Biography

12/2008 - 01/2009

General Manager GMAS Ltda. Bogotá _ Colombia

01/2007 - 11/2008

Geologist -GIS- AngloGold Ashanti Colombia. Bogotá - Colombia

01/2002 - 12/2007

Diploma in Geology Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá - Colombia

02/2006 - 11/2006

Teaching assistant, Geomorphology

Research

Morphotectonic evolution of the Kenya rift and erosion processes on different time scales using cosmogenic nuclides and (U-Th)/He dating

The East African Rift system is the archetypal young continental rift, and one the most widely studied on Earth. The rift constitutes a unique region in which to investigate the interplay between active rifting, erosion and sedimentation. Despite this, controversy remains as to the mechanisms and timing of rifting in the region. Most authors agree that active rifting has dominated the East African Rift system (EARs), and argue for the presence of one or more plumes in order to explain the amount of extension, timing and volume of volcanic rocks within the rift and adjacent regions. In addition to the tectonic driving forces of rift basin evolution, the EARs has become the focus of studies investigating the interaction between tectonic activity and climate on uplift. Significant feedbacks between the development of topography in the EARs beginning in the Miocene (?), East African climate, hominid evolution and the rate of rift shoulder exhumation have recently been proposed (Sepulchre et al., 2006; Spiegel et al., 2007; Wichura et al., 2010). On such long time scales it is unclear whether these feedbacks are related to regional uplift or localised rift flank evolution, as studies quantifying the Cenozoic rift evolution are limited. On shorter time scales, involving centennial, millennial time scales, however, it can be expected that tectonic forcing has played a more subdued role in generating and routing sediment in this environment when compared to the dramatic shifts in regional moisture availability. Several studies have shown that such shifts are associated with the dynamics of the dynamics of the African-Indian Summer Monsoon System (e.g., Trauth et al., 2005; 2009) and caused pronounced oscillations of lake levels (e.g., Garcin et al., 2009). Presumably, erosional efficiency, and changes in the transport capacity of fluvial systems also increased during that time. These variations may be recorded in the lake sediments themselves and in terrace and delta deposits associated with changing lake levels. It is at this juncture of the long-term and short-term erosion and sedimentation processes that this study is focused on.