Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:17:59.481Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary sedimentology and geochronology of small playas on the Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico, U.S.A.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Vance T. Holliday ,
James H. Mayer  and
Glen G. Fredlund
Vance T. Holliday*
Affiliation:
Departments of Anthropology and Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
James H. Mayer
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Glen G. Fredlund
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:vthollid@email.arizona.edu(V.T. Holliday).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Playas are small, circular basins forming a ubiquitous component of the southern High Plains landscape. They are filled with carbonaceous mud deposited since the terminal Pleistocene. The stratigraphy and geochronology of 30 playas was investigated to better understand the paleoenvironmental record of basin filling. At the base of the fill in some playas is a well sorted eolian sand dated between ~ 13,000 and ~ 11,000 14C yr BP. The beginning of mud deposition, representing aggradation of eolian dust on a moist, vegetated playa floor was largely between ~ 12,000 and ~ 10,500 14C yr BP. Playa filling slowed ~ 9000 to ~ 4000 14C yr BP, probably due to dry conditions, increased ~ 4000 to ~ 2000 14C yr BP, then slowed again. Eolian sand and loam, likely representing regional aridity, accumulated in some basins episodically just prior to ~ 10,700 14C yr BP, between ~ 8600 and ~ 4700 14C yr BP, and at ~ 1300 14C yr BP. Stable C isotopes from one basin indicate that the playa was inundated only seasonally throughout the record beginning ~ 11,500 14C yr BP. The phytolith record in that basin indicates an abrupt shift toward cooling ~ 11,400 to ~ 11,200 14C yr BP and then increasing importance of xeric-adapted C4 grasses through the Holocene.

Keywords

PlayasSouthern High PlainsYounger DryasAltithermalStable isotopesPhytolithsC3 and C4 plants
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 70 , Issue 1 , July 2008 , pp. 11 - 25
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alley, R.B., Meese, D.A., Shuman, C.A., Gow, A.J., Taylor, K.C., Grootes, P.M., White, J.W.C., Ram, M., Waddington, E.D., Mayewski, P.A., Zielinski, G.A., (1993). Abrupt increase in Greenland snow accumulation at the end of the Younger Dryas event.. Nature 362, 527–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, D.A., (1984). Prospects and limits of a phytolith key for grasses in the central United States.. Journal of Archaeological Science 11, 345–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehleringer, J.R., Cerling, T.E., Helliker, B.R., (1997). C4 photosynthesis, atmospheric CO2, and climate.. Oecologia 112, 285–299.Google Scholar
Evans, G.L., and Meade, G.E. (1945). Quaternary of the Texas High Plains, 4401.. The University of Texas Publication, pp. 485–507.Google Scholar
Firestone, R., West, A., and Warwick-Smith, S. (2006). The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes.. Bear and Co., Rochester, VT.Google Scholar
Fredlund, G.G. (1986). Problems in the simultaneous extraction of pollen and phytoliths from clastic sediments.. In: Rovner, I. (Ed.), Opal Phytolith Analysis in Archaeology and Paleoecology: Proceedings of the 1984 Phytolith Research Workshop. Occasional Paper No. 1 of the Phytolitharien. North Carolina State University, Raleigh., pp. 102–111.Google Scholar
Fredlund, G.G., Tieszen, L.L., (1994). Modern phytolith assemblages from the North American Great Plains.. Journal of Biogeography 21, 321–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredlund, G.G., Tieszen, L.L., (1997). Phytolith and carbon isotope evidence for late Quaternary vegetation and climate change in the southern Black Hills, South Dakota.. Quaternary Research 47, 206–217.Google Scholar
Gilbert, G.K., (1895). Lake basins created by wind erosion.. Journal of Geology 3, 47–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillette, D.A., Walker, T.R., (1977). Characteristics of airborne particles produced by wind erosion of sandy soil, High Plains of west Texas.. Soil Science 123, 97–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustavson, T.C., and Finley, R.C. (1985). Late Cenozoic geomorphic evolution of the Texas Panhandle and northeastern New Mexico. The University of Texas at Austin Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations 148.Google Scholar
Gustavson, T.C., Winkler, D.A., (1988). Depositional facies of the Miocene–Pliocene Ogallala Formation, northwestern Texas and eastern New Mexico.. Geology 16, 203–206.Google Scholar
Gustavson, T.C., Holliday, V.T., and Hovorka, S.D. (1995). Origin and development of Playa Basins, sources of recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico.. The University of Texas at Austin Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigation 229.Google Scholar
Haukos, D.A., and Smith, L.M. (1997). The common flora of playa lakes.. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock. 196 pp.Google Scholar
Hill, M.G., Holliday, V.T., Stanford, D., (1995). A further evaluation of the San Jon site, New Mexico.. Plains Anthropology 40, 369–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T. (1985a). Holocene soil-geomorphological relations in a semi-arid environment: the southern High Plains of Texas.. In: Boardman, J. (Ed.), Soils and Quaternary Landscape Evolution. John Wiley and Sons, New York. pp. 325–357.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1985b). New data on the stratigraphy and pedology of the Clovis and Plainview sites, Southern High Plains.. Quaternary Research 23, 388–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1985c). Archaeological geology of the Lubbock Lake site, Southern High Plains of Texas.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, 1483–1492.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T. (1987). Eolian processes and sediments of the Great Plains.. In: Graf, W. (Ed.), Geomorphic Systems of North America. Geological Society of America Centennial Special, 2, pp. 195–202.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1989a). The Blackwater Draw Formation (Quaternary): A 1.4-plus m.y. record of eolian sedimentation and soil formation on the Southern High Plains.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 101, 1598–1607.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1989b). Middle Holocene drought on the Southern High Plains.. Quaternary Research 31, 74–82.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1995). Stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of Late Quaternary Valley Fills on the Southern High Plains.. Geological Society of America Memoir 186, BoulderGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T. (1997a). Paleoindian Geoarchaeology of the Southern High Plains.. The University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (1997b). Origin and evolution of lunettes on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico.. Quaternary Research 47, 54–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (2000). Folsom drought and episodic drying on the Southern High Plains from 10,900–10,200 14C yr B.P.. Quaternary Research 53, 1–12.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., (2001). Stratigraphy and geochronology of upper Quaternary eolian sand on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, U.S.A.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 113, 88–108.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T., Gustavson, T.C., Hovorka, S.D., (1996). Stratigraphy and geochronology of playa fills on the Southern High Plains.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 108, 953–965.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, V.T., Kring, D.A., Mayer, J.H., Goble, R.J., (2005). Age and effects of the Odessa Meteorite impact, western Texas, USA.. Geology 33, 945–947.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T., Huckell, B.B., Mayer, J.M., Forman, S.L., (2006). Geoarchaeology of the Boca Negra Wash area, Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico.. Geoarchaeology 21, 765–802.Google Scholar
Jackson, J.A. (Ed.), (1997). Glossary of Geology. American Geological Institute, Falls Church VA.Google Scholar
Johnson, E., (1986). Late Pleistocene and early Holocene paleoenvironments on the Southern High Plains (USA).. Geographie et Physique et Quaternarie 40, 249–261.Google Scholar
Johnson, W.D. (1901). The High Plains and their Utilization: U.S. Geological Survey 21st Annual Report for 1899–1900, part IV.. 601–741.Google Scholar
Johnson, E., Holliday, V.T., (1986). The Archaic record at Lubbock Lake.. Plains Anthropologist Memoir 21, 7–54.Google Scholar
Johnson, W.C., Willey, K.L., (2000). Isotopic and rock magnetic expression of environmental change at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the central Great Plains.. Quaternary International 67, 89–109.Google Scholar
Johnson, E., and Holliday, V.T. (2004). Archaeology and late Quaternary environments of the Southern High Plains.. In: Pertulla, T.K. Prehistory of Texas. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.283–295.Google Scholar
Judson, S., (1950). Depressions of the northern portion of the southern High Plains of eastern New Mexico.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 61, 253–274.Google Scholar
Kelly, E.F., Yonker, C., and Marino, B. (1993). Stable carbon isotope composition of paleosols: application to the Holocene.. In: Swart, P.K. Lohman, K.C. McKenzie, J. Savin, S. Climate Change in Continental Isotopic Records. Geophysical Monographs 78, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.233–239.Google Scholar
Ludlow, M.M., Troughton, J.H., Jones, R.J., (1976). A technique for determining the proportion of C3 and C4 species in plant samples using stable natural isotopes of carbon.. Journal of Agricultural Science 87, 625–632.Google Scholar
Luo, H.R., (1994). The effects of land use on sediment deposition in playas. M.A. thesis. Texas Tech University, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Meltzer, D.J., (1991). Altithermal archaeology and paleoecology at Mustang Springs, on the Southern High Plains of Texas.. American Antiquity 56, 236–267.Google Scholar
Meltzer, D.J., (1999). Human responses to middle Holocene (Altithermal) climates on the North American Great Plains.. Quaternary Research 52, 404–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhs, D.R., Aleinikoff, J.N., Stafford, T.W., Kihl, R., Been, J., Mahan, S.A., Cowherd, S., (1999). Late Quaternary loess in northeastern Colorado: part I—Age and paleoclimatic significance.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111, 1861–1875.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulholland, S.C., (1989). Phytolith shape frequencies in North Dakota grasses: a comparison to general patterns.. Journal of Archaeological Science 16, 489–511.Google Scholar
Mulholand, S.C., Rapp, G. Jr. (1992). A morphological classification of grass–silica bodies.. In: Rapp, G. Jr. Mulholland, S.C. Phytolith Systematics: Emerging Issues. Plenum, New York.65–90.Google Scholar
Nordt, L.C. (2001). Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in soils.. In: Goldberg, P. Holliday, V.T. Ferring, C.R. Earth Sciences and Archaeology. Kluwer Academic, New York.419–448.Google Scholar
Nordt, L., von Fischer, J., Tieszen, L., (2007). Late Quaternary temperature record from buried soil of the North American Great Plains.. Geology 35, 159–162.Google Scholar
Osterkamp, W.R., Wood, W.W., (1987). Playa-lake basins on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico: part I. Hydrologic, geomorphic, and geologic evidence for their development.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 99, 215–223.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C. Jr. (1972). Tertiary–Quaternary stratigraphy and geomorphology of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico.. In: Kelly, V.C. Trauger, F.D. Guidebook to East-central New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society, Socorro.108–117.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C. Jr. (1976). Quaternary stratigraphy and geologic history of Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico.. In: Mahaney, W.C. Quaternary Stratigraphy of North America. Dowden, Stroudsburg, PA.213–234.Hutchinson and Ross, IncGoogle Scholar
Reeves, C.C. Jr., (1990).A proposed sequential development of lake basins, Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico.. In: Gustavson, T.C. (Ed.), Geologic Framework and Regional Hydrology: Upper Cenozoic Blackwater Draw and Ogallala Formations, Great Plains. The University of Texas at Austin Bureau of Economic Geology, pp. 209–232.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C. Jr., (1991). Origin and stratigraphy of alkaline lake basins, Southern High Plains.. In: Morrison, R.B. Quaternary Nonglacial Geology: Conterminous U.S.: Geological Society of America Centennial Volume K-2, pp. 484–486. Boulder.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C. Jr., Reeves, J.A., (1996). The Ogallala aquifer (of the Southern High Plains), volume 1.. Estacado Books, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Roberts, F.H.H., (1942). Archaeological and geological investigations in the San Jon District, eastern New Mexico.. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection 103, (4) 30 pp.Google Scholar
Sabin, T.J., Holliday, V.T., (1995). Morphometric and spatial relationships of playas and lunettes on the Southern High Plains.. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 85, 286–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, M.J., Janitzky, P. (Eds.), (1986). Field and Laboratory Procedures Used in a Soil Chronosequence Study.. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, vol. 1648, . Washington, D.C.., 49 pp.Google Scholar
Smith, L.M. (2003). Playas of the Great Plains.. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Smith, B.N., Epstein, S., (1971). Two categories of 13C/12C ratios for higher plants.. Plant Physiology 47, 380–384.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Division Staff, (1993). Soil Survey Manual.. U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook, 18, . 437 pp.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., (1993). Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program.. Radiocarbon 35, 215–230.Google Scholar
Taylor, K.C., Lamorey, G.W., Doyle, G.A., Alley, R.B., Grootes, P.M., Mayewski, P.A., White, J.W.C., Barlow, L.K., (1993). The ‘flickering switch’ of late Pleistocene climate change.. Nature 361, 432–436.Google Scholar
Teeri, J.A., Stowe, L.G., (1976). Climatic patterns and the distribution of C4 grasses in North America.. Oecologia 23, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tieszen, L.L., Reed, B.C., Bliss, N.B., Wylie, B.K., DeJong, D., (1997). NDVI, C3 and C4 production, and distributions in Great Plains grassland land cover classes.. Ecological Applications 7, 59–78.Google Scholar
Twiss, P.C., Suess, E., Smith, R.M., (1969). Morphological classification of grass phytoliths.. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 33, 109–115.Google Scholar
Wood, W.W., Osterkamp, W.R., (1987). Playa-lake basins on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico: Part 2, A hydrologic model and mass-balance argument for their development.. Geological Society of America Bulletin 99, 224–230.Google Scholar