Temporal environmental change in the Magadi Basin and regional comparisons. Thick dashed line shows the MBE. (Left) Major hominin/faunal events in eastern Africa (except where noted) (8). First appearance of H. sapiens in Africa from Morocco data (16). H. sapiens dispersal: 1, genetic data (41); 2, fossil data (39, 40). FAD, first appearance datum; LAD, last appearance datum. (A) Na/Ca ratios. Decline reflects change from freshwater to saline, alkaline lake. (B) Pollen PCA 1. Low values reflect increased aridity. (C) Poaceae (Poa, P)/aquatic (Aqua, A) pollen ratios (P − A/P + A). High values indicate wetter episodes. (D) Diatom PCA. High values reflect benthic taxa introduced to a meromictic lake by flooding. Note that many of these flood events broadly correlate (diagonal shading) with interglacial episodes in G. (E) Insolation (1°S) from AnalySeries 2.0. High-variability periods are shaded. (F) Northwest Indian Ocean dust record (26). Note long-term increasing aridity through the last 400 ka. (G) Change in deuterium in Vostok ice core, East Antarctica (27). Note increased variability in glacial–interglacial cycles after the MBE. (H) Diatom-inferred environmental change, Olorgesailie Basin (47).