Jeff Pigati
I study geologic deposits associated with springs and desert wetlands to understand how hydrologic systems in arid environments responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. I also develop and test innovative methods and materials for radiocarbon dating.
I am also part of an international team of researchers studying ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park. The results of our investigations have shown that humans were in continental North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago, which fundamentally changes our understanding of the peopling of the Americas.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, 2007-present
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., University of Arizona. 2004
M.S., University of Arizona. 1996
B.S., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. 1992
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 14
No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 64
Hydrologic response of desert wetlands to Holocene climate change: preliminary results from the Soda Springs area, Mojave National Preserve, California Hydrologic response of desert wetlands to Holocene climate change: preliminary results from the Soda Springs area, Mojave National Preserve, California
Desert wetlands are common features in arid environments and include a variety of hydrologic facies, including seeps, springs, marshes, wet meadows, ponds, and spring pools. Wet ground conditions and dense stands of vegetation in these settings combine to trap eolian, alluvial, and fluvial sediments that accumulate over time. The resulting deposits are collectively called ground-water...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Marith C. Reheis, John P. McGeehin, Jeffrey S. Honke, J. Bright
Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are finding evidence of a much wetter past in the deserts of the American Southwest using a most unlikely source—wetlands. Wetlands form in arid environments where water tables approach or breach the ground surface. Often thought of as stagnant and unchanging, new evidence suggests that springs and wetlands responded dynamically to past...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker
Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change
Desert wetlands are keystone ecosystems in arid environments and are preserved in the geologic record as groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits. GWD deposits are inherently discontinuous and stratigraphically complex, which has limited our understanding of how desert wetlands responded to past episodes of rapid climate change. Previous studies have shown that wetlands responded to climate...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker, Jeffrey S. Pigati
The Snowmastodon Project: cutting-edge science on the blade of a bulldozer The Snowmastodon Project: cutting-edge science on the blade of a bulldozer
Cutting-edge science happens at a variety of scales, from the individual and intimate to the large-scale and collaborative. The publication of a special issue of Quaternary Research in Nov. 2014 dedicated to the scientific findings of the “Snowmastodon Project” highlights what can be done when natural history museums, governmental agencies, and academic institutions work toward a common...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, Ian M. Miller, Kirk R. Johnson
The Snowmastodon Project: A view of the Last Interglacial Period from high in the Colorado Rockies The Snowmastodon Project: A view of the Last Interglacial Period from high in the Colorado Rockies
In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span the Last Interglacial Period [or Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5] are rare. In 2010-11, construction at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado revealed a lacustrine/wetland sedimentary sequence that preserved evidence of past plant communities between ~140 and 55 ka, including all of MIS 5...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati
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
Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California
Understanding how early humans on the California Channel Islands might have changed local fire regimes requires a baseline knowledge of the frequency of natural wildfires on the islands prior to human occupation. A sedimentary sequence that was recently discovered in a small canyon on San Nicolas Island contains evidence of at least 24 burn events that date to between ∼37 and 25 ka...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, John P. McGeehin, Gary L. Skipp, Daniel R. Muhs
A geochronologic framework for the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado A geochronologic framework for the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado
The Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado, provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct high-altitude paleoenvironmental conditions in the Rocky Mountains during the last interglacial period. We used four different techniques to establish a chronological framework for the site. Radiocarbon dating of lake organics, bone collagen, and shell carbonate, and in situ...
Authors
Shannon Mahan, Harrison J. Gray, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Jim Wilson, Nathaniel A. Lifton, James B. Paces, Maarten Blaauw
Desert wetlands in the geologic record Desert wetlands in the geologic record
Desert wetlands support flora and fauna in a variety of hydrologic settings, including seeps, springs, marshes, wet meadows, ponds, and spring pools. Over time, eolian, alluvial, and fluvial sediments become trapped in these settings by a combination of wet ground conditions and dense plant cover. The result is a unique combination of clastic sediments, chemical precipitates, and organic...
Authors
Jeff S. Pigati, Jason A. Rech, Jay Quade, Jordon Bright
The Snowmastodon Project The Snowmastodon Project
Studies of terrestrial biotic and environmental dynamics of the last interglacial period, Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, provide insight into the effects of long-term climate change on Pleistocene ecosystems. In North America, however, there are relatively few fossil sites that definitively date to MIS 5. Even fewer contain multiple ecosystem components (vertebrates, invertebrates...
Authors
Kirk R. Johnson, Ian M. Miller, Jeffery S. Pigati
Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial carbonates Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial carbonates
Terrestrial carbonates encompass a wide range of materials that potentially could be used for radiocarbon (14C) dating. Biogenic carbonates, including shells and tests of terrestrial and aquatic gastropods, bivalves, ostracodes, and foraminifera, are preserved in a variety of late Quaternary deposits and may be suitable for 14C dating. Primary calcareous deposits (marls, tufa...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati
Non-USGS Publications**
Pigati, J.S. Miller, D.M., 2008, Late Pleistocene wetland deposits at Valley Wells, eastern Mojave Desert, California: initial results. In Trough to trough: the Colorado River and the Salton Sea - 2008 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings, R.E. Reynolds (Ed.), California State University, Desert Studies Consortium, and LSA Associates, Inc., 138-142.
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Wilson, J., Jull, A.J.T., Lifton, N.A., 2007, Development of low-background vacuum extraction and graphitization systems for 14C dating of old (40-60 ka) samples. Quaternary International 166, 4-14.
Felton, A.A., Russell, J.M., Cohen, A.S., Baker, M.E., Chesley, J., Lezzar, K.E., McGlue, M.M., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Stager, J.C., 2007, Paleolimnological evidence for the onset and termination of glacial aridity from Lake Tanganyika, East Tropical Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252, 405-423.
Shanahan, T.S., Overpeck, J.T., Beck, J.W., Wheeler, C.W., Pigati, J.S., Talbot, M.R., Scholz, C.A., Peck, J., King, J.W., 2006, Paleoclimatic variations in West Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 242 (3-4), 287-302.
Shanahan, T.M., Pigati, J.S., Dettman, D.L., Quade, J., 2005, Isotopic variability in the aragonite shells of freshwater gastropods living in springs with nearly constant temperature and isotopic composition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69 (16), 3949-3966.
Pigati, J.S., Lifton, N.A., 2004, Geomagnetic effects on time-integrated cosmogenic nuclide production with emphasis on in-situ 14C and 10Be. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 226, 193-205. (Elsevier Top 50 Most Cited Papers 2004-2007 Award).
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Shanahan, T.M., Haynes, C.V. Jr., 2004, Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of late Quaternary spring-discharge deposits in southern Arizona, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204 (1-2), 33-45.
Rech, J.A., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Betancourt, J.L., 2003, Re-evaluation of mid-Holocene wetland deposits at Quebrada Puripica, northern Chile. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 207-222.
Pigati, J.S., 2002, On correcting 14C ages of gastropod shell carbonate for fractionation. Radiocarbon 44(3), 755-760.
Stiner, M.C., Achyuthan, H., Arsebuk, G., Howell, F.C., Josephson, S.C., Juell, K.E., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., 1998, Reconstructing cave bear paleoecology from skeletons: A cross-disciplinary study of middle-Pleistocene bears from Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey. Paleobiology 24, 74-96.
**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: 14
No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 64
Hydrologic response of desert wetlands to Holocene climate change: preliminary results from the Soda Springs area, Mojave National Preserve, California Hydrologic response of desert wetlands to Holocene climate change: preliminary results from the Soda Springs area, Mojave National Preserve, California
Desert wetlands are common features in arid environments and include a variety of hydrologic facies, including seeps, springs, marshes, wet meadows, ponds, and spring pools. Wet ground conditions and dense stands of vegetation in these settings combine to trap eolian, alluvial, and fluvial sediments that accumulate over time. The resulting deposits are collectively called ground-water...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Marith C. Reheis, John P. McGeehin, Jeffrey S. Honke, J. Bright
Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are finding evidence of a much wetter past in the deserts of the American Southwest using a most unlikely source—wetlands. Wetlands form in arid environments where water tables approach or breach the ground surface. Often thought of as stagnant and unchanging, new evidence suggests that springs and wetlands responded dynamically to past...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker
Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change
Desert wetlands are keystone ecosystems in arid environments and are preserved in the geologic record as groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits. GWD deposits are inherently discontinuous and stratigraphically complex, which has limited our understanding of how desert wetlands responded to past episodes of rapid climate change. Previous studies have shown that wetlands responded to climate...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker, Jeffrey S. Pigati
The Snowmastodon Project: cutting-edge science on the blade of a bulldozer The Snowmastodon Project: cutting-edge science on the blade of a bulldozer
Cutting-edge science happens at a variety of scales, from the individual and intimate to the large-scale and collaborative. The publication of a special issue of Quaternary Research in Nov. 2014 dedicated to the scientific findings of the “Snowmastodon Project” highlights what can be done when natural history museums, governmental agencies, and academic institutions work toward a common...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati, Ian M. Miller, Kirk R. Johnson
The Snowmastodon Project: A view of the Last Interglacial Period from high in the Colorado Rockies The Snowmastodon Project: A view of the Last Interglacial Period from high in the Colorado Rockies
In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span the Last Interglacial Period [or Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5] are rare. In 2010-11, construction at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado revealed a lacustrine/wetland sedimentary sequence that preserved evidence of past plant communities between ~140 and 55 ka, including all of MIS 5...
Authors
Jeffery S. Pigati
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
Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California
Understanding how early humans on the California Channel Islands might have changed local fire regimes requires a baseline knowledge of the frequency of natural wildfires on the islands prior to human occupation. A sedimentary sequence that was recently discovered in a small canyon on San Nicolas Island contains evidence of at least 24 burn events that date to between ∼37 and 25 ka...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, John P. McGeehin, Gary L. Skipp, Daniel R. Muhs
A geochronologic framework for the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado A geochronologic framework for the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado
The Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado, provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct high-altitude paleoenvironmental conditions in the Rocky Mountains during the last interglacial period. We used four different techniques to establish a chronological framework for the site. Radiocarbon dating of lake organics, bone collagen, and shell carbonate, and in situ...
Authors
Shannon Mahan, Harrison J. Gray, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Jim Wilson, Nathaniel A. Lifton, James B. Paces, Maarten Blaauw
Desert wetlands in the geologic record Desert wetlands in the geologic record
Desert wetlands support flora and fauna in a variety of hydrologic settings, including seeps, springs, marshes, wet meadows, ponds, and spring pools. Over time, eolian, alluvial, and fluvial sediments become trapped in these settings by a combination of wet ground conditions and dense plant cover. The result is a unique combination of clastic sediments, chemical precipitates, and organic...
Authors
Jeff S. Pigati, Jason A. Rech, Jay Quade, Jordon Bright
The Snowmastodon Project The Snowmastodon Project
Studies of terrestrial biotic and environmental dynamics of the last interglacial period, Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, provide insight into the effects of long-term climate change on Pleistocene ecosystems. In North America, however, there are relatively few fossil sites that definitively date to MIS 5. Even fewer contain multiple ecosystem components (vertebrates, invertebrates...
Authors
Kirk R. Johnson, Ian M. Miller, Jeffery S. Pigati
Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial carbonates Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial carbonates
Terrestrial carbonates encompass a wide range of materials that potentially could be used for radiocarbon (14C) dating. Biogenic carbonates, including shells and tests of terrestrial and aquatic gastropods, bivalves, ostracodes, and foraminifera, are preserved in a variety of late Quaternary deposits and may be suitable for 14C dating. Primary calcareous deposits (marls, tufa...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati
Non-USGS Publications**
Pigati, J.S. Miller, D.M., 2008, Late Pleistocene wetland deposits at Valley Wells, eastern Mojave Desert, California: initial results. In Trough to trough: the Colorado River and the Salton Sea - 2008 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings, R.E. Reynolds (Ed.), California State University, Desert Studies Consortium, and LSA Associates, Inc., 138-142.
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Wilson, J., Jull, A.J.T., Lifton, N.A., 2007, Development of low-background vacuum extraction and graphitization systems for 14C dating of old (40-60 ka) samples. Quaternary International 166, 4-14.
Felton, A.A., Russell, J.M., Cohen, A.S., Baker, M.E., Chesley, J., Lezzar, K.E., McGlue, M.M., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Stager, J.C., 2007, Paleolimnological evidence for the onset and termination of glacial aridity from Lake Tanganyika, East Tropical Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252, 405-423.
Shanahan, T.S., Overpeck, J.T., Beck, J.W., Wheeler, C.W., Pigati, J.S., Talbot, M.R., Scholz, C.A., Peck, J., King, J.W., 2006, Paleoclimatic variations in West Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 242 (3-4), 287-302.
Shanahan, T.M., Pigati, J.S., Dettman, D.L., Quade, J., 2005, Isotopic variability in the aragonite shells of freshwater gastropods living in springs with nearly constant temperature and isotopic composition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69 (16), 3949-3966.
Pigati, J.S., Lifton, N.A., 2004, Geomagnetic effects on time-integrated cosmogenic nuclide production with emphasis on in-situ 14C and 10Be. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 226, 193-205. (Elsevier Top 50 Most Cited Papers 2004-2007 Award).
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Shanahan, T.M., Haynes, C.V. Jr., 2004, Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of late Quaternary spring-discharge deposits in southern Arizona, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204 (1-2), 33-45.
Rech, J.A., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Betancourt, J.L., 2003, Re-evaluation of mid-Holocene wetland deposits at Quebrada Puripica, northern Chile. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 207-222.
Pigati, J.S., 2002, On correcting 14C ages of gastropod shell carbonate for fractionation. Radiocarbon 44(3), 755-760.
Stiner, M.C., Achyuthan, H., Arsebuk, G., Howell, F.C., Josephson, S.C., Juell, K.E., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., 1998, Reconstructing cave bear paleoecology from skeletons: A cross-disciplinary study of middle-Pleistocene bears from Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey. Paleobiology 24, 74-96.
**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.