Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:50:28.732Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vertebrate Tracks in Pleistocene Eolian Sand-Sheet Deposits of Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Peter D. Lea
Peter D. Lea*
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Arctic Studies Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 04011
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Deformation structures interpreted as vertebrate hoof- and foot-tracks occur within upper-Pleistocene eolian sand-sheet deposits in the stabilized Kantishna sand sea of central Alaska and in the Nushagak lowland of southwestern Alaska. Exposures of tracks are generally limited to cross sections, which reveal concave-up deformation structures in which displacement of preexisting strata diminishes downward. Deposits in both areas contain tracks that are 6 to 16 cm in diameter and are divided by a central ridge, reflecting formation by artiodactyl (even-toed) ungulates. Larger (21–34 cm) tracks without a central ridge, observed in the Nushagak lowland, were formed by proboscideans, probably woolly mammoth. Large vertebrate tracks occur within irregularly stratified sand and silty sand that accumulated upon partially vegetated sand sheets, and within thin, even wind-ripple laminae of unvegetated sand sheets. The presence of tracks at multiple stratigraphic levels and preservation of roots and rhizocretions within the eolian deposits suggest that vegetated sand sheets may have formed a locally important grazing habitat for large herbivores during at least part of the last glaciation. Recognition that vertebrate tracks are preserved in eolian sand-sheet deposits, and in deposits of other environments as well, opens a new source of stratigraphic and paleoecological data to aid reconstruction of the vanished ecosystems of Beringia.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , March 1996 , pp. 226 - 240
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. (1984). ‘‘Sedimentary Structures: Their Character and Physical Basis” [Unabridged one-volume edition]. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Allen, J. R. L. (1989). Fossil vertebrate tracks and indenter mechanics. Journal of the Geological Society, London 146 , 600–602.Google Scholar
Black, R. F. (1976). Periglacial features indicative of permafrost: Ice and soil wedges. Quaternary Research 6, 3–26.Google Scholar
Churchill, L. L. (1992). ‘‘Paleoenvironmental Analysis of Three Subfossil Coleopteran Faunas from the Toklat River Drainage, Central Alaska.” Unpublished Senior Scholars’ thesis, Department of Geology, Colby College, Waterville, ME.Google Scholar
Colinvaux, P. A. (1986). Plain thinking on Bering Land Bridge vegetation and mammoth populations. Quarterly Review of Archaeology 7 , 8–9.Google Scholar
Colinvaux, P. A., and West, F. H. (1984). The Beringian ecosystem. Quarterly Review of Archaeology 5 , 10–16.Google Scholar
Collins, F. R. (1985). ‘‘Map Showing a Vegetated Dune Field in Central Alaska.” U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1708.Google Scholar
Cwynar, L. C., and Ritchie, J. C. (1980). Arctic steppe-tundra: A Yukon perspective. Science 208 , 1375–1378.Google Scholar
Davenport, C. A., and Ringrose, P. S. (1987). Deformation of Scottish Quaternary sedimentary sequences by strong earthquake motions. In ‘‘Deformation of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks” (Jones, M. E. and Preston, M. F. R., Eds.), Geological Society Special Publication 29, pp. 299–314. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.Google Scholar
Fryberger, S. G. Ahlbrandt, T. S., and Andrews, S. (1979). Origin, sedimentary features, and significance of low-angle eolian ‘‘sand-sheet” deposits, Great Sand Dunes National Monument and vicinity, Colorado. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 49 , 733–746.Google Scholar
Fryberger, S. G. Al-Sari, A. M., and Clisham, T. J. (1983). Eolian dune, interdune, sand sea and siliciclastic sabkha sediments of an offshore prograding sand sea, Dharan area, Saudi Arabia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 67, 280–312.Google Scholar
Gillette, D. D., and Lockley, M. G. (Eds.) (1989). ‘‘Dinosaur Tracks and Traces.” Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Guthrie, R. D. (1968). Paleoecology of the large-mammal community in interior Alaska during the late Pleistocene. American Midland Naturalist 79, 346–363.Google Scholar
Guthrie, R. D. (1982). Mammals of the mammoth steppe as paleoenvironmental indicators. In “Paleoecology of Beringia” (Hopkins, D. M. Matthews, J. V. Jr. Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B., Eds.), pp. 307–326. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Guthrie, R. D. (1990). ‘‘Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe.” Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, T. D. Ashley, G. M. Reed, K. M., and Schweger, C. E. (1993). Late Pleistocene vertebrates and other fossils from Epiguruk, northwestern Alaska. Quaternary Research 39 , 381–389.Google Scholar
Harington, C. R. (1978). Quaternary vertebrate faunas of Canada and Alaska and their suggested chronological sequence. Canadian National Museum of Natural Sciences, Syllogeus 15.Google Scholar
Hopkins, D. M. (1982). Aspects of the paleogeography of Beringia during the Late Pleistocene. In “Paleoecology of Beringia” (Hopkins, D. M. Matthews, J. V. Jr. Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B., Eds.), pp. 3–28. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hopkins, D. M. Matthews, J. V. Jr. Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B. (Eds.) (1982). ‘‘Paleoecology of Beringia.” Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Koster, E. A. Castel, I. I. Y., and Nap, R. L. (1993). Genesis and sedimentary structures of late Holocene aeolian drift sands in Northwest Europe. In “The Dynamics and Environmental Context of Aeolian Sedimentary Systems” (Pye, K., Ed.), pp. 247–267. Geological Society Special Publication 72, London.Google Scholar
Laporte, L. F., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1980). Tracks and substrate reworking by terrestrial vertebrates in Quaternary sediments of Kenya. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 50 , 1337–1346.Google Scholar
Laury, R. L. (1980). Paleoenvironment of a late Quaternary mammoth-bearing sinkhole deposit, Hot Springs, South Dakota. Geological Society of America Bulletin 91 , 465–475.Google Scholar
Lea, P. D. (1989). ‘‘Quaternary Environments and Depositional Systems of the Nushagak Lowland, Southwestern Alaska.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Lea, P. D. (1990). Pleistocene periglacial eolian deposits in southwestern Alaska: Sedimentary facies and depositional processes. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 60 , 582–591.Google Scholar
Lea, P. D. Higgins, J., and Small, E. (1991). Stratigraphy of a portion of the lower Tanana erg, a late-Quaternary periglacial sand sea in central Alaska. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 23 , A405–A406.Google Scholar
Lea, P. D., and Waythomas, C. F. (1990). Late-Pleistocene eolian sand sheets in Alaska. Quaternary Research 34 , 269–281.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. W., and Titheridge, D. G. (1978). Small scale sedimentary structures resulting from foot impressions in dune sands. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 48 , 835–838.Google Scholar
Lockley, M. G. (1986). The paleobiological and paleoenvironmental importance of dinosaur tracks. Palaios 1 , 37–47.Google Scholar
Lockley, M. G. (1991). ‘‘Tracking Dinosaurs—A New Look at an Aneient World.” Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lockley, M. G. Hunt, A. P., and Meyer, C. A. (1994). Vertebrate tracks and the ichnofacies concept: Implications for palaeoecology and palichnostratigraphy. In “The Palaeobiology of Trace Fossils” (Donovan, S. K., Ed.), pp. 214–268. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Loope, D. B. (1986). Recognizing and utilizing vertebrate tracks in cross section: Cenozoic hoofprints from Nebraska. Palaios 1 , 141–151.Google Scholar
Matthews, J. V. Jr. (1976). Arctic-steppe—An extinct biome. In “American Quaternary Association Abstracts,” Vol. 4, pp. 73–77. Tempe, AZ.Google Scholar
Matthews, J. V. Jr. (1982). East Beringia during late Wisconsin time: A review. In “Paleoecology of Beringia” (Hopkins, D. M. Matthews, J. V. Jr. Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B., Eds.), pp. 127–150. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
McKee, E. D., and Bigarella, J. J. (1972). Deformation structures of Brazilian coastal dunes. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 42 , 670–681.Google Scholar
Munroe, J. S. (1994). ‘‘Sedimentology and Paleoenvironments of the Pleistocene Flounder Flat Complex, Nushagak–Bristol Bay Lowland, South-western Alaska.” Unpublished Senior Honors thesis, Geology Department, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME.Google Scholar
Péwé, T. L. (1975). ‘‘Quaternary geology of Alaska.” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 835.Google Scholar
Péwé, T. L. Wahrhaftig, C., and Weber, F. (1966). ‘‘Geologic map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska.” U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geological Investigations Map I-455.Google Scholar
Powers, W. R., and Hoffecker, J. F. (1989). Late Pleistocene settlement in the Nenana Valley, central Alaska. American Antiquity 54 , 263–283.Google Scholar
Sarjeant, W. A. S. (1975). Fossil tracks and impressions of vertebrates. In ‘‘The Study of Trace Fossils” (Frey, R. W., Ed.), pp. 283–324. Springer-Verlag, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweger, C. E., and Habgood, T. (1976). The late Pleistocene steppetundra in Beringia—A critique. In “American Quaternary Association Abstracts,” Vol. 4, pp. 80–81. Tempe, AZ.Google Scholar
Scrivner, P. J., and Bottjer, D. J. (1986). Neogene avian and mammalian tracks from Death Valley National Monument, California: Their context, classification and preservation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 57 , 285–331.Google Scholar
Sher, A. V. (1974). Pleistocene mammals and stratigraphy of the far Northeast U.S.S.R. and North America. International Geology Review 16 , 1–284.Google Scholar
Thorson, R. M., and Hamilton, T. D. (1977). Geology of the Dry Creek site: A stratified early man site in interior Alaska. Quaternary Research 7, 149–176.Google Scholar
Tucker, M. E., and Burchette, T. P. (1977). Triassic dinosaur footprints from south Wales: Their context and preservation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 22 , 195–208.Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, J. (1988). Cryoturbations. In “Advances in periglacial geomorphology” (Clark, M. J., Ed.), pp. 179–198. Wiley, Chichester.Google Scholar
Van Der Lingen, G. L., and Andrews, P. B. (1969). Hoof-print structures in beach sand. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 39, 350–357.Google Scholar
Vereshschagin, N. K., and Baryshnikov, G. F. (1982). Paleoecology of the mammoth fauna in the Eurasian arctic. In “Paleoecology of Beringia” (Hopkins, D. M. Matthews, J. V. Jr. Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B., Eds.), pp. 267–279. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Voorhies, M. R. (1975). Vertebrate burrows. In “The study of trace fossils” (Frey, R. W., Ed.), pp. 325–350. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Waythomas, C. F. Lea, P. D., and Walter, R. C. (1993). Stratigraphic context of Old Crow tephra, Holitna lowland, interior southwest Alaska. Quaternary Research 40 , 20–29.Google Scholar