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Cool, wet conditions late in the Younger Dryas in semi-arid New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen A. Hall ,
William L. Penner ,
Manuel R. Palacios-Fest ,
Artie L. Metcalf  and
Susan J. Smith
Stephen A. Hall*
Affiliation:
Red Rock Geological Enterprises, 3 Cagua Road, Santa Fe, NM 87508, USA
William L. Penner
Affiliation:
Parametrix, 8801 Jefferson NE, Building B, Albuquerque, NM 87113, USA
Manuel R. Palacios-Fest
Affiliation:
Terra Nostra Earth Sciences Research, P.O. Box 37195, Tucson, AZ 85740, USA
Artie L. Metcalf
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
Susan J. Smith
Affiliation:
Bilby Research Center, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:redrock2@comcast.net (S.A. Hall).
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Abstract

A thick alluvial sequence in central New Mexico contains the Scholle wet meadow deposit that traces upstream to a paleospring. The wet meadow sediments contain an abundant fauna of twenty-one species of freshwater and terrestrial mollusks and ten species of ostracodes. The mollusks and ostracodes are indicative of a local high alluvial water table with spring-supported perennial flow but without standing water. Pollen analysis documents shrub grassland vegetation with sedges, willow, and alder in a riparian community. Stable carbon isotopes from the wet meadow sediments have δ13C values ranging from − 22.8 to − 23.3‰, indicating that 80% of the organic carbon in the sediment is derived from C3 species. The wet meadow deposit is AMS dated 10,400 to 9700 14C yr BP, corresponding to 12,300 to 11,100 cal yr BP and overlapping in time with the Younger Dryas event (YD). The wet meadow became active about 500 yr after the beginning of the YD and persisted 400 yr after the YD ended. The Scholle wet meadow is the only record of perennial flow and high water table conditions in the Abo Arroyo drainage basin during the past 13 ka.

Keywords

MollusksNew MexicoOstracodesPollen analysisScholle wet meadowStable carbon isotopesYounger Dryas
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 87 - 95
Copyright
University of Washington

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