Postglacial Response of a Stream in Central Iowa to Changes in Climate and Drainage Basin Factors

1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julieann Van Nest ◽  
E. Arthur Bettis
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
The South ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Water Tables ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Small Tributary

AbstractPostglacial geomorphic development of the Buchanan Drainage, a small tributary to the South Skunk River, is reconstructed by documenting relationships among four allostratigraphic units and 17 radiocarbon dates. Formation and headward expansion of the valley was both episodic and time-transgressive. Response to downstream conditions in the South Skunk River largely controlled the early formation of the basin. Downcutting through Pleistocene deposits produced a gravelly lag deposit that was buried by alluvium in the downstream portion of the valley during the early Holocene (10,500–7700 yr B.P.). Lag deposits formed in a similar manner continued to develop in the upper portion of the drainageway into the late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.). Episodes of aggradation during the middle Holocene (7700-6300 yr B.P.) and late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.) were separated by a period of soil formation. Holocene geomorphic events in the drainageway coincide with some vegetational and climatic changes as documented in upland pollen sequences from central Iowa. Analysis of plant macrofossil assemblages recovered from alluvium indicates that during the middle Holocene forest contracted and prairie expanded into the uplands within the basin. Vegetational changes within the basin apparently had only minor influence on rates of hillslope erosion, and the widely accepted relationship between prairie (versus forest) vegetative cover and increased rates of hillslope erosion did not hold. Instead, greater amounts of erosion occurred under forested conditions when local water tables were higher and seepage erosion was more effective.

Environmental implications of middle to late Holocene plains pocket gophers in Southeast Missouri

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-191
Author(s):  
James J Krakker ◽  
Linda A Krakker
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Pocket Gopher ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Pocket Gophers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Southeast Missouri ◽  
Geomys Bursarius

Plains pocket gopher, Geomys bursarius, a grassland inhabitant, is common among the mammal taxa identified on the southeast Ozark margin at the Lepold site, 23RI59, Ripley County, Missouri. Its presence throughout the midden depth, whether an incidental inclusion or human prey, implies that a favorable habitat existed in the immediate vicinity. As radiocarbon dates indicate midden deposition began about 7500 radiocarbon years before present, grassland was a component of the local vegetation beginning in the middle Holocene, if not before.

scholarly journals Topographic Thresholds and Soil Preservation along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas, USA

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 476
Author(s):  
Travis Conley ◽  
Stance Hurst ◽  
Eileen Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Buried Soils ◽  
Lateral Migration ◽  
South Fork ◽  
The South ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Semi Arid

The eastern escarpment of the Southern High Plains (USA) is today a semi-arid erosional landscape delineated by canyon breaks and topographic relief. A series of buried soils were identified, described, and sampled at 19 soil profile localities exposed along terraces of the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (South Fork) and two associated tributaries (Spring Creek and Macy 285 drainage). Radiocarbon dating revealed late-Pleistocene to early Holocene (~12,580–9100 14C B.P.), middle-Holocene (~6025–4600 14C B.P.), and late-Holocene (~2000–800 14C B.P.) buried soils. The late-Pleistocene to middle-Holocene soils were preserved only at higher elevations within the upper section of the South Fork and Spring Creek. A topographic position analysis was conducted using GIS to identify and examine the impacts of a soil topographic threshold on the preservation and distribution of buried soils within this geomorphic system. Above the identified ~810 m threshold, lateral migration of channels was constrained. Extensive channel migration below the threshold removed older terraces that were replaced with late-Holocene terraces and associated buried soils. Landscape topography constraints on geomorphic processes and soil formation impacted the preservation of archaeological sites in this semi-arid region.

Back to Study Hall: Further Reflections on Large Game Hunting During the Middle Holocene in the Great Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 962-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Hockett
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Study Hall ◽  
Game Hunting

Hall's (this issue) comment to my paper published in American Antiquity five years ago (Hockett 2005) makes the following statements: (1) I calculated "depositional rates" for a series of Great Basin faunal assemblages; (2) my analysis did not account for atmospheric radiocarbon fluctuations; and (3) my paper argued "against an increase in hunting artiodactyls from the Middle to Late Holocene." He further argues that recalculation of the data I presented demonstrates that both large-and small-game hunting increased from the Middle to the Late Holocene. Hall is wrong on all accounts. I agree, however, that calibrated dates should now be used instead of the raw radiocarbon dates I used in my original paper. Using calibrated dates, however, does nothing to change the initial patterns I outlined five years ago. Three more recent papers (Hockett 2007, 2009; Hockett and Murphy 2009) on large game hunting in the Great Basin also corroborate my 2005 interpretations.

scholarly journals Population Dynamics and Human Strategies in Northwestern Patagonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 2-21
Author(s):  
Gustavo Neme ◽  
Marcelo Zárate ◽  
María de la Paz Pompei ◽  
Fernando Franchetti ◽  
Adolfo Gil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene

In this paper we evaluate the role of human strategies in the Andean Piedmont from northern Patagonia across the Holocene. Specifically, we present the analysis of the Early Holocene-Late Holocene archaeological record of Salamanca cave (Mendoza-Argentina). We identified technological changes that occurred during the Late Holocene and the implications of a human occupation hiatus in the Middle Holocene. We follow a multiproxy approach by the analysis of radiocarbon dates, archaeofaunal remains, ceramic, lithics and XRF obsidian sourcing. We also discuss a detailed stratigraphic sequence by geomorphological descriptions, the construction of a radiocarbon sequence model and summed probability distributions, compared with other archaeological sites in the region. We conclude that after the Middle Holocene archaeological hiatus, human populations grew while guanaco populations dropped. The imbalance between demography and resources boosted the incorporation of new technologies such as ceramics and the bow and arrow, allowing people to exploit lower-ranked resources.

Bridge River tephra: revised distribution and significance for detecting old carbon errors in radiocarbon dates of limnic sediments in southern British Columbia

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 1454-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf W. Mathewes ◽  
John A. Westgate
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
The South ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Carbon Contamination ◽  
Horseshoe Lake ◽  
Tephra Beds

Ash-grade Bridge River tephra, identified as such on the basis of shard habit, modal mineralogy, and composition of ilmenite, occurs in sedimentary cores from three lakes located to the south of the previously documented plume and necessitates a significant enlargement of the fallout area of that tephra in southwestern British Columbia.These new, more southerly occurrences are probably equivalent to the ~2350 year old Bridge River tephra, although it can be argued from the evidence at hand that the 14C dates and biotite-rich nature support relationship to a slightly earlier Bridge River event.Large differences exist in the 14C age of sediments immediately adjacent to the Bridge River tephra at these three lake sites; maximum ages of 3950 ± 170 years BP (GX-5549) and 3750 ± 210 years BP (I-10041) were obtained at Phair and Fishblue lakes, respectively, whereas the corresponding age at Horseshoe Lake is only 2685 ± 180 years BP (GX-5757). The two older dates are considered to be significantly affected by old carbon contamination for the bedrock locally consists of calcareous sedimentary rocks and the lacustrine sediments are very calcareous. The 14C date from Horseshoe Lake, which occurs in an area of igneous rocks, appears to be only slightly too old relative to the ~2350 year old Bridge River tephra.Well-dated tephra beds, therefore, can be very useful in assessing the magnitude of old carbon errors associated with radiocarbon dates based on limnic sediments. Calcareous gyttja deposits beneath Bridge River tephra within the study area exhibit old carbon errors of the order of 1350–1550 years.

Evaluation of radiocarbon dates from the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer cemetery Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, Lake Baikal, Siberia

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1481-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Weber ◽  
Hugh G. McKenzie ◽  
Roelf Beukens ◽  
Olga I. Goriunova
Keyword(s):  
Lake Baikal ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene

THE EFFECT OF GROUNDWATER ON SOIL FORMATION IN A MORAINAL LANDSCAPE IN SASKATCHEWAN

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. MILLER ◽  
D. F. ACTON ◽  
R. J. ST. ARNAUD
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Lateral Flow ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Soluble Salts ◽  
Runoff Water ◽  
Depth To Water Table ◽  
Water Tables

The results of this study indicate the importance of groundwater flow and water table depth on the genesis, characteristics and distribution of soils within a hummocky morainal landscape. Non-saline and non-carbonated soils in upland depressions can be attributed to "depression-focused" recharge by snowmelt and snowmelt runoff in the spring, as evidenced by deep sola and/or eluvial horizons. Non-saline and carbonated soils on lower slopes adjacent to depressions are associated with local discharge and/or lateral flow from the adjacent groundwater mounds under the depressions in spring, as well as upward flow in the summer resulting from water use by phreatophytes such as willows, creating a water table depression around the slough fringes. Saline and carbonated soils at low elevations are associated with shallow and rather stable water tables, and local discharge from surrounding uplands. Soil types on uplands are more dependent on slope position and infiltration than on depth to water table or groundwater flow. Non-saline soils of different profile types occur on mid- and upper slope positions. These areas have a deep water table with mainly recharge or lateral flow occurring in the saturated zone. The infiltration of surface runoff water in upland depressions is the dominant factor influencing the distribution of soluble salts in this hummocky landscape. Key words: Water table, landscape position, recharge, discharge, soluble salts, soil genesis, morphology, carbonate soil

scholarly journals Sedimentological characteristics of ice-wedge polygon terrain in Adventdalen (Svalbard) – environmental and climatic implications for the late Holocene

Solid Earth ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 901-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Oliva ◽  
G. Vieira ◽  
P. Pina ◽  
P. Pereira ◽  
M. Neves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Valley Bottom ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Fluvial Terraces ◽  
Ice Wedge ◽  
Homogeneous Composition ◽  
Climatic Severity

Abstract. Ice wedges are widespread periglacial features in the landscape of Adventdalen, Svalbard. The networks of ice wedges have created areas with well-developed polygonal terrains in the lowest fluvial terraces in this valley. We have examined the sedimentological characteristics of the northern and southern banks of the Advent river for palaeoenvironmental purposes. The base of two sedimentary sections reported radiocarbon dates of 3.3 and 3.9 ka BP, respectively. The northern site is constituted by three very different lithostratigraphical units, which suggests that their formation should be related to different environmental and climate conditions. By contrast, the southern section shows a rather homogeneous composition, with no significant variations in grain size and organic matter content. In both cases the uppermost sediments are constituted by a thick aeolian deposit. According to our data, warmer climate conditions may have prevailed during the mid Holocene until 3.3 ka BP with widespread peat formation in the valley bottom. Subsequently, a period with alternating soil formation and aeolian sedimentation took place from 3 to 2.5 ka BP, probably due to increasing climatic severity. During the last millennium a long-term cooling trend has favoured aeolian deposition in the lowest part of Adventdalen.

Durrington Walls: a Ceremonial Enclosure of the 2nd Millennium BC

Antiquity ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 42 (165) ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Wainwright
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Outer Edge ◽  
The South ◽  
Double Row ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Southern Sector ◽  
The North ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Dry Valley

Durrington Walls lies one quarter of a mile to the north of the outskirts of Amesbury in Wiltshire and 9 miles north of Salisbury (SU 150437). Stonehenge is situated 2 miles to the south-east and 80 yds. to the south of the enclosure is Woodhenge which was excavated by Mrs Cunnington in 1926-8. The much ploughed bank, which encloses a dry valley opening on to the River Avon, was initially recorded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare in the early 19th century (1812, 169), but until the recently completed series of excavations the only digging on the site was that carried out by Professor Stuart Piggott in 1952, despite recognition of the enclosure as being one of the largest henge monuments in the country. The 1952 excavations were in the nature of an exploration on both sides of a pipe trench where it intersected with the bank in its southern sector (Stone, Piggott and Booth, 1954). A double row of post-holes was recorded along the outer edge of the bank and a quantity of animal bones, flints and sherds of Grooved Ware was found on top of the old land surface which was preserved beneath it. Sherds of Grooved Ware and two small fragments of Beaker were recorded from domestic refuse overlying the bank talus. Radiocarbon dates of 2620± 40 and 2630 ± 70 BC were obtained from charcoal under the bank in its southern sector (Piggott, 1959, 289). These determinations were described by Professor Piggott as ‘archaeologically unacceptable’ as two small scraps of Beaker pottery were found in association with the abundant Grooved Ware.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document