Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:17:20.442Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relict nebkhas (pimple mounds) record prolonged late Holocene drought in the forested region of south-central United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher L. Seifert ,
Randel Tom Cox ,
Steven L. Forman ,
Tom L. Foti ,
Thad A. Wasklewicz  and
Andrew T. McColgan
Christopher L. Seifert
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
Randel Tom Cox*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
Steven L. Forman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607-7059, USA
Tom L. Foti
Affiliation:
Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, 323 Center St., Little Rock, AR 72201, USA
Thad A. Wasklewicz
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353, USA
Andrew T. McColgan
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 901 678 2178. Email Address:randycox@memphis.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The origin and significance of pimple mounds (low, elliptical to circular dune-like features found across much of the south-central United States) have been debated for nearly two centuries. We cored pimple mounds at four sites spanning the Ozark Plateau, Arkansas River Valley, and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and found that these mounds have a regionally consistent textural asymmetry such that there is a significant excess of coarse-grained sediment within their northwest flanks. We interpret this asymmetry as evidence of an eolian depositional origin of these mounds and conclude they are relict nebkhas (coppice dunes) deposited during protracted middle to late Holocene droughts. These four mounds yield optically stimulated luminescence ages between 2400 and 700 yr that correlate with well-documented periods of eolian activity and droughts on the southern Great Plains, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly. We conclude vegetation loss during extended droughts led to local eolian deflation and pimple mound deposition. These mounds reflect landscape response to multi-decadal droughts for the south-central U.S. The spatial extent of pimple mounds across this region further underscores the severity and duration of late Holocene droughts, which were significantly greater than historic droughts.

Keywords

ArkansasCoppice dunesEolianLuminescenceMedieval climate anomalyMima moundsNabkhasNorth AmericaPrairie moundsQuaternary
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 329 - 339
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

Allgood, F.P., and Gray, F. An ecological interpretation of the small mounds in landscapes of eastern Oklahoma. Journal of Environmental Quality 3, (1974). 37–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allred, B.W., and Mitchell, H.C. Major plant types of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas and their relation to climate and soils. Texas Journal of Science 7, (1955). 7–19.Google Scholar
Aitken, M.J. An Introduction to Optical Dating: the Dating of Quaternary Sediments by the Use of Photon-stimulated Luminescence. (1998). Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 267 Google Scholar
Ahlbrandt, T.S., Swinehart, J.B., and Maroney, D.G. The dynamic Holocene dune fields of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain basins, U.S.A.. Brookfield, M.E., Ahlbrandt, T.S. Eolian sediments and processes/11th International Association of Sedimentologists Congress 38, (1983). 379–406.Google Scholar
Arbogast, A.F. Stratigraphic evidence for late-Holocene aeolian sand mobilization and soil formation in south-central Kansas, USA. Journal of Arid Environments 34, (1996). 403–414.Google Scholar
Arbogast, A.F., and Muhs, D.R. Eolian Evidence for Northwesterly Paleowinds in the Holocene, Central Kansas, U.S.A. Wolfe, S., Goodfriend, G., Baker, R. Holocene Environmental Change on the Great Plains of North America. Quaternary International 67, (2000). 107–118.Google Scholar
Arnold, J.J., (1960). Prairie Mounds and Their Climatic Implications. Unpublished MS thesis, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR.Google Scholar
Aten, L.E., and Bollich, C.N. Archeological evidence for pimple (prairie) mound genesis. Science 213, (1981). 1375–1376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartholomew, R.P. Soil Types in Arkansas. Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. (1935). Little Rock, 5p Google Scholar
Beckman, M.A. Middle Archaic complex of northwest Arkansas. Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings 23, (1969). 197–208.Google Scholar
Berg, A.W. Formation of Mima mounds: a seismic hypothesis. Geology 18, (1990). 281–284.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birkeland, P.W. Soils and Geomorphology. (1999). Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 430 Google Scholar
Bøtter-Jensen, L., Bulur, E., Duller, G.A.T., and Murray, A.S. Advances in luminescence instrument systems. Radiation Measurements 32, (2000). 523–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bragg, D.C., and Weih, R.C., (2008). A comparison of circular anomalies from a historical Arkansas landscape. U.S. Regional Association of the International Association of Landscale Ecology Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin., April 6–10, 2008.Google Scholar
Branner, J.C. Natural mounds or “hog-wallows.”. Science 21, (1905). 514–516.Google Scholar
Buntley, G.J., Daniels, R.B., Gamble, E.E., and Brown, W.T. Fragipan horizons in soils of the Memphis-Loring-Grenada sequence in West Tennessee. Soil Science Society of America Journal 41, (1977). 400–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cain, R.H. Pimple mounds: a new viewpoint. Ecology 55, (1974). 178–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, M.R. Natural mounds. Journal of Geology 14, (1906). 708–717.Google Scholar
Carty, D.J., Dixon, J.B., Wilding, L.P., and Turner, F.T. Characterization of a pimple mound-intermound soil complex in the Gulf Coast prairie region of Texas. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52, (1988). 1715–1721.Google Scholar
Clendenin, W.W. Preliminary report upon the Florida Parishes of east Louisiana and the bluff, prairie, and hill lands of southwest Louisiana. Louisiana State Experiment Station Bulletin, Geology and Agriculture Part 3 (1896). 180 Google Scholar
Collins, B. Range vegetation and Mima mounds in north Texas. Journal of Range Management 28, (1975). 209–211.Google Scholar
Cook, E.R., Woodhouse, C.A., Eakin, C.M., Meko, D.M., and Stahle, D.W. Long-term aridity changes in the western United States. Science 306, (2004). 1015–1018.Google Scholar
Cook, E.R., Seager, R., Cane, M.A., and Stahle, D.W. North American drought: reconstructions, causes, and consequences. Earth-Science Reviews 81, (2007). 93–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corliss, W.R. Unknown Earth: a Handbook of Geological Enigmas. (1980). Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD. 833 Google Scholar
Cox, R.T., Larsen, D., Forman, S.L., Woods, J., Morat, J., and Galluzzi, J. Preliminary assessment of sand blows in the southern Mississippi Embayment. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 94, (2004). 1125–1142.Google Scholar
Cox, R.T., Hill, A.A., Larsen, D., Holzer, T., Forman, S.L., Noce, T., Gardner, C., and Morat, J. Seismotectonic implications of sand blows in the southern Mississippi Embayment. Engineering Geology 89, (2007). 278–299.Google Scholar
Cox, G.W., and Scheffer, V.B. Pocket gophers and mima terrain in North America. Natural Areas Journal 11, (1991). 193–198.Google Scholar
Daniels, J.M., and Knox, J.C. Alluvial stratigraphic evidence for channel incision during the Medieval warm period, Central Great Plains, USA. The Holocene 15, (2005). 736–747.Google Scholar
Delcourt, H.R., Delcourt, P.A., and Royall, P.D. Late Quaternary vegetational history of the Western Lowlands. Morse, D.F. Sloan: A Paleoindian Dalton Cemetary in Arkansas. (1997). Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington D.C.. 103–151.Google Scholar
Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Asmerom, Y., Reagan, M.K., and Recelli-Snyder, H. Speleothem carbon isotopic records of Holocene environments in the Ozark Highlands, USA. Quaternary International 67, (2000). 21–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denniston, R.F., DuPree, M., Dorale, J.A., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V.J., and Carpenter, S.J. Episodes of late Holocene aridity recorded by stalagmites from Devil's Icebox Cave, central Missouri, USA. Quaternary Research 68, (2007). 45–52.Google Scholar
DeSelm, H.R. Natural forest openings in the uplands of the eastern United States. Kulhavy, D.L., and Conner, R.N. Wilderness and Natural Areas in the Eastern United States: a Management Challenge. (1986). Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, TX. 366–375.Google Scholar
Dirmeyer, P.A., and Brubaker, K.L. Contrasting evaporative moisture sources during the drought of 1988 and the flood of 1993. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 104, D16 (1999). 19383–19397.Google Scholar
Dougill, A.J., and Thomas, A.D. Potentials and problems in using nebkha dunes as indicators of soil degradation in the Molopo Basin, South Africa and Botswana. Conacher, A.J. Land Degradation. (2001). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands. 37–51.Google Scholar
Dougill, A.J., and Thomas, A.D. Nebkha dunes in the Molopo Basin, South Africa and Botswana: formation controls and their validity as indicators of soil degradation. Journal of Arid Environments 50, (2002). 413–428.Google Scholar
Fain, J., Soumana, S., Montret, M., Maillier, D., Pilleyre, T., and Sanzelle, S. Luminescence and ESR dating beta-dose attenuation for various grain shapes calculated by a Monte-Carlo method. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, (1999). 231–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Featherman, A. Third Annual Report, Botanical Survey of Southwest and Northwest Louisiana. (1872). 106–107.Google Scholar
Forman, S.L., Oglesby, R., Markgraf, V., and Stafford, T. Paleoclimatic significance of Late Quaternary Eolian deposition on the Piedmont and High Plains, Central United States. Global and Planetary Change 11, (1995). 35–55.Google Scholar
Forman, S.L., Oglesby, R., and Webb, R.S. Temporal and spatial patterns of Holocene dune activity on the Great Plains of North America: megadroughts and climate links. Global and Planetary Change 29, (2001). 1–29.Google Scholar
Forman, S.L., Marin, L., Pierson, J., Gomez, J., Miller, G.H., and Webb, R.S. Aeolian sand depositional records from western Nebraska: landscape response to droughts in the past 1500 years. The Holocene 15, (2005). 973–981.Google Scholar
Foth, H.D., and Schafer, J.W. Soil Geography and Land Use. (1980). John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. 484 Google Scholar
Foti, T.L. The Grand Prairie. Ozark Society Bulletin 4, (1971). 6–11.Google Scholar
Foti, T.L. Natural Divisions of Arkansas. (1974). Arkansas Natural Area Plan, Arkansas Department of Planning, Little Rock. 11–34.Google Scholar
Frost, C.C., Walker, J., and Peet, R.K. Fire-dependent savannas and prairies of the southeast: original extent, preservation status and management problems. Kulhavy, D.L., and Conner, R.N. Wilderness and Natural Areas in the Eastern United States: a Management Challenge. (1986). Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, TX. 348–357.Google Scholar
Gee, G.W., and Bauder, J.W. Particle-size analysis. Klute, A. Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1: Physical and Mineralogical Methods. (1986). American Society of Agronomy, 383–411.Google Scholar
Gibson, J.S., and Batten, J.W. Soils: their nature, classes, distribution, uses, and care. (1970). University of Alabama Press, 296 Google Scholar
Gile, L.H. Coppice dunes and the Rotura soil. Proceedings of the Soil Science Society of America 30, (1966). 657–676.Google Scholar
Gobles, R.J., Mason, J.A., Loope, D.B., and Swinehart, J.B. Optical and radiocarbon ages of stacked paleosols and dune sands in the Nebraska Sand Hills, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 1173–1182.Google Scholar
Hall, S.A. Channel trenching and climate change in the southern U.S. Great Plains. Geology 18, (1990). 342–345.Google Scholar
Hesp, P., and McLachlan, A. Morphology, dynamics, ecology and fauna of Arctoheca populifolia and Gazania rigens nabkha dunes. Journal of Arid Environments 44, (2000). 155–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilgard, E.W. The prairie mounds of Louisiana. Science 21, (1905). 551–552.Google Scholar
Hoerling, M., and Kumar, A. A perfect ocean for drought. Science 299, (2003). 691–694.Google Scholar
Holliday, V.T. Middle Holocene drought on the Southern High Plains. Quaternary Research 31, (1989). 74–82.Google Scholar
Horwath, J.L., and Johnson, D.L. Mima-type mounds in southwest Missouri: expressions of point-centered and locally thickened biomantles. Geomorphology 77, (2006). 308–319.Google Scholar
Jain, M., Botter-Jensen, L., and Singhvi, A.K. Dose evaluation using multiple-aliquot quartz OSL: test of methods and a new protocol for improved accuracy and precision. Radiation Measurements 37, (2003). 67–80.Google Scholar
Jenny, H. The Soil Resource: Origin and Behavior. (1980). Springer-Verlag, New York, NY. 377 Google Scholar
Johnson, F.L. Oak-hickory savannahs and transition zones: preservation status and management problems. Kulhavy, D.L., and Conner, R.N. Wilderness and Natural Areas in the Eastern United States: a Management Challenge. (1986). Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, TX. 345–347.Google Scholar
Khalaf, F.I., Misak, R., and Al-Dousari, A. Sedimentological and morphological characteristics of some nabkha deposits in the northern coastal plain of Kuwait, Arabia. Journal of Arid Environments 29, (1995). 267–292.Google Scholar
King, J.E., and Allen, W.H. A Holocene vegetation record from the Mississippi River valley, southeastern Missouri. Quaternary Research 8, (1977). 307–323.Google Scholar
King, J., Nickling, W.G., and Gillies, J.A. Aeolian shear stress ratio measurements within mesquite-dominated landscapes of the Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, USA. Geomorphology 82, (2006). 229–244.Google Scholar
Knechtel, M.M. Pimpled plains of eastern Oklahoma. Geological Society of America Bulletin 63, (1952). 689–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koons, F.C. The sand mounds of Louisiana and Texas. The Scientific Monthly 66, (1948). 297–300.Google Scholar
Krinitzsky, E.L. Origin of pimple mounds. American Journal of Science 247, (1949). 706–714.Google Scholar
Langford, R.P. Nabkha (coppice dune) fields of south-central New Mexico, U.S.A.. Journal of Arid Environments 46, (2000). 25–41.Google Scholar
Lepper, K., and Scott, G.F. Late Holocene aeolian activity in the Cimarron River valley of west-central Oklahoma. Geomorphology 70, (2005). 42–52.Google Scholar
MacDonald, G.M., Stahle, D.W., Diaz, J.V., Beer, N., Busby, S.J., Cerano-Paredes, J., Cook, E.R., Endfield, G., Gutierrez-Garcia, G., Hall, B., Magana, V., Meko, D.M., Mendez-Perez, M., Sauchyn, D.J., Watson, E., and Woodhouse, C.A. Climate warming and 21st-century drought in southwestern North America. EOS 89, (2008). 82 Google Scholar
Madole, R.F. Stratigraphic evidence of desertification in the west-central Great Plains within the past 1000 yr. Geology 22, (1994). 483–486.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, J.A., Swinehart, J.B., Goble, R.J., and Loope, D.B. Late-Holocene dune activity linked to hydrological drought, Nebraska Sand Hills, USA. The Holocene 14, (2004). 209–217.Google Scholar
McMillan, R.B. The dynamics of cultural and environmental change at Rodgers Shelter, Missouri. Wood, W.R., and McMillan, R.B. Prehistoric Man and His Environments: A Case Study in the Ozark Highlands. (1976). Academic Press, New York. 211–231.Google Scholar
Mejdahl, V., and Bøtter Jensen, L. Luminescence dating of archaeological materials using a new technique based on single aliquot measurements. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, (1994). 551–554.Google Scholar
Melton, F.A. “Natural mounds” of northeastern Texas, southern Arkansas, and northern Louisiana. Oklahoma Geological Survey, The Hopper 14, (1954). 88–121.Google Scholar
Miao, X., Mason, J., Swinehart, J.B., Loope, D.B., Hanson, P.R., Goble, R.J., and Liu, X. A 10,000 year record of dune activity, dust storms, and severe drought in the central Great Plains. Geology 35, (2007). 119–122.Google Scholar
Muhs, D.R. Age and paleoclimatic significance of Holocene sand dunes in northeastern Colorado. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 75, (1985). 566–582.Google Scholar
Murray, A.S., and Wintle, A.G. Application of the single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol to the 375 degrees C quartz TL signal. Radiation Measurements 32, (2000). 579–583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, A.S., and Wintle, A.G. The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: potential for improvements in reliability. Radiation Measurements 37, (2003). 377–381.Google Scholar
Nickling, W.G., and Wolfe, A.S. The morphology and origin of nabkhas, region of Mopti, Mali, West Africa. Journal of Arid Environments 28, (1994). 13–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NOAA, (1991). Climates of the World. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Ashville, NC., Historical Climatology Series 6–4, 33 p.Google Scholar
O’Brien, M.J., Lyman, R.L., and Holland, T.D. Geoarchaelogical evidence for prairie-mound formation in the Mississippi alluvial valley, southeastern Missouri. Quaternary Research 31, (1989). 83–93.Google Scholar
Okin, G.S., Murray, B., and Schlesinger, W.H. Desertification in an arid shrubland in the southwestern United States. Conacher, A.J. Land Degradation. (2001). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands. 53–70.Google Scholar
Otvos, E.G. Propects for interregional correlations using Wisconsin and Holocene aridity episodes, northern Gulf of Mexico coastal plain. Quaternary Research 61, (2004). 105–118.Google Scholar
Overpeck, J.T. Warm climate surprises. Science 271, (1996). 1820–1821.Google Scholar
Prescott, J.R., and Hutton, J.T. Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations. Radiation Measurements 23, (1994). 497–500.Google Scholar
Purdue, A.H. Concerning the natural mounds. Science 21, (1905). 823–824.Google Scholar
Rich, J.L. Soil mottlings and mounds in northeast Texas as seen from the air. The Geographic Review 24, (1934). 576–583.Google Scholar
Richardson, C.A. Effects of bleaching on the sensitivity to dose of the infrared-stimulated luminescence of potassium-rich feldspars from Ynyslas, Wales. Radiation Measurements 23, (1994). 587–591.Google Scholar
Ross, B.A., Tester, J.R., and Breckenridge, W.J. Ecology of mima-type mounds in northwestern Minnesota. Ecology 49, (1968). 172–177.Google Scholar
Ruhe, R.V. Aspects of Holocene pedology in the United States. Wright, H.E. Late Quaternary Environments of the United States; Volume 2, The Holocene. (1983). University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 12–25.Google Scholar
Russ, J., Palma, R.L., Loyd, D.H., Boutton, T.W., and Coy, M.A. Origin of the Whewellite-rich rock crust in the lower Pecos region of southwest Texas and its significance to paleoclimate reconstructions. Quaternary Research 46, (1996). 27–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saucier, R.T. Sand dunes and related eolian features of the lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley. Geoscience and Man 19, (1978). 23–40.Google Scholar
Saucier, R.T. Geomorphology and Quaternary Geologic History of the Lower Mississippi Valley. (1994). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, 364 Google Scholar
Schubert, S.D., Suarez, M.J., Pegion, P.J., Koster, R.D., and Bacmeister, J.T. On the cause of the 1930s dust bowl. Science 303, (2004). 1855–1859.Google Scholar
Sears, P.B. Peninsula or archipelago?. Stuckey, R.L., and Reese, K.J. The Prairie Peninsula: In the Shadow of Transeau. (1981). The Ohio State University, Columbus. 2–3.Google Scholar
Seifert, C.L., (2007). Investigation of the Prairie Mounds of the South-Central United States. Unpublished MS thesis, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.Google Scholar
Singhvi, A.K., Sharma, Y.P., and Agrawal, D.P. Thermoluminescence dating of dune sands in Rajasthan, India. Nature 295, (1982). 313–315.Google Scholar
Smith, E.N., (1984). Late-Quaternary vegetation history at Cupola Pond, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, southeastern Missouri. Unpublished MS thesis, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.Google Scholar
Stahle, D.W., Fye, F.K., Cook, E.R., and Griffin, R.D. Tree-ring reconstructed megadroughts over North America since AD 1300. Climatic Change 83, (2007). 133–149.Google Scholar
Stokes, S., and Swinehart, J.B. Middle- and late-Holocene dune reactivation in the Nebraska Sand Hills, USA. The Holocene 7, (1997). 263–272.Google Scholar
Streng, D.R., and Harcombe, P.A. Why don’t east Texas savannas grow up to forest?. American Midland Naturalist 108, (1982). 278–294.Google Scholar
Tengberg, A. Nebkha dunes as indicators of wind erosion and land degradation in the Sahel zone of Burkina Faso. Journal of Arid Environments 30, (1995). 265–282.Google Scholar
Tengberg, A., and Chen, D. A comparative analysis of nebkhas in central Tunisia and northern Burkina Faso. Geomorphology 22, (1998). 181–192.Google Scholar
Tuttle, M.P., and Schweig, E.S. Recognizing and dating prehistoric liquefaction features: lessons learned in the New Madrid seismic zone, central United States. Journal of Geophysical Research 101, B3 (1996). 6171–6178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veatch, A.C. Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. USGS Professional Paper 46, (1906). 422 Google Scholar
Vogl, R.J. Fire in the southeastern grasslands. Proceedings of the 12th Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, 1972 Lubbock, TX. (1973). 175–198.Google Scholar
Wackerman, A.E. Why prairies in Arkansas and Louisiana. Journal of Forestry 27, (1929). 726–734.Google Scholar
Waggoner, G.S. Eastern Deciduous Forest Volume 1 Southeastern Evergreen and Oak-Pine Region. National Park Service, Natural History Theme Studies #1, Washington, DC. (1975). 206 Google Scholar
Wang, X., Wang, T., Dong, Z., Liu, X., and Qian, G. Nebkha development and its significance to wind erosion and land degradation in semi-arid northern China. Journal of Arid Environments 65, (2006). 129–141.Google Scholar
Washburn, A.L. Mima Mounds: an evaluation of proposed origins with special reference to the Puget Lowland. (1988). Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Report of Investigations 29, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 53 Google Scholar