Lacustrine Deposits

The fossil deposits at the Chicxulub site suggest that the mineral layer in the crater was deposited after the impact, but before the extinction of the dinosaurs and other species. Keller proposes two possible explanations for this. The first explanation is that the sediments were deposited as the backwash of a giant tsunami that occurred after the impact (Keller 2004).

Copper-zinc (VMS-type?) mineralized zones were discovered in Archean volcanic rocks in the southern part of North Williams Township by Metron Explorations Limited in 1970. The mineralized zone and surrounding area were evaluated with a HLEM survey and drilled with 2 DDHs (totaling 61.3 m) that did not intercept significantly mineralized rocks (Willars, 1971).

The youngest of these rocks are dated at about 220,000 years ago. Rhyodacties and quartz latites in the modern caldera area extruded from about 320,000 years ago to 260,000 years ago, and then silica-rich rhyolites at Glass Mountain northeast of the caldera erupted from about 210,000 years ago to 80,000 years ago. The scattered distribution of the initial mafic eruptions indicates that they were erupted from the mantle, while the slightly younger domes and flows were from a deep-crustal source. The youngest rhyolite eruptions erupted at the northeast rim of the caldera at Glass Mountain and were the first activity of the silicic Long Valley magma chamber (Bailey, et. al., 1989).

Sims et al. (1989) synthesized U-Pb zircon ages for the Pembine-Wausau terrane. Sims concluded that the volcanic rocks were generated from around 1889 to 1860 Ma as island arcs and closed back-arc basins above the south-dipping subduction zone (Niagara fault zone). Granitoid rocks in the terrane, emplaced from around 1870 to 1760 Ma, are mainly granodiorite and tonalite but include gabbro, diorite, and granite. These developed as island arcs above the Eau Pleine shear zone. The Niagara fault zone contains a relict ophiolite, suggesting that the rocks in the Pembine-Wausau terrane probably accumulated on

First, we must examine the sedimentary formations; when they were formed, how they were formed, and what materials they consist of. About ninety-three to one hundred million years ago, the Western Interior Seaway rolled through the North American continent, eventually reaching the geographical area of today’s Mesa Verde National Park (National Park Service 2005). This sea deposited a thick, hard sandstone base that is called Dakota Sandstone, although this layer is not exposed in the park

For years, it had been widely accepted “that small bands of humans carrying a generalized Upper Paleolithic tool kit entered the Americas around 11,500 radiocarbon years before the present” (Waters 1122); and that “Archaeologists called these presumed pioneers the Clovis culture, after distinctive stone tools that were found at sites near Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1920s and 1930s” (Curry 13). However, the “peopling” of the Americas and their presumptive date of arrival is a topic of great debate within the field of Archeology; and the discovery of the Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon has thrown a wrench in the once widely accepted hypothesis that the “Clovis complex is considered to be the oldest unequivocal evidence of humans in the

There were multiple issues identified in opposition to this claim, the first being the lack of evidence for contemporaneity between the arrival of humans with the extinction of the megafauna. Without consensus on these two time periods inferences about the cause of megafaunal extinction cannot be made. Judith Field suggests that the site at Cuddie Springs demonstrates long periods of co-habitation between humans and now extinct megafauna, which generates issues in the rapid extinction aspect of Flannery’s hypotheses (“Taming the Fire”, 1998). In addition Bowman (1998) also proposes the evidence for primarily human induced megafaunal extinction is unsubstantial and possibly caused by numerous factors including climate and habitat changes (pp.

They documented a flight of six terrace surfaces rising above the modern floodplain of Carrizo Wash. The highest and oldest surface (T6) consists of Pleistocene gravel, and the lowest three surfaces (T1–T3) date to the historical period. The remaining two terraces (T4 and T5) were formed during the prehistoric portion of the Holocene. Anderson and Edwards differentiated the alluvium into four stratigraphic units, and seven radiocarbon dates on detrital charcoal provided temporal control. The oldest deposits, designated Garcia Ranch I, underlie the T5 tread and are associated with radiocarbon dates of 7090 and 6132 14C yr BP. Anderson and Edwards believed that stream down-cutting followed the deposition of Garcia Ranch I deposits. Garcia Ranch II deposits are inset into the older Garcia Ranch I alluvium, but also form part of the T5 surface. The lower portion of this unit contained charcoal that yielded dates of 4250 and 3780 14C yr BP. The upper part of the Garcia Ranch II unit includes paleochannel fill dated at 3890 14C yr BP. Garcia Ranch III deposits contained charcoal dated at 2410 and 2520 14C yr BP. Pueblo I and II materials on the surface of this unit suggest that Garcia Ranch III deposition ended prior to about 1,200 years ago. The youngest prehistoric deposits are inset into T5 and consist of

The project was reviewed and accepted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), to work with human subjects. Additionally, this project was reviewed and accepted by the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma Tribal Administration and the National Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service allowing this project to work in accordance with Section 106 of the archaeology guidelines.

The basement rocks in the western Slave carton is older than 2.8 Ga and the known oldest rocks are the genesis found along the Acasta River which is about 3.6- 4.0 Ga old, which is estimated using the zircon dating (Isachsen & Bowring, 1994; Padgham,1992). Following by 2.8 - 3.5-Ga old genesis of Point Lake and genesis under the Yellowknife Greenstone belts, which exist over 3 Ga (Isachsen & Bowring, 1994; Padgham,1992). The major rock types include granitic to tonalitic genesis, migmatitic genesis and granodiorites, which have been deformed and metamorphosed (Fyson & Helmstaedt, 1988; Isachsen & Bowring, 1994; Padgham,1992). In the eastern Slave Craton, the basement is not confined but is correlated to the Nd-Pb isotopic boundaries

Despite the intense efforts to uncover information on the prehistoric Native Americans occupying the Washington Coast, very little archaeological evidence has been uncovered to suggest prehistoric occupation (Cole, et.al, 1996). A finding that fiercely contrasts with the early historic record, which projects a population total of 6,000, and as such, should demonstrate heavy if not consistent findings within the region (Cole, et.al, 1996). However, this is not the case for the Washington State coastline. Despite the extent of research that has been conducted from 1976-1994, the archeological findings along the Southern Washington Coastline are nonexistent, less for what has been found upon the surface. Cole and associates attempted to find the missing link between as to where the evidence may have gone. In 1990 two geologist accidentally uncovered prehistoric fishing camps in the interdial zone, covered by mud from an earthquake that occurred 300 years ago (Cole, et.al, 1996). By studying the geophysical qualities of Southern Washington (1700 AD), Cole and associates, discover that seismic activity at the Cascadia subduction zone caused not only an earthquake, but a substantial Tsunami, which worked to bury the

Archaeologists believe the first groups spanned the entirety of North America in barely five hundred years, which is an astonishing accomplishment when considering the ever-changing landscape caused by the glacial movements (Meltzer 5). Recent archaeological discoveries support the idea that settlers colonized North America far before Christopher Columbus, and that many parts of the continent were actually vegetated and not covered in vast sheets of ice (Dye par.16). The realization that plant and animal life existed in places archaeologists had initially thought to be affected by the Ice Age lends itself to the fact that settlers would have had access to the entirety of North America much earlier than previously thought. Therefore, the time frame shifts and supports a pre-Columbus, even pre-Clovis, settlement (Dye par.

Austin, Steven A. 1994. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, California: Institute for Creation Research.

The third article will report on the research results of three planned seasons of fieldwork (either Spring/Summer or Fall 2018, 2019, and 2020) at the late Pleistocene paleontological site Chivacabe, Huehuetenango, Guatemala (Western Highlands), and will place it in the larger context of Paleoamerican activity within Middle America. In the 80s, non-prismatic obsidian artifacts, including a lanceolate fluted point (Figure…), were found at the site but without archaeological control. Interestingly, one of the obsidian items is a very small piece of green Pachuca obsidian from Central Mexico (Figure…). Although not from a known context, the possibility that early Paleoamerican occupants at the site had access to Central Mexican obsidian is

These techniques led to the discovery of the boundary between the two eras. A single thin layer of clay found within predominantly limestone rocks established this. By comparing the marine life found in, above, and below the clay, the marine life, like the dinosaurs, had been terribly affected by the extinction event. The percentage of life in the upper layers was dramatically lower than that in the lower. This was far more compelling than what was suggested by dinosaur’s fossils.