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Composition of dust deposited to snow cover in the Wasatch Range (Utah, USA): Controls on radiative properties of snow cover and comparison to some dust-source sediments Composition of dust deposited to snow cover in the Wasatch Range (Utah, USA): Controls on radiative properties of snow cover and comparison to some dust-source sediments

Dust layers deposited to snow cover of the Wasatch Range (northern Utah) in 2009 and 2010 provide rare samples to determine the relations between their compositions and radiative properties. These studies are required to comprehend and model how such dust-on-snow (DOS) layers affect rates of snow melt through changes in the albedo of snow surfaces. We evaluated several constituents as...
Authors
Richard L. Reynolds, Harland L. Goldstein, Bruce M. Moskowitz, Ann C. Bryant, S. McKenzie Skiles, Raymond F. Kokaly, Cody B. Flagg, Kimberly Yauk, Thelma S. Berquo, George N. Breit, Michael Ketterer, Daniel Fernandez, Mark E. Miller, Thomas H. Painter

Coastal tectonics on the eastern margin of the Pacific Rim: Late Quaternary sea-level history and uplift rates, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA Coastal tectonics on the eastern margin of the Pacific Rim: Late Quaternary sea-level history and uplift rates, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA

The Pacific Rim is a region where tectonic processes play a significant role in coastal landscape evolution. Coastal California, on the eastern margin of the Pacific Rm, is very active tectonically and geomorphic expressions of this include uplifted marine terraces. There have been, however, conflicting estimates of the rate of late Quaternary uplift of marine terraces in coastal...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Lindsey T. Groves, Stephen B. DeVogel, Scott A. Minor, Deanna Laurel

On the effects of scale for ecosystem services mapping On the effects of scale for ecosystem services mapping

Ecosystems provide life-sustaining services upon which human civilization depends, but their degradation largely continues unabated. Spatially explicit information on ecosystem services (ES) provision is required to better guide decision making, particularly for mountain systems, which are characterized by vertical gradients and isolation with high topographic complexity, making them...
Authors
Adrienne Gret-Regamey, Bettina Weibel, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Marika Ferrari, Davide Geneletti, Hermann Klug, Uta Schirpke, Ulrike Tappeiner

Radiocarbon dating loess deposits in the Mississippi Valley using terrestrial gastropod shells (Polygyridae, Helicinidae, and Discidae) Radiocarbon dating loess deposits in the Mississippi Valley using terrestrial gastropod shells (Polygyridae, Helicinidae, and Discidae)

Small terrestrial gastropod shells (mainly Succineidae) have been used successfully to date late Quaternary loess deposits in Alaska and the Great Plains. However, Succineidae shells are less common in loess deposits in the Mississippi Valley compared to those of the Polygyridae, Helicinidae, and Discidae families. In this study, we conducted several tests to determine whether shells of...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, John P. McGeehin, Daniel Muhs, David A. Grimley, Jeffrey C. Nekola

A high-elevation, multi-proxy biotic and environmental record of MIS 6-4 from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA A high-elevation, multi-proxy biotic and environmental record of MIS 6-4 from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA

In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 are rare. Where found, they provide insight into how the coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system is manifested in biotic and environmental records and how the biosphere responds to climate change. In 2010–2011, construction at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village...
Authors
Ian M. Miller, Jeffrey S. Pigati, R. Scott Anderson, Kirk R. Johnson, Shannon Mahan, Thomas A. Ager, Richard G. Baker, Maarten Blaauw, Jordon Bright, Peter M. Brown, Bruce Bryant, Zachary T. Calamari, Paul E. Carrara, Cherney Michael D., John R. Demboski, Scott A. Elias, Daniel C. Fisher, Harrison J. Gray, Danielle R. Haskett, Jeffrey S. Honke, Stephen T. Jackson, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Douglas Kline, Eric M. Leonard, Nathaniel A. Lifton, Carol Lucking, H. Gregory McDonald, Dane M. Miller, Daniel R. Muhs, Stephen E. Nash, Cody Newton, James B. Paces, Lesley Petrie, Mitchell A. Plummer, David F. Porinchu, Adam N. Rountrey, Eric Scott, Joseph J. W. Sertich, Saxon E. Sharpe, Gary L. Skipp, Laura E. Strickland, Richard K. Stucky, Robert S. Thompson, Jim Wilson

An 8700 year paleoclimate reconstruction from the southern Maya lowlands An 8700 year paleoclimate reconstruction from the southern Maya lowlands

Analysis of a sediment core from Lago Puerto Arturo, a closed basin lake in northern Peten, Guatemala, has provided an ∼8700 cal year record of climate change and human activity in the southern Maya lowlands. Stable isotope, magnetic susceptibility, and pollen analyses were used to reconstruct environmental change in the region. Results indicate a relatively wet early to middle Holocene...
Authors
David B. Wahl, Roger Byrne, Lysanna Anderson

Last interglacial plant macrofossils and climates from Ziegler Reservoir, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA Last interglacial plant macrofossils and climates from Ziegler Reservoir, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA

Ninety plant macrofossil taxa from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado, record environmental changes at high elevation (2705 m asl) in the Rocky Mountains during the Last Interglacial Period. Present-day vegetation is aspen forest (Populus tremuloides) intermixed with species of higher (Picea, Abies) and lower (Artemisia, Quercus) elevations. Stratigraphic...
Authors
Laura E. Strickland, Richard G. Baker, Robert S. Thompson, Dane M. Miller

Loess as a Quaternary paleoenvironmental indicator Loess as a Quaternary paleoenvironmental indicator

Loess is aeolian sediment that is dominated by silt-sized particles. Unlike either coarser dune sand or finer-grained, long-range-transported dust, loess is relatively poorly sorted, reflecting a combination of transport processes, including saltation, low suspension, and high suspension. Loess can be readily identified in the field; deposits range in thickness from a few centimeters to...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, M.A. Prins, B. Machalett

Mountain pine beetle-caused mortality over eight years in two pine hosts in mixed conifer stands of the southern Rocky Mountains Mountain pine beetle-caused mortality over eight years in two pine hosts in mixed conifer stands of the southern Rocky Mountains

Eruptive mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, MPB) populations have caused widespread mortality of pines throughout western North America since the late 1990s. Early work by A.D. Hopkins suggested that when alternate host species are available, MPB will prefer to breed in the host to which it has become adapted. In Colorado, epidemic MPB populations that originated in lodgepole...
Authors
Daniel R. West, Jennifer S. Briggs, William R. Jacobi, Jose F. Negron

Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA

Narraguinnep Reservoir in southwestern Colorado is one of several water bodies in Colorado with a mercury (Hg) advisory as Hg in fish tissue exceed the 0.3 μg/g guideline to protect human health recommended by the State of Colorado. Concentrations of Hg and methyl-Hg were measured in reservoir bottom sediment and pore water extracted from this sediment. Rates of Hg methylation and methyl...
Authors
John E. Gray, Mark E. Hines, Harland L. Goldstein, Richard L. Reynolds

Characterizing recent and projecting future potential patterns of mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Southern Rocky Mountains Characterizing recent and projecting future potential patterns of mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Southern Rocky Mountains

The recent widespread mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in the Southern Rocky Mountains presents an opportunity to investigate the relative influence of anthropogenic, biologic, and physical drivers that have shaped the spatiotemporal patterns of the outbreak. The aim of this study was to quantify the landscape-level drivers that explained the dynamic patterns of MPB mortality, and...
Authors
Lu Liang, Todd Hawbaker, Yanlei Chen, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Peng Gong

Surficial geologic map of the Red Rock Lakes area, southwest Montana Surficial geologic map of the Red Rock Lakes area, southwest Montana

The Centennial Valley and Centennial Range continue to be formed by ongoing displacement on the Centennial fault. The dominant fault movement is downward, creating space in the valley for lakes and the deposition of sediment. The Centennial Valley originally drained to the northeast through a canyon now represented by a chain of lakes starting with Elk Lake. Subsequently, large...
Authors
Kenneth L. Pierce, Tara L. Chesley-Preston, Richard L. Sojda
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