Frank
T1  - Episodes of environmental stability versus instability in Late Cenozoic lake records of Eastern Africa
JF  - Journal of human evolution
N2  - Episodes of environmental stability and instability may be equally important for African hominin speciation, dispersal, and cultural innovation. Three examples of a change from stable to unstable environmental conditions are presented on three different time scales: (1) the Mid Holocene (MH) wet dry transition in the Chew Bahir basin (Southern Ethiopian Rift; between 11 ka and 4 ka), (2) the MIS 5-4 transition in the Naivasha basin (Central Kenya Rift; between 160 ka and 50 ka), and (3) the Early Mid Pleistocene Transition (EMPT) in the Olorgesailie basin (Southern Kenya Rift; between 1.25 Ma and 0.4 Ma). A probabilistic age modeling technique is used to determine the timing of these transitions, taking into account possible abrupt changes in the sedimentation rate including episodes of no deposition (hiatuses). Interestingly, the stable-unstable conditions identified in the three records are always associated with an orbitally-induced decrease of insolation: the descending portion of the 800 kyr cycle during the EMPT, declining eccentricity after the 115 ka maximum at the MIS 5-4 transition, and after similar to 10 ka. This observation contributes to an evidence-based discussion of the possible mechanisms causing the switching between environmental stability and instability in Eastern Africa at three different orbital time scales (10,000 to 1,000,000 years) during the Cenozoic. This in turn may lead to great insights into the environmental changes occurring at the same time as hominin speciation, brain expansion, dispersal out of Africa, and cultural innovations and may provide key evidence to build new hypotheses regarding the causes of early human evolution. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW  - Paleoclimate
KW  - East Africa
KW  - Human evolution
KW  - Lakes
KW  - Sediments
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.011
SN  - 0047-2484
VL  - 87
SP  - 21
EP  - 31
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Philips, Andrea
A1  - Walz, Ariane
A1  - Bergner, Andreas G. N.
A1  - Gräff, Thomas
A1  - Heistermann, Maik
A1  - Kienzler, Sarah
A1  - Korup, Oliver
A1  - Lipp, Torsten
A1  - Schwanghart, Wolfgang
A1  - Zeilinger, Gerold
T1  - Immersive 3D geovisualization in higher education
JF  - Journal of geography in higher education
N2  - In this study, we investigate how immersive 3D geovisualization can be used in higher education. Based on MacEachren and Kraak's geovisualization cube, we examine the usage of immersive 3D geovisualization and its usefulness in a research-based learning module on flood risk, called GEOSimulator. Results of a survey among participating students reveal benefits, such as better orientation in the study area, higher interactivity with the data, improved discourse among students and enhanced motivation through immersive 3D geovisualization. This suggests that immersive 3D visualization can effectively be used in higher education and that 3D CAVE settings enhance interactive learning between students.
KW  - immersive 3D geovisualization
KW  - 3D CAVE
KW  - higher education
KW  - learning success
KW  - student survey
KW  - flood risk
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2015.1066314
SN  - 0309-8265
SN  - 1466-1845
VL  - 39
IS  - 3
SP  - 437
EP  - 449
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -