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1.
The climate of the Great Plains during the middle Holocene varied considerably, but overall it was marked by a north–south gradient of increasingly warmer and drier conditions, with a reduction in effective moisture, surface water, and resource abundance, and an increase in resource patchiness, sediment weathering, erosion, and aeolian activity. Pronounced drought conditions were most evident on the Southern High Plains. Understanding the human responses to middle Holocene climates is complicated by a lack of archaeological data, which is partly a result of geomorphic processes that removed or deeply buried sites of this age, and by the varying adaptive responses of hunter-gatherers during this period. On the Southern High Plains, where drought was most severe, surface and groundwater sources dried and bison populations were diminished, prompting substantial adaptive changes, including local abandonment, well-digging to tap underground water, and a widening of the diet breadth to incorporate higher-cost, lower-return seed and plant resources. Sites of this age on the Central and Northern Plains also show a possible increase in diet breadth (with the incorporation of plant foods in the diet), and perhaps changes in settlement mobility (including possible shift into higher elevation areas, or mapping-on to extant rivers and springs). But linking those changes to middle Holocene drought is less straightforward.  相似文献   

2.
Playas are ephemeral, closed-basin wetlands that are hypothesized as an important source of recharge to the High Plains aquifer in central USA. The ephemeral nature of playas, low regional recharge rates, and a strong reliance on groundwater from the High Plains aquifer has prompted many questions regarding the contribution and quality of recharge from playas to the High Plains aquifer. As a result, there has been considerable scientific debate about the potential for water to infiltrate the relatively impermeable playa floors, travel through the unsaturated zone sediments that are tens of meters thick, and subsequently recharge the High Plains aquifer. This critical review examines previously published studies on the processes that control recharge rates and chemistry beneath playas. Reported recharge rates beneath playas range from less than 1.0 to more than 500 mm/yr and are generally 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than recharge rates beneath interplaya settings. Most studies support the conceptual model that playas are important zones of recharge to the High Plains aquifer and are not strictly evaporative pans. The major findings of this review provide science-based implications for management of playas and groundwater resources of the High Plains aquifer and directions for future research.  相似文献   

3.
The St. Louis site, located in the Plains–Parkland transition zone along the South Saskatchewan River, in Saskatchewan, Canada, is a multiple‐component site consisting of stratified floodplain alluvium with multiple, weakly developed soils. Human occupation at the site spans the Late Paleoindian to Middle Precontact periods (10,000–5,000 14C yr B.P.), a time poorly represented archaeologically on the Northern Plains. The dearth of early–middle Holocene‐age archaeological sites is often attributed to reduced inhabitability of the Northern Plains during the Hypsithermal, a period of maximum aridity and limited water availability. Stable isotope and phytolith data from the site indicate increased temperatures during the Hypsithermal and an expansion of Northern Plains grasslands into north‐central Saskatchewan. Although characterized by increased xeric conditions, human occupation at the St. Louis site, as well as the predominance of C3 grasses, attests to the habitability of Northern Plains river systems during this time period. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

4.
The unconfined High Plains (Ogallala) aquifer is the largest aquifer in the USA and the primary water supply for the semiarid southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico. Analyses of water and soils northeast of Amarillo, Texas, together with data from other regional studies, indicate that processes during recharge control the composition of unconfined groundwater in the northern half of the southern High Plains. Solute and isotopic data are consistent with a sequence of episodic precipitation, concentration of solutes in upland soils by evapotranspiration, runoff, and infiltration beneath playas and ditches (modified locally by return flow of wastewater and irrigation tailwater). Plausible reactions during recharge include oxidation of organic matter, dissolution and exsolution of CO2, dissolution of CaCO3, silicate weathering, and cation exchange. Si and 14C data suggest leakage from perched aquifers to the High Plains aquifer. Plausible mass-balance models for the High Plains aquifer include scenarios of flow with leakage but not reactions, flow with reactions but not leakage, and flow with neither reactions nor leakage. Mechanisms of recharge and chemical evolution delineated in this study agree with those noted for other aquifers in the south-central and southwestern USA. Electronic Publication  相似文献   

5.
Throughout the Holocene, caliche has been a ubiquitous technological resource for the people of the Southern High Plains. Archaeological sites on the Southern High Plains often contain thermal features that appear to utilize caliche nodules in various cultural processes. These processes usually involve some degree of thermal dynamic alteration to the caliche, identified in the archaeological record as fire‐scorched or blackened nodules. Previous studies of the pyrodynamic properties of caliche have focused on quantification of color and fracture patterns within a laboratory setting, without direct involvement of cultural processes or problems associated with thermal features. Thermal alteration variables of caliche are examined from an actualistic perspective, utilizing previously excavated basin feature geometry and local caliche outcrops. Results indicate that sustained, intense heating of caliche (above 204°C) causes significant, but variable, structural transformations at the specimen level. The experimental use of shallow basin hearths demonstrates that hearth structures were easily capable of achieving and sustaining temperatures that would result in the physical alteration of individual caliche nodules, defined here as hearthstones. The broader implications of this study suggest that the interpretation of archaeological hearthstone assemblages should reflect variability, as observed during this experiment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

6.
Tropical montane forests of Sri Lanka form a unique ecosystem with more than 50% of endemic plant species. It has been noted that trees, belonging to different size and age classes of these forest, have been dying due to a yet unknown factor. This phenomenon was first observed in the Horton Plains National Park, which is a high plateau, composed of tropical montane forests. Later dying of forests were observed at several areas including Hakgala montane forest. Physical parameters trace nutrients as well as toxic element concentrations in soils, were studied in order to identify the possible geochemical factors behind the forest die back. Systematic soil sampling was carried out covering the entire Horton Plains National Park and random samples were collected from Hakgala montane forest. Samples were analyzed for available Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Al and Pb using standard colorimetric and atomic absorption spectrometric procedures. Physical parameters such as pH, moisture content, and conductivity of the samples were also measured. Among extractable micro-nutrients Cu and Zn, and Ni show no deficiency or excess levels. However, the recorded available high concentrations of Fe, Mn and Al can be toxic to certain montane plant species. Acidic moist soil of the area may enhance the toxic effects of these elements. Possible source of these elements should be the underground lithology of the area. According to the results obtained, there is a relationship between forest die back and high Pb concentrations. The same phenomenon was also observed in the Hakgala forest. The distribution pattern of Pb in the Horton Plains coincides well with the die back distribution pattern. The observed Pb values at Horton Plains and Hakgala are almost similar to values observed at Pannipitiya and Dombagaskanda locations, which are located close to main roads carrying heavy traffic. It is quite possible therefore, that Pb toxicity may be a significant factor behind the forest die back even though other factors should not be completely ruled out at this juncture. Strong monsoon winds, bringing Pb from the polluted southwestern part of the country, can be the most possible source of soil Pb. Further studies however are indeed necessary to confirm the conclusion.  相似文献   

7.
Across North and South America, the final millennia of the Pleistocene saw dramatic changes in climate, vegetation, fauna, fire regime, and other local and regional paleo-environmental characteristics. Rapid climate shifts following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) exerted a first-order influence, but abrupt post-glacial shifts in vegetation composition, vegetation structure, and fire regime also coincided with human arrival and transformative faunal extinctions in the Americas. We propose a model of post-glacial vegetation change in response to climatic drivers, punctuated by local fire regime shifts in response to megaherbivore-driven fuel changes and anthropogenic ignitions. The abrupt appearance of humans, disappearance of megaherbivores, and resulting changes in New World fire systems were transformative events that should not be dismissed in favor of climate-only interpretations of post-glacial paleo-environmental shifts in the Americas. Fire is a mechanism by which small human populations can have broad impacts, and growing evidence suggests that early anthropogenic influences on regional, even global, paleo-environments should be tested alongside other potential causal mechanisms.  相似文献   

8.
An archaeological survey and geomorphological investigation were conducted over a period of three years in the Tol and Kipsing River valleys, both located in the Mukogodo Hills‐Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Plains region of Central Kenya. Eleven alluvial‐stratigraphic sections were studied, and five late‐Quaternary alluvial stratigraphic units were identified on the basis of lithology, chronology, and soil stratigraphy. The locations of 63 archaeological sites recorded during the reconnaissance were compared with the distribution of the alluvial units. These data were used to predict where sites of different cultural periods are most likely to be found and to determine the relationship between site location and alluvial deposition. Since natural processes of deposition and erosion do not fully account for the distribution of Middle and Later Stone Age sites in the study area, the hypothesis that these differences reflect human choices, not the operation of natural processes, cannot be rejected. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

9.
The Holder Formation (Pennsylvanian, Virgilian) of southern New Mexico, USA, consists of limestones interbedded with siliciclastics. It was deposited during times of glacio-eustatic sea-level change and was exposed subaerially during multiple sea-level lowstands. Microcomponents and whole-rock samples of limestones were analysed for δ13C and δ18O values to examine the method of whole-rock isotopic analysis for detecting subaerial exposure events and to determine the diagenetic processes acting during subaerial exposure. Whole-rock isotopic shifts are not consistently present across petrographically identified subaerial exposure surfaces. Apparently, whole-rock isotopic shifts do not result from wholesale replacement of the host sediment during soil formation. However, the isotopic shifts are present in calcareous, soil-precipitated microcomponents, such as rhizoliths, laminated crusts, and soil-precipitated cements. The components are heterogeneous in isotopic composition, but converge on a meteoric calcite line at about δ18O=?5.5‰. These microcomponents are heterogeneous in distribution and may either dominate or be a minor constituent of the whole rock at a single stratigraphic horizon. Without petrographic selection of palaeosol components, the detection of whole-rock isotopic shifts may depend on the selection or chance sampling of a rock containing abundant microcomponents precipitated in a soil environment. Only minor whole-rock isotopic shifts come from those rocks bearing no evidence of exposure and bearing lithological characteristics suggesting subaerial exposure was unlikely.  相似文献   

10.
This paper explores the adjustments that residents in one part of the High Plains prefer in coping with the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer. The authors identify 31 possible adjustment policies and report on public preferences, examining differences among socioeconomic groups and also the preferred governmental agencies to administer specific programs. Adjustments involving improved water use efficiency were most favored; those entailing financial incentives were least liked. The local groundwater management district was the preferred agency overall. Most significant differences in preference were between those in agribusiness and those outside agriculture.  相似文献   

11.
The Great Plains contain many of the best‐known Paleoindian sites in North America, and a number of these localities were key to determining the chronology of Paleoindian occupations in the years before, during, and since the development of radiocarbon and other chronometric dating methods. Initial attempts at dating were based on correlation with extinct fauna, the “geologic‐climatic” dating method, and stratigraphic relationships of artifacts within sites. By the time radiocarbon dating was developed (1950), the basic Paleoindian sequence (oldest to youngest) was: Clovis‐Folsom‐unfluted lanceolates (such as Plainview, Eden, and Scottsbluff). Initial applications of radiocarbon dating in the 1950s did little to further resolve age relationships. In the 1960s, however, largely through the efforts of C. V. Haynes, a numerical geochronology of Paleoindian occupations on the Great Plains began to emerge On the Southern Great Plains the radiocarbon‐dated artifact chronology is: Clovis (11,600–11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom and Midland (10,900–10,100 yr B.P.); Plainview, Milnesand, and Lubbock (10,200–9800 yr B.P.); Firstview (9400–8200 yr B.P.); St. Mary's Hall, Golondrina, and Texas Angostura (9200–8000 yr B.P.). The chronology for the Northern Great Plains is: Clovis (11,200–10,900 yr B.P.); Goshen (ca. 11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom (10,900–10,200 yr B.P.); Agate Basin (10,500–10,000 yr B.P.); Hell Gap (10,500–9500 yr B.P.); Alberta, Alberta‐Cody (10,200–9400 yr B.P.); Cody (Eden‐Scottsbluff) (9400–8800 yr B.P.); Angostura, Jimmy Allen, Frederick, and other parallel‐oblique types (9400–7800 yr B.P.). Fifty years after the development of radiocarbon dating, the basic typological sequence has not changed significantly except for the realization that there probably was significant temporal overlap of some point types, and that the old unilinear sequence does not account for all the known typological variation. The chronology has been continually refined with the determination of hundreds of radiocarbon ages in recent decades. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  相似文献   

12.
Shane, Linda C. K. 1987 03 01: Late-glacial vegetational and climatic history of the Allegheny Plateau and the Till Plains of Ohio and Indiana, U.S.A. Boreas , Vol. 16, pp. 1–20. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Pollen evidence from the Allegheny Plateau and the Till Plains south of the Great Lakes shows marked post-glacial vegetation gradients. C. 15,500–11,000 B.P .: On the Plateau, spruce forest was rapidly established, persisted for 2,000 years, then began a gradual change to deciduous-conifer forest. On the Till Plains, open spruce forest tundra closed slowly over 1,000 years, declined rapidly c . 13,500 B.P., and a deciduous open woodland developed. C. 11,000–10,300 B.P .: On the Till Plains, a brief cooling is recorded by increases in the abundance of spruce and fir, contemporaneous with the European Younger Dryas. No clear change is seen on the Plateau. 10,300–4,000 B.P .: Warming and/or drying occurred in both areas, as hemlock and jack/red pine trees immigrated, followed by white pine. Conifers disappeared from the Till Plains by 9,800 B.P., but pine and hemlock trees may have persisted on the Plateau. After 10,000 B.P. mixed deciduous forest was established across the entire region. Between 8,000 and 4,000 B.P., further warming/drying is indicated on the Till Plains with development of open oak forest and lake shallowing, and on the Plateau by a minor increase in herbs, lake shallowing, and reduction in pine.  相似文献   

13.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2003,22(10-13):1035-1042
Single-grain OSL dating is applied to sediments from different depositional settings on the Southern High Plains of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. Criteria of acceptance are used to screen equivalent doses from individual grains and resulting distributions are evaluated in terms of normality. Wide variation is found in proportion of acceptable grains and in the distributions. While some of the latter are normal, many show broadening that may be the result of mixing of different-aged grains and skewness that may result from variant depositional and post-depositional modes. Geological modeling will be required to understand better these distributions, although for most samples means produced ages that agree with independent evidence. The resolution possible with single grains is necessary for best estimates of equivalent dose for other samples. A few samples do not agree with independent evidence, even with a normal distribution of equivalent dose. Sand dunes seem the most difficult to date accurately, probably because of mixing.  相似文献   

14.
Recent archeological and geoarcheological investigations have corroborated the notion of close interaction between man and environment in our study area during historical times. The riparian Sárk?z, forming an interface between two major geographical regions of Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plains, has been continuously inhabited for the past 8000 years. Settlements were generally confined to areas above 90.5?C91m ASL, with the exception of a few drier periods. This elevation can therefore be regarded as the margin of human settlement. The lower-lying areas correspond to the actual floodplain inundated for the major part of the year from which lag-surfaces stand out as island-like natural highs hosting the settlements themselves. The endowments and settlement pattern persisted from the Neolithic onwards until the terminal Modern Age, when measures aimed to ordain the area substantially altered the natural landscape.  相似文献   

15.
巫山张家湾遗址考古发掘结果表明,研究区汉代曾有较发达的农业及手工业活动。陶窑和废铁渣、废陶坯及大量陶片、汉代砖瓦的发现充分表明当时的手工业活动已具相当的规模。铁锸等铁制农具及猪、马等家畜骨头的发现表明农业已相当发达。孢粉分析表明当时植被主要以草本植物为主,木本植物较少,地面植被呈退化趋势,生态环境恶化。地面植被的减少导致地表侵蚀的增强,大量碎屑物质从赵家坡山上冲刷下来,破坏了当时人类赖以生存的环境,人们被迫迁徙。该文研究结果还表明,在利用孢粉分析的手段恢复古环境演变时应考虑到人类活动的影响,须与其它指标相互印证,才能得出合理的结果  相似文献   

16.
The effects of human-induced alteration of groundwater flow patterns on concentrations of naturally-occurring trace elements were examined in five hydrologically distinct aquifer systems in the USA. Although naturally occurring, these trace elements can exceed concentrations that are considered harmful to human health. The results show that pumping-induced hydraulic gradient changes and artificial connection of aquifers by well screens can mix chemically distinct groundwater. Chemical reactions between these mixed groundwaters and solid aquifer materials can result in the mobilization of trace elements such as U, As and Ra, with subsequent transport to water-supply wells. For example, in the High Plains aquifer near York, Nebraska, mixing of shallow, oxygenated, lower-pH water from an unconfined aquifer with deeper, confined, anoxic, higher-pH water is facilitated by wells screened across both aquifers. The resulting higher-O2, lower-pH mixed groundwater facilitated the mobilization of U from solid aquifer materials, and dissolved U concentrations were observed to increase significantly in nearby supply wells. Similar instances of trace element mobilization due to human-induced mixing of groundwaters were documented in: (1) the Floridan aquifer system near Tampa, Florida (As and U), (2) Paleozoic sedimentary aquifers in eastern Wisconsin (As), (3) the basin-fill aquifer underlying the California Central Valley near Modesto (U), and (4) Coastal Plain aquifers of New Jersey (Ra). Adverse water-quality impacts attributed to human activities are commonly assumed to be related solely to the release of the various anthropogenic contaminants to the environment. The results show that human activities including various land uses, well drilling, and pumping rates and volumes can adversely impact the quality of water in supply wells, when associated with naturally-occurring trace elements in aquifer materials. This occurs by causing subtle but significant changes in geochemistry and associated trace element mobilization as well as enhancing advective transport processes.  相似文献   

17.
High-resolution paleohydrological reconstructions were carried out in five shallow lakes in the Nebraska Sand Hills across an east–west transect in order to 1) determine whether long-term droughts of the past 4000 years were spatially and temporally coherent across the region, 2) distinguish local variation in climate or hydrology from regional patterns of change, and 3) compare the paleolimnological results with the existing dune-inferred drought records. Diatom-inferred lake-level was reconstructed for all sites and compared with other regional records. Alterations between high and low lake-levels were frequent during the past 4000 years, which suggests that shifts between dry and wet periods were prevalent across the Sand Hills. Extended multi-decadal to centennial-scale droughts were more common prior to 2000 years BP, while the last two millennia were hydrologically more variable and climate conditions alternated on shorter timescales. Despite some discrepancies among the five records, the paleohydrological reconstructions refine the Holocene drought history of the Nebraska Sand Hills, particularly between ～2200 and 4000 cal a BP. Many of the observed drought events are contemporaneous with severe droughts documented at sites in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, lending support for the severity and regional significance of these events in western North America.  相似文献   

18.
唐桂秋 《湖南地质》1991,10(3):263-266
中原地区是我国古代青铜冶炼中心,却未见一处锡矿产地,当时炼锡原料从何而来,迄今仍为一大疑案。多数学者偏向源于华南,现知这里锡资源丰富,自然易圆其说,但也有认为就地取材于中原的,只是现今没有见到它的产地。笔者从锡矿的找矿前提分析,亦认为不能排除中原地区古时开采过,今后还找得到锡矿的可能性。  相似文献   

19.
Motor vehicles historically have been dangerous locations to shelter in during tornado events. Throughout the twentieth century, motor vehicle design has become safer while tornado forecasting has become better understood. Despite such advances, tornado fatalities in motor vehicles still occur today, and some events periodically result in high numbers of deaths (e.g., ten motor vehicle occupants were killed by a single tornado in Garland, Texas, in 2015). We seek to examine all US tornado-induced motor vehicle fatalities documented between 1991 and 2015. Our findings indicate that motor vehicle fatalities have not significantly changed during this study period. We attribute annual fatality totals to persons lacking awareness of impending dangers coupled with numbers of significant tornado events for a given year. We find most fatalities result when vehicles are lofted or passengers are ejected, and this most typically occurs at the EF3–EF5 intensity thresholds. Fatalities that occur at weaker tornado winds (EF0–EF2) are most often attributed to collapsing debris (mostly trees) on vehicles. Spatially, motor vehicle fatalities are greatest in the Deep South and southern Great Plains regions where overall tornado and nighttime tornado frequencies are greatest. Some of the largest motor vehicle fatality events have resulted from tornadoes not being distinctly visible to motorists; such events have been characterized by tornadoes occurring at night or by tornadoes not appearing as “classic funnels.”  相似文献   

20.
Late-Holocene environmental and climatic conditions were reconstructed from diatom assemblages in sediment cores from four western Montana lakes: Crevice Lake, Foy Lake, Morrison Lake, and Reservoir Lake. The lakes show synchroneity in timing of shifts in diatom community structure, but the nature of these changes differs among the lakes. Two of the sites provide highly resolved records of hydrologic balance, while the other two stratigraphic sequences primarily record temperature impact on lake thermal structure. All four lakes show significant change in five discrete intervals: 2200–2100, 1700–1600, 1350–1200, 800–600, and 250 cal yr BP. The similarities in the timing of change suggest overlying regional climatic influences on lake dynamics. The 800–600 cal yr BP shift is evident in other paleorecords throughout the Great Plains and western US, associated with the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age. Large-scale climatic mechanisms that influence these lake environments may result from atmospheric circulation patterns that are driven by interactions between Pacific and Atlantic sea-surface temperatures, which are then locally modified by topography.  相似文献   

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