Daniel Muhs
I study geomorphology, soils and Quaternary stratigraphy to reconstruct paleoclimates over the past two and a half million years of geologic time.
My main study areas are in the central and western USA (Mississippi Valley, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, desert Southwest, Pacific Coast and Alaska), but I have also worked in the Caribbean, Spain and Israel. My main interests are in origin and paleoclimatic significance of dune fields, stratigraphy and paleopedology of loess, effects of long-range-transported dust on soils, the atmosphere, oceans and ecosystems, and sea level history.
Education:
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 1977-1980 (Ph.D., Physical geography/Geology)
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 1973-1975 (M.S., Physical geography/Soil science)
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 1972-1973 (B.A., Physical geography)
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 1970-1972 (B.A., English, History)
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 1968-1970 (English)
Professional experience:
1995-date: Geologist, Geology and Environmental Change Science Center, USGS, Denver, CO
1985-1995: Geologist, Branch of Isotope Geology, USGS, Denver, CO
1983-1984: Soil Scientist with USGS while on leave-of-absence with the University of Wisconsin to accept National Research Council Research Associateship, Denver, Colorado.
1980-1985: Assistant and Associate Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
1978-1980, part-time Soil Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Central Regional Geology.
1977-1979: Instructor (while a Ph.D student), Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Colorado at Denver
1975-1976: Soil Scientist, U.S. Soil Conservation Service/Iowa State University
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 168
Were humans and mammoths on the Channel Islands at the same time? Were humans and mammoths on the Channel Islands at the same time?
No abstract available.
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Long-term African dust delivery to the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara and Sahel regions: Evidence from Quaternary paleosols on the Canary Islands, Spain Long-term African dust delivery to the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara and Sahel regions: Evidence from Quaternary paleosols on the Canary Islands, Spain
Africa is the most important source of dust in the world today and dust storms from that continent frequently deposit sediment on the nearby Canary Islands. Many investigators have inferred African dust inputs to Canary Islands paleosols based only on the presence of quartz. However, some local rocks do contain this mineral, so quartz alone is insufficient proof of dust deposition...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Joaquín Meco, James R. Budahn, Gary L. Skipp, Kathleen R. Simmons, Mathew C. Baddock, J.T. Betancort, A. Lomoschitz
The marine terraces of Santa Cruz Island, California: Implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea-level history The marine terraces of Santa Cruz Island, California: Implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea-level history
Glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models hypothesize that along coastal California, last interglacial (LIG, broadly from ~130 to ~115 ka) sea level could have been as high as +11 m to +13 m, relative to present, substantially higher than the commonly estimated elevation of +6 m. Areas with low uplift rates can test whether such models are valid. Marine terraces on Santa Cruz Island have
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, R. Randall Schumann, Lindsey T. Groves, Kathleen R. Simmons, Christopher R. Florian
Soils and paleosols Soils and paleosols
Soils are naturally occurring bodies that form in the interface between the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. They are the medium for much of the Earth's plant and animal growth. Soil morphology and how it evolves are functions of the soil-forming factors of climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time. The expression of soil morphology takes the form of layers...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Eolian sediments Eolian sediments
The origin and nature of eolian (wind-blown) sediments are reviewed, with an emphasis on the occurrence of these features in the Quaternary. Eolian sediments consist of windblown sand, loess, and long-range-transported (LRT) dust, in order of decreasing particle size. Eolian sand forms some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world, particularly when these sediments are deposited as...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda
Part of the spatial variation in the apparent sea-level record of the last interglacial (LIG) period is due to the diverse response of coastlines to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) processes, particularly where coastlines were close to the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past two glacial periods. We tested modeled LIG paleo-sea levels on New Providence Island (NPI), Bahamas and...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Eugene S. Schweig, Mark P. Rowe
Non-USGS Publications**
Crittenden, R.C. and Muhs, D.R., 1986, Cliff-height and slope-angle relationships in a chronosequence of marine terraces, San Clemente Island, California: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, v. 30, p. 291-301.
Muhs, D.R., 1985, Age and paleoclimatic significance of Holocene sand dunes in northeastern Colorado: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, v. 75, p. 566-582.
Muhs, D.R., 1985, Amino acid age estimates of marine terraces and sea levels, San Nicolas Island, California: Geology, v. 13, p. 58-61.
Muhs, D.R., Kautz, R., and MacKinnon, J.J., 1985, Soils and the location of cacao orchards at a Maya site in western Belize: Journal of Archaeological Science, v. 12, p. 121-137.
Muhs, D.R., 1984, Intrinsic thresholds in soil systems: Physical Geography, v. 5, p. 99-110.
Muhs, D.R., 1983, Airborne dust fall on the California Channel Islands, U.S.A.: Journal of Arid Environments, v. 6, p. 223-238.
Muhs, D.R., 1983, Quaternary sea-level events on northern San Clemente Island, California: Quaternary Research, v. 20, p. 322-341.
Gillette, D.A., Adams, J., Muhs, D.R., and Kihl, R., 1982, Threshold friction velocities and rupture moduli for crusted desert soils for the input of soil particles into the air: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 87, p. 9003-9015.
Muhs, D.R., 1982, A soil chronosequence on Quaternary marine terraces, San Clemente Island, California: Geoderma, v. 28, p. 257-283.
Muhs, D.R. and Szabo, B.J., 1982, Uranium-series age of the Eel Point terrace, San Clemente Island, California: Geology, v. 10, p. 23-26.
Muhs, D.R., 1982, The influence of topography on the spatial variability of soils in Mediterranean climates, in Thorn, C.E., ed., Space and Time in Geomorphology: London, George Allen and Unwin, p. 269-284.
Johnson, D.L., Muhs, D.R., and Barnhardt, M.L., 1977, The effects of frost heaving on objects in soils, II: Laboratory experiments: Plains Anthropologist, v. 22, p. 133-147.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 168
Were humans and mammoths on the Channel Islands at the same time? Were humans and mammoths on the Channel Islands at the same time?
No abstract available.
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Long-term African dust delivery to the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara and Sahel regions: Evidence from Quaternary paleosols on the Canary Islands, Spain Long-term African dust delivery to the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara and Sahel regions: Evidence from Quaternary paleosols on the Canary Islands, Spain
Africa is the most important source of dust in the world today and dust storms from that continent frequently deposit sediment on the nearby Canary Islands. Many investigators have inferred African dust inputs to Canary Islands paleosols based only on the presence of quartz. However, some local rocks do contain this mineral, so quartz alone is insufficient proof of dust deposition...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Joaquín Meco, James R. Budahn, Gary L. Skipp, Kathleen R. Simmons, Mathew C. Baddock, J.T. Betancort, A. Lomoschitz
The marine terraces of Santa Cruz Island, California: Implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea-level history The marine terraces of Santa Cruz Island, California: Implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea-level history
Glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models hypothesize that along coastal California, last interglacial (LIG, broadly from ~130 to ~115 ka) sea level could have been as high as +11 m to +13 m, relative to present, substantially higher than the commonly estimated elevation of +6 m. Areas with low uplift rates can test whether such models are valid. Marine terraces on Santa Cruz Island have
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, R. Randall Schumann, Lindsey T. Groves, Kathleen R. Simmons, Christopher R. Florian
Soils and paleosols Soils and paleosols
Soils are naturally occurring bodies that form in the interface between the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. They are the medium for much of the Earth's plant and animal growth. Soil morphology and how it evolves are functions of the soil-forming factors of climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time. The expression of soil morphology takes the form of layers...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Eolian sediments Eolian sediments
The origin and nature of eolian (wind-blown) sediments are reviewed, with an emphasis on the occurrence of these features in the Quaternary. Eolian sediments consist of windblown sand, loess, and long-range-transported (LRT) dust, in order of decreasing particle size. Eolian sand forms some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world, particularly when these sediments are deposited as...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda
Part of the spatial variation in the apparent sea-level record of the last interglacial (LIG) period is due to the diverse response of coastlines to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) processes, particularly where coastlines were close to the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past two glacial periods. We tested modeled LIG paleo-sea levels on New Providence Island (NPI), Bahamas and...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Eugene S. Schweig, Mark P. Rowe
Non-USGS Publications**
Crittenden, R.C. and Muhs, D.R., 1986, Cliff-height and slope-angle relationships in a chronosequence of marine terraces, San Clemente Island, California: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, v. 30, p. 291-301.
Muhs, D.R., 1985, Age and paleoclimatic significance of Holocene sand dunes in northeastern Colorado: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, v. 75, p. 566-582.
Muhs, D.R., 1985, Amino acid age estimates of marine terraces and sea levels, San Nicolas Island, California: Geology, v. 13, p. 58-61.
Muhs, D.R., Kautz, R., and MacKinnon, J.J., 1985, Soils and the location of cacao orchards at a Maya site in western Belize: Journal of Archaeological Science, v. 12, p. 121-137.
Muhs, D.R., 1984, Intrinsic thresholds in soil systems: Physical Geography, v. 5, p. 99-110.
Muhs, D.R., 1983, Airborne dust fall on the California Channel Islands, U.S.A.: Journal of Arid Environments, v. 6, p. 223-238.
Muhs, D.R., 1983, Quaternary sea-level events on northern San Clemente Island, California: Quaternary Research, v. 20, p. 322-341.
Gillette, D.A., Adams, J., Muhs, D.R., and Kihl, R., 1982, Threshold friction velocities and rupture moduli for crusted desert soils for the input of soil particles into the air: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 87, p. 9003-9015.
Muhs, D.R., 1982, A soil chronosequence on Quaternary marine terraces, San Clemente Island, California: Geoderma, v. 28, p. 257-283.
Muhs, D.R. and Szabo, B.J., 1982, Uranium-series age of the Eel Point terrace, San Clemente Island, California: Geology, v. 10, p. 23-26.
Muhs, D.R., 1982, The influence of topography on the spatial variability of soils in Mediterranean climates, in Thorn, C.E., ed., Space and Time in Geomorphology: London, George Allen and Unwin, p. 269-284.
Johnson, D.L., Muhs, D.R., and Barnhardt, M.L., 1977, The effects of frost heaving on objects in soils, II: Laboratory experiments: Plains Anthropologist, v. 22, p. 133-147.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.