LONG TERM ALLUVIAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE: IDENTIFYING PAST LANDSCAPES AND SITE DISTRIBUTION ALONG MIDWEST WATERSHEDS
Author(s): Kayla Schmalle
Year: 2015
Summary
The Pleistocene-Holocene climate change had a global effect on the patterns and variations of river channels. Following the Last Glacial Maximum there was site specific variability regarding fluvial reactions, including vegetation, fluvial discharge, dominant sediment transport systems, and climate. This project will investigate and compare the various inputs and routing of sediment in two Midwest watersheds in response to the changing climate of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the impact these changes have for the distribution, preservation, and recognition of past human occupations. In addition to field survey and collection, I will utilize LiDAR data to create semi-automated selections of fluvial terraces and floodplain features using the TerEx Toolbox for ArcMap. The TerEx Toolbox automatically measures the planform area, absolute elevation, and height relative to the local river channel from LiDAR data to discern topographic features, including terraces, in cross section. Analysis from this project can be used to create a region-specific model of sedimentation and landscape evolution based on the variations found along the Skunk River in Iowa and the Upper Sangamon River in Illinios. In addition, the alluvial style and stability of these rivers can be correlated with past human occupation, site distribution, and land use through time.
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Cite this Record
LONG TERM ALLUVIAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE: IDENTIFYING PAST LANDSCAPES AND SITE DISTRIBUTION ALONG MIDWEST WATERSHEDS. Kayla Schmalle. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 398427)
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Keywords
Geographic Keywords
North America - Midwest
Spatial Coverage
min long: -104.634; min lat: 36.739 ; max long: -80.64; max lat: 49.153 ;