Aboriginal Human Ecology in Owens Valley: Prehistoric Change in the Great Basin

1977 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Bettinger
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Surface Sampling ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Regional Adaptation

There are two competing views regarding the nature of human adaptation in the Great Basin. One, proposed by Jennings, is that the adaptation was based on the intensive use of all available resources, and remained essentially static from 8000 B.C. to the present, being unaffected by climatic changes. The other view, proposed by Heizer and others, suggests that the regional adaptation varied through time and space, being affected by local resource availability and climatic changes. The validity of these two views was tested by regional surface sampling in Owens Valley, eastern California. Survey data were analyzed by a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques, revealing a complex sequence of changes in subsistence-settlement patterns. These data tend to support the view that prehistoric adaptation in the Great Basin was variable, rather than static, through time.

New Views on the Fremont: The Fremont and the Sevier: Defining Prehistoric Agriculturalists North of the Anasazi

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Colorado Plateau ◽  
Explicit Definition ◽  
Taxonomic Level ◽  
The North ◽  
Subsistence Economies ◽  
Definition Of

A satisfactory and explicit definition of the Fremont has not been produced in over 50 years of research—a failure which suggests that no comprehensive entity exists. Attempts to define a Fremont through the use of trait lists have failed, although such lists have provided the basis for three apparently conflicting theories of origin. Analyses of subsistence economies and settlement patterns suggest that no comprehensive entity exists and that all three origin theories may possibly be valid. A Sevier "culture," based on marsh collecting and supplemented by corn agriculture, can be defined in the eastern Great Basin. A Fremont "culture," based on corn agriculture and supplemented by hunting, can be defined on the Colorado Plateau. A third unnamed, but possibly Plains-related, culture may be defined to the north of these. These "cultures" are distinctive enough to be separated on the same taxonomic level as are the Anasazi and the Sinagua.

Sierra Nevada-Great Basin boundary zone: Earthquake hazard related to structure, active tectonic processes, and anomalous patterns of earthquake occurrence

1980 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 1557-1572
Author(s):  
J. D. VanWormer ◽  
Alan S. Ryall
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Mono Lake ◽  
Local Network ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Walker Lake ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
The North

abstract Precise epicentral determinations based on local network recordings are compared with mapped faults and volcanic features in the western Great Basin. This region is structurally and seismically complex, and seismogenic processes vary within it. In the area north of the rupture zone of the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake, dispersed clusters of epicenters agree with a shatter zone of faults that extend the 1872 breaks to the north and northwest. An area of frequent earthquake swarms east of Mono Lake is characterized by northeast-striking faults and a crustal low-velocity zone; seismicity in this area appears to be related to volcanic processes that produced thick Pliocene basalt flows in the Adobe Hills and minor historic activity in Mono Lake. In the Garfield Hills between Walker Lake and the Excelsior Mountains, there is some clustering of epicenters along a north-trending zone that does not correlate with major Cenozoic structures. In an area west of Walker Lake, low seismicity supports a previous suggestion by Gilbert and Reynolds (1973) that deformation in that area has been primarily by folding and not by faulting. To the north, clusters of earthquakes are observed at both ends of a 70-km-long fault zone that forms the eastern boundary of the Sierra Nevada from Markleeville to Reno. Clusters of events also appear at both ends of the Dog Valley Fault in the Sierra west of Reno, and at Virginia City to the east. Fault-plane solutions for the belt in which major earthquakes have occurred in Nevada during the historic period (from Pleasant Valley in the north to the Excelsior Mountains on the California-Nevada Border) correspond to normaloblique slip and are similar to that found by Romney (1957) for the 1954 Fairview Peak shock. However, mechanisms of recent moderate earthquakes within the SNGBZ are related to right- or left-lateral slip, respectively, on nearly vertical, northwest-, or northeast-striking planes. These mechanisms are explained by a block faulting model of the SNGBZ in which the main fault segments trend north, have normal-oblique slip, and are offset or terminated by northwest-trending strike-slip faults. This is supported by the observation that seismicity during the period of observation has been concentrated at places where major faults terminate or intersect. Anomalous temporal variations, consisting of a general decrease in seismicity in the southern part of the SNGBZ from October 1977 to September 1978, followed by a burst of moderate earthquakes that has continued for more than 18 months, is suggestive of a pattern that several authors have identified as precursory to large earthquakes. The 1977 to 1979 variations are particularly noteworthy because they occurred over the entire SNGBZ, indicating a regional rather than local cause for the observed changes.

The Normal-Faulting 2020 Mw 5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California, Earthquake Sequence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egill Hauksson ◽  
Brian Olson ◽  
Alex Grant ◽  
Jennifer R. Andrews ◽  
Angela I. Chung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Seismic Energy ◽  
Normal Faulting ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Waveform Data ◽  
Earthquake Early Warning System ◽  
Rupture Length

Abstract The 2020 Mw 5.8 Lone Pine earthquake, the largest earthquake on the Owens Valley fault zone, eastern California, since the nineteenth century, ruptured an extensional stepover in that fault. Owens Valley separates two normal-faulting regimes, the western margin of the Great basin and the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada, forming a complex seismotectonic zone, and a possible nascent plate boundary. Foreshocks began on 22 June 2020; the largest Mw 4.7 foreshock occurred at ∼6  km depth, with primarily normal faulting, followed ∼40  hr later on 24 June 2020 by an Mw 5.8 mainshock at ∼7  km depth. The sequence caused overlapping ruptures across a ∼0.25  km2 area, extended to ∼4  km2, and culminated in an ∼25  km2 aftershock area. The mainshock was predominantly normal faulting, with a strike of 330° (north-northwest), dipping 60°–65° to the east-northeast. Comparison of background seismicity and 2020 Ridgecrest aftershock rates showed that this earthquake was not an aftershock of the Ridgecrest mainshock. The Mw–mB relationship and distribution of ground motions suggest typical rupture speeds. The aftershocks form a north-northwest-trending, north-northeast-dipping, 5 km long distribution, consistent with the rupture length estimated from analysis of regional waveform data. No surface rupture was reported along the 1872 scarps from the 2020 Mw 5.8 mainshock, although, the dipping rupture zone of the Mw 5.8 mainshock projects to the surface in the general area. The mainshock seismic energy triggered rockfalls at high elevations (>3.0  km) in the Sierra Nevada, at distances of 8–20 km, and liquefaction along the western edge of Owens Lake. Because there were ∼30% fewer aftershocks than for an average southern California sequence, the aftershock forecast probabilities were lower than expected. ShakeAlert, the earthquake early warning system, provided first warning within 9.9 s, as well as subsequent updates.

An Empirical Test for Steward's Model of Great Basin Settlement Patterns

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hurst Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Computer Model ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Cultural Ecology ◽  
Computer Simulation Model ◽  
Empirical Validation ◽  
Settlement System

AbstractJulian Steward's theory of Great Basin cultural ecology and settlement patterns has been subjected to empirical validation. Since the only data available to test this hypothesis are archaeological, it was first necessary to determine the artifactual correlates for the posited ethnographic system. These deductive propositions were determined by the BASIN I computer simulation model. On the basis of data obtained in a regional random sampling project in the Reese Valley of central Nevada, over 75% of the nearly 130 deductive predictions were statistically verified. The rejected propositions probably reflect failure of the computer model rather than shortcomings in Steward's theory. The archaeological manifestation of the Shoshonean pattern is defined as the Reese River Subsistence-Settlement System which operated in the central Great Basin from about 2500 B.C. to historic times.

Curation, Statistics, and Settlement Studies: A Reply to Munday and Lincoln

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Bettinger
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Inference ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Settlement Studies

Munday and Lincoln have questioned my interpretations of prehistoric human ecology in Owens Valley, California, on the grounds that they may be an artifact of curation and prehistoric disturbance and on the grounds that statistical tests suggest that my interpretation of settlement data is incorrect. Careful consideration of their arguments shows that curation would not produce the effects they suggest and that they misuse statistical inference and settlement data. Review of the evidence supports my original views.

scholarly journals Mechanical Mastication of Utah Juniper Encroaching Sagebrush Steppe Increases Inorganic Soil N

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kert R. Young ◽  
Bruce A. Roundy ◽  
Dennis L. Eggett
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Sagebrush Steppe ◽  
Inorganic N ◽  
Total N ◽  
Extractable P ◽  
Utah Juniper

Juniper (Juniperusspp.) has encroached on millions of hectares of sagebrush (Artemisiaspp.) steppe. Juniper mechanical mastication increases cover of understory species but could increase resource availability and subsequently invasive plant species. We quantified the effects of juniper mastication on soil resource availability by comparing total C, total N, C : N ratio, Olsen extractable P, sulfate S, and pH using soil samples and inorganic N (NO3-+NH4+) using ion exchange membranes. We compared resource availability in paired masticated and untreated areas in three juniper-dominated sagebrush and bunchgrass ecosystems in the Utah portion of the Great Basin. Inorganic N was 4.7 times higher in masticated than in untreated areas across seasons (P<0.001). Within masticated areas, tree mounds of juniper leaf scales and twigs served as resource islands with 1.9 times higher inorganic N and total C, and 2.8 times higher total N than bare interspaces across seasons (P<0.01). Bare interspaces had 3.0–3.4 times higher inorganic N than interspaces covered with masticated trees during late-summer through winter (P<0.01). Soil fertility changes associated with mastication were not considered sufficient to favor establishment of annual over perennial grasses, and we expect both to increase in cover following juniper mastication.

Impact of past climatic changes and resource availability on the population demography of three food-specialist bees

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1074-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Dellicour ◽  
Denis Michez ◽  
Jean-Yves Rasplus ◽  
Patrick Mardulyn
Keyword(s):  
Resource Availability ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Population Demography ◽  
Specialist Bees

Temporal and spatial settlement patterns of sympatric hermit crabs and the influence of shell resource availability

2004 ◽  
Vol 144 (5) ◽  
pp. 871-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Oba ◽  
Seiji Goshima
Keyword(s):  
Resource Availability ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Temporal And Spatial
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