Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-bvgqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T09:55:23.398Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary loess and soils on uplands in the Canyonlands and Mesa Verde areas, Utah and Colorado

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2017

Marith C. Reheis ,
Harland L. Goldstein ,
Richard L. Reynolds ,
Steven L. Forman ,
Shannon A. Mahan  and
Paul E. Carrara
Marith C. Reheis*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Harland L. Goldstein
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Richard L. Reynolds
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Steven L. Forman
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97354, Waco, Texas 76798, USA
Shannon A. Mahan
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Paul E. Carrara
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980, Federal Center, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA. E-mail address: mreheis@usgs.gov (M.C. Reheis).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Thin loess deposits on the uplands of the southeastern Colorado Plateau have previously not been well studied. We sampled deposits and soils from trenches on Hatch Point (HP) mesa near Canyonlands National Park, Utah, and from two outcrops in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. At HP, the oldest buried unit yielded 2 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of 10,370 and 7555 yr; the middle unit yielded 10 OSL ages from 6220 to 1385 yr; and the youngest unit had a single age of 1740 yr. At Mesa Verde (MV), three loess units are preserved in the two outcrops we examined; 6 OSL ages range from 51 to 17 ka. At least one buried soil is present between two units with ages of about 50 and 40 ka. The ages of the loess units in both study areas correspond well with OSL-dated dune sands in Canyonlands National Park and with dune sands on Black Mesa, Arizona. Particle-size distribution combined with chemical and magnetic data indicate that HP loess was derived mostly from nearby sandstone sources with a small component of far-traveled atmospheric dust, whereas MV loess was sourced both from the nearby sandstone and the San Juan River and its tributaries.

Keywords

LoessColorado PlateauLate QuaternaryLuminescence dating

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 89 , Issue 3: INQUA LoessFest 2016 , May 2018 , pp. 718 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2017 

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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Aitken, M.J., Bowman, S.G., 1975. Thermoluminescent dating: assessment of alpha particle contribution. Archaeometry 17, 132–138.Google Scholar
Arrhenius, G., Bonatti, E., 1965. The Mesa Verde loess. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, Contributions of the Wetherill Mesa Archeological Project 19, 92–100.Google Scholar
Banerjee, D., Murray, A.S., Bøtter-Jensen, L., Lang, A., 2001. Equivalent dose estimation using a single aliquot of polymineral fine grains. Radiation Measurements 33, 73–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateman, M.D., Frederick, C.D., Jaiswal, M.K., Singhvi, A.S., 2003. Investigations into the potential effects of pedoturbation on luminescence dating. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 1169–1176.Google Scholar
Bettis, E.A.I., Muhs, D.R., Roberts, H.M., Wintle, A.G., 2003. Last glacial loess in the conterminous USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 1907–1946.Google Scholar
Biggar, N.E., Harden, D.R., Gillam, M.L., 1981. Quaternary deposits in the Paradox Basin. In: Wiegand, D.L. (Ed.), Geology of the Paradox Basin, 1981 Field Conference. Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, CO, pp. 129–145.Google Scholar
Briggs, P.H., 2002. The determination of twenty-seven elements in aqueous samples by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. In: Taggart, J.E., Jr. (Ed.), Analytical Methods for Chemical Analysis of Geologic and Other Materials. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open File Report 02-223-F. USGS, Denver, CO, pp. F1–F11.Google Scholar
Briggs, P.H., Meier, A.L., 2002. The determination of forty-two elements in geological materials by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. In: Taggart, J.E., Jr. (Ed.), Analytical Methods for Chemical Analysis of Geologic and Other Materials. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open File Report 02-223-I. USGS, Denver, CO, pp. I1–I14.Google Scholar
Budahn, J.R., Wandless, G.A., 2002. Instrumental neutron activation by abbreviated count. In: Taggart, J.E., Jr. (Ed.), Analytical Methods for Chemical Analysis of Geologic and Other Materials. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open File Report 02-223-Y. USGS, Denver, CO, pp. Y1–Y9.Google Scholar
Carrara, P.E., 2012. Surficial Geologic Map of Mesa Verde National Park, Montezuma County, Colorado. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Map 3224. USGS, Reston, VA.Google Scholar
Castillo, S., Moreno, T., Querol, X., Alastuey, A., Cuevas, E., Herrmann, L., Mounkaila, M., Gibbons, W., 2008. Trace element variation in size-fractionated African desert dusts. Journal of Arid Environments 72, 1034–1045.Google Scholar
Chadwick, O.A., Derry, L.A., Vitousek, P.M., Huebert, B.J., Hedin, L.O., 1999. Changing sources of nutrients during four million years of ecosystem development. Nature 397, 491–497.Google Scholar
Dietze, M., Dietze, E., Lomax, J., Fuchs, M., Kleber, A., Wells, S.G., 2016. Environmental history recorded in aeolian deposits under stone pavements, Mojave Desert, USA. Quaternary Research 85, 4–16.Google Scholar
Duller, G.A.T., 2008. Luminescence Dating: Guidelines on Using Luminescence Dating in Archaeology. English Heritage, Swindon, UK.Google Scholar
Ellwein, A.L., Mahan, S.A., McFadden, L.D., 2011. New optically stimulated luminescence ages provide evidence of MIS3 and MIS2 eolian activity on Black Mesa, northeastern Arizona, USA. Quaternary Research 75, 395–398.Google Scholar
Ellwein, A.L., Mahan, S.A., McFadden, L.D., 2015. Impacts of climate change on the formation and stability of late Quaternary sand sheets and falling dunes, Black Mesa region, southern Colorado Plateau, USA. Quaternary International 362, 87–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, J.P., Belnap, J., Breshears, D.D., Neff, J.C., Okin, G.S., Whicker, J.J., Painter, T.H., Ravi, S., Reheis, M.C., Reynolds, R.L., 2009. The ecology of dust. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8, 423–430.Google Scholar
Galbraith, R.F., Roberts, R.G., Laslett, G.M., Yoshida, H., Olley, J.M., 1999. Optical dating of single and multiple grains of quartz from Jinmium rock shelter, northern Australia: Part 1, Experimental design and statistical models. Archaeometry 41, 339–364.Google Scholar
Gillam, M.L., 1998. Late Cenozoic Geology and Soils of the Lower Animas River Valley, Colorado and New Mexico. PhD dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Goldstein, H.L., Miller, M.E., Yount, J.C., Reheis, M.C., Reynolds, R.L., Belnap, J., Lamothe, P.J., McGeehin, J.P., 2009. Physical, Chemical, Ecological, and Age Data and Trench Logs from Surficial Deposits at Hatch Point, Southeastern Utah. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report 2009-1219. USGS, Reston, VA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, H.L., Reynolds, R.L., Reheis, M.C., Yount, J.C., Lamothe, P.J., 2007. Physical and chemical data from eolian sediment collected along a transect from the Mojave Desert to the Colorado Plateau. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2007-1153, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, H.L., Reynolds, R.L., Reheis, M.C., Yount, J.C., Neff, J.C., 2008. Compositional trends in aeolian dust along a transect across the southwestern United States. Journal of Geophysical Research 113, F02S02. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007JF000751.Google Scholar
Gray, H.J., Mahan, S.A., Rittenour, T., Nelson, M., 2015. Guide to luminescence dating techniques and their applications for paleoseismic research. In: Lund, W.R. (Ed.), Proceedings Volume, Basin and Range Province Seismic Hazards Summit III Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 15-5. Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City. http://ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/misc_pubs/mp-15-5/mp-15-5_invited_paper.pdf.Google Scholar
Guido, Z.S., Ward, D.J., Anderson, R.S., 2007. Pacing the post–Last Glacial Maximum demise of the Animas Valley glacier and the San Juan Mountain ice cap, Colorado. Geology 35, 739–742.Google Scholar
Hardy, M., Cornu, S., 2006. Location of natural trace elements in silty soils using particle-size fractionation. Geoderma 133, 295–308.Google Scholar
Haynes, D.D., Vogel, J.D., Wyant, D.G., 1972. Geology, Structure, and Uranium Deposits of the Cortez Quadrangle, Colorado and Utah. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-629, scale 1:250,000. USGS, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hinrichs, E.N., Connor, J.J., Moore, H.J.I., Krummel, W.J.J., 1971. Geologic Map of the Southeast Quarter of the Hatch Point Quadrangle, San Juan County, Utah. Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-669. U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hunt, C.B., 1956. Cenozoic geology of the Colorado Plateau. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 279, 1–99.Google Scholar
King, J.W., Channel, J.E.T., 1991. Sedimentary magnetism, environmental magnetism, and magnetostratigraphy. Reviews of Geophysics 29, 358–370.Google Scholar
Lipman, P.W., 2004. Chemical Analyses of Tertiary Volcanic Rocks, Central San Juan Caldera Complex, Southwestern Colorado. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report 2004-1194. USGS, Menlo Park, CA.Google Scholar
Machette, M.N., 1985. Calcic soils of the southwestern United States. In: Weide, D.L. (Ed.), Soils and Quaternary Geomorphology of the Southwestern United States. Geological Society of America. Special Papers. 203, 1–21.Google Scholar
McDonald, J.N., Neusius, S.W., Clay, V.L., 1987. An associated partial skeleton of Symbos cavifrons (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) from Montezuma County, Colorado. Journal of Paleontology 61, 831–843.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhs, D.R., 2007. Paleosols and wind-blown sediments: overview. In: Elias, S.A. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Elsevier, New York, pp. 2075–2086.Google Scholar
Muhs, D.R., 2017. Evaluation of simple geochemical indicators of aeolian sand provenance: Late Quaternary dune fields of North America revisited. Quaternary Science Reviews 171, 260–296.Google Scholar
Murray, A.S., Wintle, A.G., 2003. The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: potential for improvements in reliability. Radiation Measurements 37, 377–381.Google Scholar
Nelson, M., Gray, H., Johnson, J.A., Rittenour, T., Feathers, J., Mahan, S.A., 2015. User guide for luminescence sampling in archaeological and geological contexts. Advances in Archaeological Practice 3, 166–177.Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, R.B., Beikman, H.M., 1963. Geology, Structure, and Uranium Deposits of the Shiprock Quadrangle, New Mexico and Arizona. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-345, scale, 1:250,000. USGS, Reston, VA.Google Scholar
Phillips, S.P., Morris, T.H., Tingey, D.G., Eggett, D.L., 2015. Discriminant analysis of elemental data to differentiate formations of like facies. Journal of Sedimentary Research 85, 1293–1309.Google Scholar
Prescott, J.R., Hutton, J.T., 1994. Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: Large depths and long-term time variations. Radiation Measurements 23, 497–500.Google Scholar
Preusser, F., Degering, D., Fuchs, M., Hilgers, A., Kadereit, A., Klasen, N., Krbetschek, M., Richter, D., Spencer, J.Q.G., 2008. Luminescence dating: basics, methods and applications. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart Quaternary Science Journal 57, 95–149.Google Scholar
Price, A.B., Nettleton, W.D., Bowman, G.A., Clay, V.L., 1988. Selected properties, distribution, source, and age of eolian deposits and soils of southwest Colorado. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52, 450–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reheis, M.C., Reynolds, R.L., Goldstein, H., Roberts, H.M., Yount, J.C., Axford, Y., Cummings, L.S., Shearin, N., 2005. Late Quaternary eolian and alluvial response to paleoclimate, Canyonlands, southeastern Utah. Geological Society of America Bulletin 117, 1051–1069.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Ramsey, C.B., Buck, C.E., et al., 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55, 1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R., Belnap, J., Reheis, M., Lamothe, P., Luiszer, F., 2001. Aeolian dust in Colorado Plateau soils: nutrient inputs and recent change in source. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 98, 7123–7127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, R.L., Goldstein, H.L., Miller, M.E., 2010. Atmospheric mineral dust in dryland ecosystems: applications of environmental magnetism. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 11, Q07009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GC003103.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R.L., Reheis, M.C., Neff, J.C., Goldstein, H., Yount, J.C., 2006a. Late Quaternary eolian dust in surficial deposits of a Colorado Plateau grassland: controls on distribution and ecologic effects. Catena 66, 251–266.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R.L., Reheis, M., Yount, J., Lamothe, P., 2006b. Composition of aeolian dust in natural traps on isolated surfaces of the central Mojave Desert—insights to mixing, sources, and nutrient inputs. Journal of Arid Environments 66, 42–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, E.J., 2011. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments over the past 200,000 years. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 39, 461–488.Google Scholar
Roberts, H.M., 2007. Assessing the effectiveness of the double-SAR protocol in isolating a luminescence signal dominated by quartz. Radiation Measurements 42, 1627–1636.Google Scholar
Rohn, A.H., 1963. Prehistoric soil and water conservation on Chapin Mesa, southwestern Colorado. American Antiquity 28, 441–455.Google Scholar
Singer, M.J., Janitzky, P., 1986. Field and Laboratory Procedures Used in a Soil Chronosequence Study. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Bulletin 1648. USGS, Denver, CO.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Staff, 1996. Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 7th Edition. National Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Steensen, D.L., 1992. Soil Stratigraphy, Depositional History, and Tentative Correlation of Loess Deposits on the Western Sage Plain, Southeastern Utah. Master’s thesis, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA.Google Scholar
Stokes, S., Breed, C.S., 1993. A chronostratigraphic re-evaluation of the Tusayan Dunes, Moenkopi Plateau and southern Ward terrace, northeastern Arizona. In: Pye, K. (Ed.), The Dynamics and Environmental Context of Aeolian Sedimentary Systems Special Publication 72. London Geological Society, London, pp. 75–90.Google Scholar
Syers, J.K., Jackson, M.L., Berkheiser, V.E., Clayton, R.N., Rex, R.W., 1969. Eolian sediment influence on pedogenesis during the Quaternary. Soil Science 107, 421–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorp, J., Smith, H.T., Baldwin, M., Bowser, W.E., Flint, R.F., Gould, L.M., Moss, H.C., Reed, E.C., Smith, G.D., Trowbridge, A.C., 1952. Pleistocene Eolian Deposits of the United States, Alaska, and Parts of Canada. Geological Society of America, special map. Geological Society of America, New York.Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, J., 2013. Grain size of fine-grained windblown sediment: a powerful proxy for process identification. Earth-Science Reviews 121, 18–30.Google Scholar
Wells, S.G., McFadden, L.D., Schultz, J.D., 1990. Eolian landscape evolution and soil formation in the Chaco dune field, southern Colorado Plateau, New Mexico. Geomorphology 3, 517–546.Google Scholar
Williams, P.L., 1964. Geology, Structure, and Uranium Deposits of the Moab Quadrangle, Colorado and Utah. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-360, scale 1:250,000. USGS, Reston, CA.Google Scholar
Wyckoff, D.G., 1977. Secondary forest succession following abandonment of Mesa Verde. Kiva 42, 215–231.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Reheis et al supplementary material

Reheis et al supplementary material 1

Download Reheis et al supplementary material(File)
File 17.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Reheis et al supplementary material

Reheis et al supplementary material 2

Download Reheis et al supplementary material(File)
File 678.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Reheis et al supplementary material

Reheis et al supplementary material 3

Download Reheis et al supplementary material(File)
File 56.9 KB