Professor II; Director, Quaternary Studies Program

Rutgers University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Room 230 Wright Labs
610 Taylor Road
Piscataway, NJ 008854-8066 U.S.A.

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
tel: (732) 445-2221

Education

• B.S., M.S., University of Massachusetts
• Ph.D., University of British Columbia

Teaching

• Undergraduate: Sedimentology, Geomorphology, The Quaternary Period, Planet Mars
• Graduate: Sedimentary Geology, Depositional Environments, Rivers and Floodplains

Research Interests

East African Research - [Link]

My research is focused on the Quaternary epoch, a time of rapid climate change. I study modern physical processes and deposits of glacial, fluvial, lacustrine, arid landscapes, and use this information to interpret paleoenvironments.

I have three ongoing projects: (1) reconstruction of paleoenvironments and paleoclimate history in the East African rift valley (Tanzania and Kenya); (2) interpretation of modern, Holocene and Pleistocene rift valley groundwater discharge records (spring, seeps and wetlands); (3) application of the Critical Zone concept to deep time.

"A freshwater carbonate deposit was found associated with hominin remains suggesting use of spring water at Olduvai Gorge"

"Freshwater wetlands on the Loboi Plain, Lake Bogoria, Kenya"

Publications

• Ashley, G.M., 2002, Geologists probe hominid environments, GSA Today. v. 10, n. 2, p. 24-29.
• Ashley, G.M. and Driese, S.G., 2002, Paleopedology and paleohydrology of a volcaniclastic paleosol interval: implications for early Pleistocene stratigraphy and paleoclimate record, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 70, n. 5 p.1065-1080.
• Deocampo, D.M., Blumenschine, R.J., Ashley, G.M., 2002, Freshwater wetland diagenesis, fossil vertebrates, and traces of early hominids in the lowermost Bed II (~ 1.8 myr) playa lake-margin at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Quaternary Research, v. 57, p. 271-281.
• Ashley, G.M., Goman, M., Hover, V.C., Owen, R.B., Renaut, R.W., Muasya, A.M., 2002, Artesian blister wetlands, a perennial water resource in the semi-arid rift valley of East Africa. WETLANDS, 22(4), p. 686-695.
• Blumenschine, R.J., Peters, C.R., Masao, F.T., Clarke, R.J., Deino, A.L., Hay, R.L., Swisher, C.C., Stanistreet, I.G., Ashley, G.M., McHnery, L.J., Sikes, N.E., van der Merwe, N.J., Tactikos, J.C., Cushing, A.E., Deocampo, D.M., Njau, J.K., Ebert, J.I., 2002, Lake Pliocene Homo and hominid land use from western Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Science, v. 299, p. 1217-1221.
• Ashley, G.M. and Hay R.L.,2002, Sedimentation patterns in an Plio-Pleistocene volcaniclastic rift-margin basin, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. In Sedimentation in Continental Rifts, SEPM Special Publication 73, p. 107-122.
• Liutkus, C.M. and Ashley, G.M., 2003, Sedimentology and stratigraphy of an ancient freshwater lake-margin wetland, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 73, 5 p. 691-705.
• Hover, V.C. and Ashley, G.M., 2003, Geochemical signatures of paleodepositional and diagenetic environments: a STEM/AEM study of authigenic clay minerals from an arid rift basin, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Clays and Clay Minerals. v. 51, p. 231-251.
• Owen, R.B., Renaut, R.W., Hover, V.C., Ashley, G.M., and Muasya, A.M., 2004, Swamps, springs, and diatoms: wetlands regions of the semi-arid Bogoria-Baringo rift, Kenya. Hydrobiologia, v. 518 (1-3), p. 59-78.
• Ashley, G., Maitima Mworia, J.M., Muasya, A.M., Owen, R.B., Driese, S.G., Hover, Renaut, R.W., Goman, M.F., Mathai, S. and Blatt, S.H., 2004, Sedimentation and evolution of a freshwater wetland in a semi-arid environment, Loboi Swamp, Kenya, East Africa. Sedimentology, v. 51, p.1-21.
• Driese, S.G., Ashley, G.M., Li, Z-H., Hover, V.C., and Owen, R.B., 2004, Micromorphology, geochemistry, and stable carbon isotopes of late Holocene wetland and floodplain soils, Loboi Plain, Kenya: wetland pedogenesis in a semi-arid setting. Palaeogeography, Paleoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 213, p. 231-250
• 2010, Ashley, G.M, Barboni, D., Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., Bunn, H.T., Mabulla, A.Z.P., Diez-Martin F., Barba, R. and Baquedano, E. A spring and wooded habitat at FLK Zinj and their relevance to origins of human behavior, Quaternary Research, 74:304-314
• 2010, Ashley, G.M, Barboni, D., Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., Bunn, H.T., Mabulla, A.Z.P, Diez-Martin F., Barba, R. and Baquedano, E., Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstruction of a freshwater oasis in savannah grassland at FLK North, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Quaternary Research, 74: 333-343.
• 2010 Ashley, G. M., Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel, Bunn, Henry T., Mabulla, Audax Z.P., and Baquedano, Enrique, Sedimentary Geology and Human Origins: A Fresh Look At Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 80: 703-709.
2009, Ashley, G.M., Tactikos, J.C. and Owen, R.B. Hominin use of springs and wetlands: paleoclimate and archaeological records from Olduvai Gorge (1.79-174 Ma). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 272:1-16.>