Buried Paleo-Indian landscapes and sites on the High Plains of northwestern Kansas
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Published:January 01, 2004
Abstract
Recent geoarchaeological research on the High Plains of northwestern Kansas has yielded new information regarding the location of buried landscapes that may harbor the material record of the earliest humans in the region. Soil-stratigraphic and geomorphic investigations in playas and in the valleys of small, intermittent streams (draws) located high in drainage networks indicate these geomorphic setting were zones of slow sedimentation and episodic soil development during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Deeply buried paleosols in the draws have yielded Clovis and possibly pre-Clovis cultural deposits, and a landscape/soil-stratigraphic model has been developed to systematically search for additional...
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Contents
Field Trips in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA

The theme of the 2004 GSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, “Geoscience in a Changing World,” covers both new and traditional areas of the earth sciences. The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and the High Plains preserve an outstanding record of geological processes from Precambrian through Quaternary times, and thus serve as excellent educational exhibits for the meeting. With energy and mineral resources, geological hazards, water issues, geoarchaeological sites, and famous dinosaur fossil sites, the Front Range and adjacent High Plains region provide ample opportunities for field trips focusing on our changing world. The chapters in this field guide all contain technical content as well as a field trip log describing field trip routes and stops. Of the 25 field trips offered at the Meeting, 14 are described in this guidebook, covering a wide variety of geoscience disciplines, with chapters on tectonics (Precambrian and Laramide), stratigraphy and paleoenvironments (e.g., early Paleozoic environments, Jurassic eolian environments, the K-T boundary, the famous Oligocene Florissant fossil beds), economic deposits (coal and molybdenum), geological hazards, and geoarchaeology.