Sand Canyon: Vanishing Acts

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
William deBuys
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Building Stones ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
Cautionary Tales

In the southwest the specter of climate change invites a long look into the deep past. For anyone who hunts for insights about the nature of the region and the trick of making peace with its aridity, the ubiquitous signs of vanished communities beckon irresistibly—in the ruins of Chaco Canyon, the empty cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, and the mounded rubble of abandoned villages scattered near and far. The “lessons” they offer, however, are not always as clear as we would like them to be. Cautionary tales about the truths and errors of distant centuries can be easy to spin but surprisingly hard to reconcile to the complexity of the archaeological record, which is never static. As with any domain of science, the story told by the archaeology of the Southwest is always emerging, always gaining in heft and detail. When I went looking for someone who could help me read it, the trail I took led to the head of a rugged canyon, choked with piñon and juniper, in the far southwest of Colorado. “There’s a kiva, there’s a kiva, there’s a kiva,” says archaeologist Mark Varien, who is vice president of programs at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, outside Cortez. He points in succession to three circular depressions amid the rubble, signatures of the remains of subterranean rooms that once housed much of the life of the pueblo. Rough blocks of sandstone outline the space the kivas occupied, their roofs having long ago caved in. Wind has filled their cavities with the dust and litter of centuries. Now they bloom with cliff rose and sagebrush. We stand just behind the kivas on a mound of half-buried building stones, which are canted at every angle—the remains of masonry rooms. To either side lie the mounds of more room blocks, their rear walls forming the perimeter of the pueblo, and the pueblo itself wrapping around the cleft of a rocky draw. The draw leads south and widens into Sand Canyon, a dry tributary of McElmo Creek, which flows west out of Colorado and joins the San Juan River not far away in Utah.

A Basketmaker III Site in Canyon Largo, New Mexico

1944 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Hibben ◽  
Herbert W. Dick
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
San Juan ◽  
The Past ◽  
Field School ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Four Seasons ◽  
Basketmaker Iii ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
The University

One of the activities of the University of New Mexico's 1939 field school at Chaco Canyon was a reconnaissance excavation in the vicinity of Largo Canyon, to the northeast of the Chaco, proper. This was a continuation of the survey and excavations of the past four seasons, as a part of the project for outlining chronologically and geographically the culture known as Gallina. The extent of the Gallina manifestation to the east and south has already been fairly accurately delineated, but its western and northwestern boundaries are unknown. Since the San Juan and Mesa Verde centers lie to the northwest, it was deemed imperative that the cultural connections in that direction be determined. Typical Gallina unit houses are common on the headwaters of the Largo and in the Llegua Canyon area which heads in the same region. The extremely rugged area lying between this district and the San Juan and Mesa Verde region, however, is not only difficult of access, but is practically unknown archaeologically.

scholarly journals Climate-driven disturbances in the San Juan River sub-basin of the Colorado River

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 709-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina E. Bennett ◽  
Theodore J. Bohn ◽  
Kurt Solander ◽  
Nathan G. McDowell ◽  
Chonggang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Forest Disturbances ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Accelerated climate change and associated forest disturbances in the southwestern USA are anticipated to have substantial impacts on regional water resources. Few studies have quantified the impact of both climate change and land cover disturbances on water balances on the basin scale, and none on the regional scale. In this work, we evaluate the impacts of forest disturbances and climate change on a headwater basin to the Colorado River, the San Juan River watershed, using a robustly calibrated (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency 0.76) hydrologic model run with updated formulations that improve estimates of evapotranspiration for semi-arid regions. Our results show that future disturbances will have a substantial impact on streamflow with implications for water resource management. Our findings are in contradiction with conventional thinking that forest disturbances reduce evapotranspiration and increase streamflow. In this study, annual average regional streamflow under the coupled climate–disturbance scenarios is at least 6–11 % lower than those scenarios accounting for climate change alone; for forested zones of the San Juan River basin, streamflow is 15–21 % lower. The monthly signals of altered streamflow point to an emergent streamflow pattern related to changes in forests of the disturbed systems. Exacerbated reductions of mean and low flows under disturbance scenarios indicate a high risk of low water availability for forested headwater systems of the Colorado River basin. These findings also indicate that explicit representation of land cover disturbances is required in modeling efforts that consider the impact of climate change on water resources.

scholarly journals Condiciones de exposición y sensibilidad de la comunidad La Barra frente a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-162
Author(s):  
Luz-Carina Durán-Solarte ◽  
Ángel Andrés Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Residents ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
Del Rio

El presente artículo analiza las condiciones de vulnerabilidad de una comunidad pesquera frente a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos agravados por el cambio climático. Se utiliza la metodología cualitativa, con apoyo en métodos geográficos, y con base en un estudio de caso: la comunidad afrodescendiente La Barra, localizada en el litoral Pacífico colombiano, en la desembocadura del río San Juan. Al existir un acceso limitado a la comunidad por sus condiciones geográficas, además de los requisitos de bioseguridad establecidos por la pandemia de COVID-19, se realizan un análisis documental y mapas multitemporales, a partir de imágenes satelitales, para visualizar los cambios espaciales de la línea costera de La Barra durante los años 2001, 2011 y 2019. Asimismo, se realizan entrevistas a expertos académicos y pobladores de la comunidad. La vulnerabilidad es entendida desde la escuela de pensamiento de la ciencia del cambio climático y la investigación sobre adaptación. Se concluye que no solo depende de los estímulos climáticos, sino también de las condiciones racializadas y marginalizadas de poblaciones afro ubicadas en territorios rurales aislados. De tal manera, la naturaleza social y política de los fenómenos meteorológicos puede transformarlos en eventos catastróficos para poblaciones vulnerables.   Abstract This article analyses the vulnerability conditions of a fishing community facing the extreme meteorological phenomena aggravated by climate change. The methodology is qualitative, supported by geographic methods, based on the case study of the “La Barra afro-descendant community”, located in the Colombian Pacific Coast, in the mouth of San Juan River. As there is limited access to the community due to its geographical conditions, besides the biosecurity requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a documentary analysis, as well as multi-temporal maps based on satellite images, show the spatial changes on the coastline of La Barra, during the years 2001, 2011 and 2019. In addition to the above, interviews with academic experts and community residents are conducted. The term “vulnerability” is understood from the school of thought of climate change science and adaptation research. It is concluded that the vulnerability not only depends on climatic stimuli but also on the racialized and marginalized conditions of Afro populations located in isolated rural territories. In that way, the social and political nature of the meteorological phenomena could transform them in catastrophic events for vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals How Agriculture Took Hold in the Mesa Verde Region: A Review of Recent Research on the Late Basketmaker-Early Pueblo Periods (A.D. 500-920)

2018 ◽  
pp. 69-95
Author(s):  
Richard Wilshusen
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Building Site ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
Late Ninth Century ◽  
Basketmaker Iii ◽  
Mesa Verde Region

Major research projects and significant publications over the last two decades have fundamentally reframed our understanding of the Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods in the Mesa Verde region. Whereas the last state historic context summaries for these periods, which were published in 1999, focused on the specifics of chronology building, site type definitions, settlement patterning, and other nuts and bolts issues, recent advances in database software and an increasing emphasis on regional research have turned our attention to the larger issues of how agriculture took hold and thereafter transformed the landscape north of the San Juan River. The relatively low populations and small-scale horticultural economies of the Basketmaker II period virtually disappeared between A.D. 500 and 600, to be replaced by a more intensive maize-dependent agricultural economy centered on large communities. The rapid expansion of early Pueblo agricultural settlements across the Mesa Verde region and the subsequent formation of large villages were in part fueled by the accelerating population growth that came with agricultural dependence. In turn, the late ninth-century breakup of these large villages contributed to population migration to the south of the San Juan River and the tenth-century emergence of what ultimately became the Chaco great house system. This review updates the 1999 Basketmaker III and Pueblo I overviews.

scholarly journals Climate change and climate-driven disturbances in the San Juan River sub-basin of the Colorado River

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina E. Bennett ◽  
Theodore Bohn ◽  
Kurt Solander ◽  
Nathan G. McDowell ◽  
Chonggang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Forest Disturbances ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Accelerated climate change and associated forest disturbances in the Southwestern USA are anticipated to have substantial impacts on regional water resources. Few studies have quantified the impact of both climate change and land cover disturbances on water balances at the basin scale, and none at the regional scale. In this work, we evaluate the impacts of forest disturbances and climate change for a headwater basin to the Colorado River, the San Juan River watershed, using a robustly-calibrated (Nash Sutcliff 0.80) hydrologic model run with updated formulations that improve estimates of evapotranspiration for semi-arid regions. Our results show that future disturbances will have a substantial impact on streamflow with implications for water resource management. Our findings are in contradiction with conventional thinking that forest disturbances reduce ET and increase streamflow. In this study, annual average regional streamflow under the coupled climate-disturbances scenarios is at least 6–11 % lower than those scenarios accounting for climate change alone, and for forested zones of the San Juan River basin streamflow is 15–21 % lower. The monthly signals of altered streamflow point to an emergent streamflow pattern related to changes in forests of the disturbed systems. Exacerbated reductions of mean and low flows under disturbance scenarios indicate a high risk of lower water availability for forested headwater systems to the Colorado River basin. These findings also indicate that explicit representation of land cover disturbances is required in modelling efforts that consider the impact of climate change on water resources.

scholarly journals Impacts to Diné activities with the San Juan River after the Gold King Mine Spill

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne ◽  
Karletta Chief ◽  
Perry H. Charley ◽  
Mae-Gilene Begay ◽  
Nathan Lothrop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
San Juan ◽  
San Juan River

Design and implementation of flood level monitoring station (FMS) and data acquisition using smoothing averaging technique in San Juan River

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Favis Joseph C. Balinado ◽  
Gerald Paolo Dar Santos ◽  
Engr. Rio A. Escanilla ◽  
Alejandro Danilo Banaag ◽  
Andreana Amor M. Gulay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Monitoring Station ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Averaging Technique ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Flood Level ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
Level Monitoring

The Challenge of Geohazards in the Replacement of Hydrocarbon Pipelines

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Zapata Posada ◽  
Jaime Hernan Aristizabal Ceballos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Analytical Methodology

The effects of changes in land use and the effects of climate change have led to an increase in the morphodynamic processes that affect rights-of-way in Colombia. However, in view of the fact that these rights-of-way are considered to be the best possible routes in some areas in which the geological and geotechnical components are fairly complex, specialists are facing the challenge of establishing different perspectives for coexisting with the geohazards in these areas. This paper describes the analytical methodology implemented within Ecopetrol’s Office of the Vice President for Transportation and Logistics (VIT-Ecopetrol), in order to take this reality into account within the framework of proper asset management.

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