Late Quaternary Valley Fills and Paleoenvironments of the Southern High Plains

这项研究考察了南部高平原晚第四纪的沉积物，以获取有关过去环境的信息。一些干燥的山谷横跨该地区，在过去的+11,000年里慢慢地填满了沉积物。以前零星的地貌调查强烈表明，晚第四纪沉积和成土事件以及类似的区域环境变化是同步的。研究的第一个目标是记录DRAW的晚第四纪地层史，以检验同步的区域地貌和成土事件的假说。另一个目标是了解更新世末期的环境和水文变化。在11,000到10,000年间，沿引水和引水之间有明显的从流动到静止的反相水文变化。目前还不清楚这些变化是由于当地的地貌条件还是环境差异造成的。第三个目标是了解中全新世环境。此时似乎有区域性的大规模风尘沉积，暗示着严重的普遍干旱。这项拟议的研究将有助于建立一个广袤地区(超过12万公里)的第四纪晚期古环境记录，到目前为止，只有少数几个地点知道这一记录。这一记录似乎是环境的戏剧性变化之一，这显然是历史时代的情况。了解这些过去的变化有助于应对未来的极端气候。

The research examines late-Quaternary sediments on the Southern High Plains for information on past environments. A number of dry valleys (draws) cross the region and have slowly filled with sediments for the past +11,000 years. Previous scattered geomorphic investigations strongly suggest synchroneity in late Quaternary depositional and soil-forming events and similar regional environmental changes. The first objective of the research is to document the late Quaternary stratigraphic histories of the draws to test the hypothesis of synchronous, regional geomorphic and soil-forming events. Another objective is to understand environmental and hydrologic changes at the end of the Pleistocene. There are marked out-of-phase hydrologic changes from flowing to standing water along and among the draws between 11,000 and 10,000 yrs. B.P. It is unclear whether these variations are due to local geomorphic conditions or environmental differences. The third objective is aimed at understanding middle Holocene environments. There appears to have been regional, massive eolian deposition at this time, suggestive of severe widespread aridity. The proposed research will help establish the late Quaternary paleoenvironmental record for a vast region (over 120,000 km), hitherto known only from a few sites. The record appears to be one of dramatic environmental changes, which is clearly the case for historic times. Understanding these past changes could help in dealing with future climatic extremes.