Spring Creek Drainage - Geoarchaeological Explorations along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

Summary

The Spring Creek drainage, part of the upper Brazos River system, is located along the Southern High Plains eastern escarpment breaks near Post, Texas. Steep and confined vertical channel incision typifies the breaks and the drainage is and was fed by numerous springs emanating from the Ogallala Formation. Geoarchaeological research along a 774m transect from Macy Fork to 222m below its confluence with Spring Creek proper has documented a continual depositional record spanning the latest Pleistocene to early Holocene (~12,000-8,000 rcy BP). The stratigraphy records the shifting form and capacity of the drainage. The sedimentary record indicates a change from fluvial sands and gravels to spring fed pond and marsh deposits. The distribution of diatomaceous sediments suggests an ~200m-diameter pond formed during the early Holocene at the confluence of Spring Creek and Macy Fork. Slopewash colluvial deposits cap the sequence in upper Macy Fork. Fieldwork documents a diverse late Pleistocene biota and the presence of Clovis to late Paleoindians. The Spring Creek drainage provides the setting for a robust exploration of multiple facets of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition as well as comparison with the Southern High Plains regional record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20240