Unique Quaternary Stratigraphic Sections Along Brushy Creek, Webster County, Iowa

Summary

During the fall of 1980 a geomorphic investigation was conducted in the Brushy Creek area, of Webster County, Iowa, as part of the assessment of cultural resources in the area. This investigation (by E. A. Bettis III) made note of several exposures in stream cut banks which revealed some unique Quaternary stratigraphic sections. These sections were described preliminarily by Bettis. During the summer of 1981 the authors revisted these locations to describe the stratigraphy in detail, and also to obtain samples to analyze the particle-size distribution and mineralogy of the sediments for characterization and correlation, to analyze the paleontological remains in selected samples, and to obtain further samples for radiocarbon dating from these sections.

Selected samples were processed for pollen using techniques modified from Faegri and Iversen (1975) as outlined in Hallberg, Baker, and Legg (1980). Bulk samples were also screened and hand-picked for plant macrofossils and insect remains.

The deep valley of Brushy Creek exhibits many terraces, as shown in figure 1. The terraces range in estimated age from late Holocene (T-1) through middle to early Holocene (T2, 3, and 4) to early Holocene (B). These are discussed in detail elsewhere by Bettis (1980). Figure 1 also shows the location of the two sections described in this report, 94 BCA and 94 BMH.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• National Archeological Database (NADB)

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Record Identifiers

NADB document id number(s): 641934

NADB citation id number(s): 000000098817

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