Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T20:49:40.312Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence of Stream Response to Holocene Climatic Change in a Small Wisconsin Watershed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Patricia F. McDowell
Patricia F. McDowell*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the Holocene, moderate climatic and vegetational changes triggered several episodes of adjustment in the Brush Creek fluvial system. The alluvial chronology includes an episode of erosion at 7800 – 5700 yr B.P. corresponding to the mid-Holocene precipitation minimum and an episode of floodplain construction at 5700 – 5000 yr B.P. corresponding to a rapid increase in precipitation. Holocene climatic changes have influenced the sedimentology of the alluvial deposits and soil development on them. Fluvial adjustment is caused primarily by hydrologic and hydraulic changes related to climatic change, but there is no simple model for fluvial response to climatic change. The relationship between the direction of climatic change and the type of fluvial response is complex.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 1983 , pp. 100 - 116
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J.R.L.. 1965. A review of the origin and characteristics of recent alluvial sediments. Sedimentology 5. 89–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, V.R., Penteado-Orellana, M.M.. 1977. Adjustment to climatic change of the Colorado River in central Texas. Journal of Geology 85. 395–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlein, P.J., Webb, T. III. 1982. Holocene climatic changes estimated from pollen data from the northern Midwest Quaternary History of the Driftless Area. Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Field Trip Guidebook No. 5 67–82.Google Scholar
Bernabo, J.C., Webb, T. III. 1977. Changing patterns in the Holocene pollen record of northeastern North America: A mapped summary. Quaternary Research 8. 64–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bluck, B.J.. 1971. Sedimentation in the meandering River Endrick. Scottish Journal of Geology 7. 93–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brakenridge, G.R.. 1980. Widespread episodes of stream erosion during the Holocene and their climatic causes. Nature (London) 283. 655–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brakenridge, G.R.. 1981. Late Quaternary floodplain sedimentation along the Pomme de Terre River, southern Missouri. Quaternary Research 15. 62–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butzer, K.W.. 1977. Geomorphology of the Lower Illinois Valley as a Spatial-Temporal Context for the Koster Archaeological SiteIllinois State Museum Report of Investigations, No. 34.Google Scholar
Butzer, K.W.. 1980. Holocene alluvial sequences: Problems of dating and correlation. Timescales in Geomorphology. Cullingford, R.A., Davidson, D.A., Lewin, J.. Wiley, Chichester. 131–142.Google Scholar
Clegg, R.H.. 1975. An Approach to the Study of Lateral Migration of Stream Channels. Unpublished M.S. thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
Daniels, R.B., Rubin, M., Simonson, G.H.. 1963. Alluvial chronology of Thompson Creek watershed, Harrison County, Iowa. American Journal of Science 261. 473–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, A.M.. 1975. Reconstruction of Local and Regional Holocene Environments from the Pollen and Peat Stratigraphy of Some Driftless Area Peat Deposits. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
Dury, G.H.. 1964. Subsurface Exploration and Chronology of Underfit StreamsU.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 452-B.Google Scholar
Euler, R.C., Gumerman, G.J., Karlstrom, T.N.V., Dean, J.S., Hevly, R.H.. 1979. The Colorado plateaus: Cultural dynamics and paleoenvironment. Science 205. 1089–1101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finley, R.F.. 1976. Map of Original Vegetation Cover of Wisconsin. U.S. Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, Minn.Google Scholar
Frye, J.C.. 1961. Fluvial deposition and the glacial cycle. Journal of Geology 69. 600–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happ, S.C., Rittenhouse, G., Dobson, G.C.. 1940. Some Principles of Accelerated Stream and Valley SedimentationU.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 695.Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V.. 1968. Geochronology of late-Quaternary alluvium. Means of Correlation of Quaternary Successions. Morrison, R.B., Wright, H.E. Jr.. Univ. of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 591–631.Google Scholar
Hogan, J.D., Beatty, M.T.. 1963. Age and properties of Peorian Loess and buried paleosols in southwestern Wisconsin. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings 27. 345–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, W.C.. 1976. The Impact of Environmental Change on Fluvial Systems: Kickapoo River, Wisconsin. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
King, J.E.. 1981. Late Quaternary vegetational history of Illinois. Ecological Monographs 51. 43–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, J.C.. 1972. Valley alluviation in southwestern Wisconsin. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 62. 401–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, J.C.. 1975. Concept of the graded stream. Theories of Landform Development. Melhorn, W.N., Flemal, R.C.. Publications in Geomorphology. New York State University, Binghamton. 169–198.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C.. 1976. Geomorphic and Hydrologic Characteristics of Great Plains Rivers during the HoloceneUnpublished paper presented at the 29th Meeting, Plains Conference of Anthropologists, Minneapolis, Minn.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C.. 1977. Human impacts on Wisconsin stream channels. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 67. 323–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, J.C.. 1980. Wisconsin and Holocene valley deposits in the Wisconsin Driftless Area. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 12. 231.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C., Bartlein, P.J., Hirschboeck, K.K., Muckenhirn, R.J.. 1975. The Response of Floods and Sediment Yields to Climatic Variation and Land Use in the Upper Mississippi Valley. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Environmental StudiesReport 52.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C., Bartlein, P.J., Johnson, W.C.. 1974. Environmental assessment of sediment sources and sedimentation distributions for the Lake LaFarge watershed and inpoundment Environmental Analysis of the Kickapoo Impoundment. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Environmental Studies, Report 28 77–116.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C., Johnson, W.C.. 1974. Late Quaternary valley alluviation in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. Late Quaternary Environments of Wisconsin. Knox, J.C., Mickelson, D.M.American Quaternary Association Guidebook for 3rd Biennial Meeting, Madison, Wisc. 134–162.Google Scholar
Knox, J.C., McDowell, P.F., Johnson, W.C.. 1981. Holocene fluvial stratigraphy and climatic change in the Driftless Area, Wisconsin. Quaternary Paleoclimate. Mahaney, W.C.. Geo Abstracts, Norwich. 107–127.Google Scholar
Maddock, T. Jr.. 1969. The Behavior of Straight Open Channels with Movable BedsU.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 622-A.Google Scholar
McDowell, P.F.. 1980. Holocene Fluvial Activity in Brush Creek Watershed, Wisconsin. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
McDowell, P.F.. 1982. Soil development in late Wisconsinan and Holocene valley deposits, Brush Creek Valley, Wisconsin Quaternary History of the Driftless Area. Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Field Trip Guidebook No. 5 136–154.Google Scholar
Passega, R.. 1957. Texture as characteristic of clastic deposition. Bulletin of American Association of Petroleum Geologists 41. 1952–1984.Google Scholar
Patton, P.C., Schumm, S.A.. 1981. Ephemeral-stream processes: Implications for studies of Quaternary valley fills. Quaternary Research 15. 24–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritter, D.F.. 1974. Holocene climate change and fluvial systems Abstracts of the 3rd Biennial Meeting American Quaternary Association 58–62.Google Scholar
Rose, J., Turner, C., Coope, G.R., Bryan, M.D.. 1980. Channel changes in a lowland river catchment over the last 13,000 years. Timescales in Geomorphology. Cullingford, R.A., Davidson, D.A., Lewin, J.. Wiley, Chichester. 159–175.Google Scholar
Schafer, J.P.. 1962. Pleistocene frost action in and near northeastern Iowa. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 68. 262(Abstract).Google Scholar
Schumm, S.A.. 1965. Quaternary paleohydrology. The Quaternary of the United States. Wright, H.E. Jr., Frey, D.G.. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J. 783–794.Google Scholar
Schumm, S.A.. 1973. Geomorphic thresholds and complex response of drainage systems. Publications in Geomorphology. Morisawa, M.. New York State University, Binghamton. 299–310.Google Scholar
Schumm, S.A., Lichty, R.W.. 1963. Time, space and causality in geomorphology. American Journal of Science 263. 110–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schumm, S.A., Parker, R.S.. 1973. Implications of complex response of drainage systems for Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy. Nature (London), Phys. Sci. 243. 99–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Starkel, L.. 1977. Late Glacial and Holocene fluvial chronology in the Carpathian valleys. Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho-Balcanica 11. 33–50.Google Scholar
Task Committee on Sedimentation, . 1975. Genetic classification of valley sediment deposits. Sedimentation Engineering. Vanoni, V.A.. American Society of Civil Engineering, New York. 286–292.Google Scholar
Thompson, D.M., Bettis, E.A. III. 1980. Archeology and Holocene landscape evolution in the Missouri drainage of Iowa. Journal of the Iowa Archeology Society 27. 1–60.Google Scholar
Trimble, S.W.. 1976. Sedimentation in Coon Creek valley, Wisconsin Proceedings, Third Federal Inter-Agency Sedimentation Conference U.S. Water Resources Council, Sedimentation Committee, Washington, D.C. 5.100–5.112.Google Scholar
Van Zant, K.. 1979. Late Glacial and post Glacial pollen and plant macrofossils from Lake West Okoboji, northwestern Iowa. Quaternary Research 12. 358–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W.A., Winter, T.C.. 1966. Plant macrofossils from Kirchner Marsh, Minnesota—A paleoecological study. Geological Society of America, Bulletin 77. 1339–1360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, T. III, Bryson, R.A.. 1972. Late- and postglacial climatic change in the northern Midwest, USA: Quantitative estimates derived from fossil pollen spectra by multivariate analysis. Quaternary Research 2. 70–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willman, H.B., Frye, J.C.. 1970. Pleistocene Stratigraphy of Illinois. Illinois State Geological SurveyBulletin 94.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr.. 1968. The roles of pine and spruce in the forest history of Minnesota and adjacent areas. Ecology 49. 937–955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., Matsch, C.L., Cushing, E.J.. 1973. Superior and Des Moines lobes. The Wisconsinan Stage. Black, R.F., Goldthwait, R.P., Willman, H.E.Geological Society of America, Memoir 136. 153–185 Boulder, Colo.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., Winter, T.C., Patten, H.L.. 1963. Two pollen diagrams from southeastern Minnesota: Problems in the regional late-Glacial and postglacial vegetational history. Geological Society of America, Bulletin 74. 1371–1396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar