Soils and Landscapes

The semiarid Chaco is an ecosystem shared by Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil where land use changes from forest to commercial agriculture and social confl icts have been intensive during the last decade. These changes and the lack of reliable soil information at suitable sca les are threatening the sustainabledevelopment of the region. In Santiago del Estero province, Argentina, a soil survey was carried out with the objective of reducing the knowledge gap. Due to the large area, geomorphology diversity, limited funding, and high demand of information, a geopedologic survey using remote sensing and GIS was considered an appropriate approach. Map units were determined based on the integration of geoforms and soils, knowledge of landscape and soil forming factors, fi eld observations, and laboratory determinations. Three main landscape units were recognized: (1) a fluvio- eolian Chaco plain including a megafan with Haplustolls and Torripsamments, (2) the Rio Dulce valley with Torripsamments, and (3) the alluvial migratory plain of Río Salado with Torripsamments, Ustifl uvents, and Natraqualfs. The used approach helped speed up the soil information collection at appropriate scale for land use planning.

Suwannee points are an unfluted lanceolate style found on the Lower Southeastern Coastal Plain of North America. Suwannee points are undated but thought to represent a regional, post-Clovis group that lived during the Younger Dryas, with a hypothesized age range of ∼12,700-11,500 years ago based on contextual data. This paper presents analyses of the Suwannee component from Ryan-Harley, the only known discrete Suwannee assemblage. The site is interpreted as representing "gearing up" ahead of a mobility event. The toolkit and assemblage from Ryan-Harley demonstrate that Suwannee people practiced residential mobility and maintained an adaptable, versatile toolkit. However, some elements of the assemblage, like dependence on local tool stone, are more common in logistically organized groups. This mixture of provisioning strategies indicates that the Suwannee assemblage at Ryan-Harley may exhibit the start of a transition toward logistical organization which began after the end of the Younger Dryas in this region.

, and have been used widely to define 'catchment groups' for landcare purposes. Some 726 sub-catchments have been defined within the basin, far too many to be useful for strategic planning purposes. The Department of Agriculture has divided the area by climatic parameters, to assist delivery of crop variety and suitability information to farmers. These Crop Variety Trial (CVT) areas are based on average annual isohyets intersected by annual evapo-transpiration isopleths. This subdivision broadly suits agronomic purposes and is applicable at scales suitable for regional planning. However, it does not account for other bio-physical attributes that impact on agricultural and natural resource management. The Department of Agriculture has also conducted soil-landscape mapping across the basin. In the area cleared for agriculture, this mapping groups landscapes according to landforms, topography, soil types and related native vegetation associations. It is hierarchical and so can be amalgamated as necessary to suit the scale required (Schoknecht and Tille 2002). An amalgamation of soil-landscape units to 'zone' level best suits regional-scale agricultural planning and resource condition assessment. However, this is not ideal, as it fails to properly account for climatic gradients, particularly in the east of the cleared area. The alternative, an

Global warming is one of the most important problems of the present day. The increase of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases causes a great problem in the atmosphere. However, CO 2 gas constituted the biggest threat at present, though the other gases increase, too. One of the primary precautions to take for this is the context of soil earth atmospheric CO 2 through plants. Beside the context of soil carbon, some other factors are also affecting this context. Some of them are texture, bulk density (BD), cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable cations (EC), soil reaction (pH) and electrical conductivity (Ec). In Harran plain, an organic carbon amount ranged from 0.28 to 4.95 kg C m-2. The statistic analyses data in the factors are: BD, organic carbon (OC), texture (clay, silt and sand%), CEC, EC, pH and Ec. The strongest correlation was found as BD and OC (R 2 = 99.96), but when compared with the other factors, it was detected as R 2 = 99.4. The reason for its height when we consider all the parameters is the involvement of organic carbon in the calculation. When we deal with them individually, the correlation falls below 50%. In this study, a point of high correlation is made between OC and BD. The study aims to determine, in the soils, BD, which is costly, hard and time consuming, and OC which is known by means of this correlation. In the comparison analysis of the entire data and the determination of the equations, student t test was used and the data were investigated at p<0.01 significance levels. However, ANOVA techniques were used regularly in this comparison.

In this study, the performance of 63 existing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) is evaluated to estimate oven-dry soil bulk density (BD) by using a dataset of 3316 soil cores taken in the farmlands of Campania (southern Italy). As expected, the lack of direct calibration yields prediction accuracy from unsatisfactory to rather weak. Therefore, we advance the working hypothesis that the use of hierarchical soil mapping information can make the application of existing PTFs more reliable. We show that grouping data according to land-systems classes or soil groups considerably improves the prediction ability quantified through the root mean squared error (RMSE) and the coefficient of determination (R 2). An independent data set of 105 soil cores taken from two hillslopes in the Upper Alento River Catchment in southern Campania was used to verify our assumption. The validation step shows that the knowledge of a soil-landscape map is an efficient tool for improving the prediction of BD. This approach will be employed in a subsequent study to develop site-specific PTFs for the study region.

In this study, the performance of 63 existing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) is evaluated to estimate oven-dry soil bulk density (BD) by using a dataset of 3316 soil cores taken in the farmlands of Campania (southern Italy). As expected, the lack of direct calibration yields prediction accuracy from unsatisfactory to rather weak. Therefore, we advance the working hypothesis that the use of hierarchical soil mapping information can make the application of existing PTFs more reliable. We show that grouping data according to land-systems classes or soil groups considerably improves the prediction ability quantified through the root mean squared error (RMSE) and the coefficient of determination (R 2). An independent data set of 105 soil cores taken from two hillslopes in the Upper Alento River Catchment in southern Campania was used to verify our assumption. The validation step shows that the knowledge of a soil-landscape map is an efficient tool for improving the prediction of BD. This approach will be employed in a subsequent study to develop site-specific PTFs for the study region.

The most ancient floras of the Pleistocene of the American Southeast date back more than 50,000 years. This limit is probably not due to the proscribed distribution of the deposits, but clearly is controlled by our ability to date them using radiocarbon techniques. Beyond about 40,000 yr b.p., things are simply radiocarbon “dead,” so one has difficulty defining actual ages before that time. This situation notwithstanding, and regardless of the actual ages of the most ancient accumulations of plant debris, it remains true that the flora the first Native Americans encountered shaped their relationship with the land. Understanding the potential for resource exploitation that lay before them provides us with some insight into the types of economies that developed. This is true of both plant and animal resources, of course, but in this chapter we will examine the history of the flora of the general area of central and coastal Georgia and northern Florida—those areas that most likely held...

The data of 45 soil profiles from a 16 × 16 km grid across Slovenia was analysed to develop a local pedotransfer function (PTF) for bulk density (ρb) estimation. In total, 106 soil horizons were considered. Concentration of organic carbon (OC) was found to be well correlated (r =-0.861, p < 0.001) with ρb. Two separate line segments were fitted to the data, which was partitioned into two intervals, based on OC content (below 36.0 g/kg and above 36.0 g/kg). Nearly 80 % of the variability in ρb is explained with segmented regression. The local PTF was compared with published PTFs and four validations indices (MPE, SDPE, RMSPE and R 2) confirmed the highest prediction quality of the local PTF. The differences of carbon stock (C pool) estimation, based on usage of different PTFs could be higher than 160 t OC per hectare. Prediction of carbon stocks could be substantially improved by calibration of the models coefficients with data stratified according to each unique soil type. K e y w o rd s : pedotransfer function PTF, organic carbon OC, segmented regression, forest soil, carbon stock C pool

The objectives of this study were to apply a k-NN approach to predict CEC in Iranian soils and compare this approach with the popular artificial neural network model (ANN). In this study, a data set of 3420 soil samples from different parts of Iran was used. Two different sets of cheaper-to-measure soil attributes were selected as potential predictors. The first set consisted of clay, silt, sand and organic carbon (OC) contents. The second data set was constructed using OC and clay contents. Two 'design-parameter' parameters should be optimized before application of the k-NN approach. Results showed that the algorithm efficiency is not dependent on these parameters. A wide range of suboptimal values around the optimal values may cause a slight error in terms of estimation accuracy. However, the optimal settings of the design-parameters depend on the size of the development/ reference data set. In both k-NN and ANN models, the higher number of input variables can relatively improve the estimation of CEC. But this improvement was not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Furthermore, the results showed that increasing the size of the reference data set to a certain amount (N = 1200) reduced the estimation error significantly in terms of root-mean-squared residuals (RMSE). However, no significant difference in the accuracy of k-NN and ANN methods was detected in the reference data set sizes for N N 1200. Results showed no significant difference between this approach and ANN models, suggesting the competitive advantage of the k-NN technique over other techniques to develop pedotransfer functions (PTFs), for example, the redevelopment of PTFs is not necessarily required as new data become available.

Knowledge of the hydraulic properties of soil is a vital factor in evaluating and managing environmental and agricultural problems. The expense and difficulty of measurements have prompted the development of other approaches to estimate soil hydraulic properties. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are predictive functions used to estimate soil properties on the basis of easily measurable soil parameters. Although PTFs are in use for most temperate regions, few attempts have been made to develop them for locations in the tropics. This study aimed to establish suitable PTFs for tropical soils of Sri Lanka to estimate soil hydraulic properties (field capacity and permanent wilting point) by a multiple linear regression method from inputs consisting of different combinations of four easily measured parameters: sand content; sand, silt, and clay content; bulk density; and organic carbon concentration. This analysis used the open-source data mining software in the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis. We found that all the PTFs developed using different input levels showed similar performances. Our functional evaluation showed that the output of the PTFs performed essentially as well as measured data for estimating available water content and generating irrigation schedules for the selected localities. Hence, even using sand percentage alone, volumetric water contents at-10,-33, and −1500 kPa can be successfully estimated using PTFs developed for Sri Lankan soil conditions.

Mediterranean environments are characterized by a climatic regime with a strong seasonal variability. More uniform precipitations usually occur during the winter season, whereas short and very intense rainfalls occur during the fall and early spring that, in turn, trigger surface runoff and severe soil erosion phenomena. When this typical seasonality interacts with a territory substantially altered by anthropic actions, conditions can easily arise for environmental imbalances with serious risks for flash floods and landslides. Many of the degradation dynamics recorded during the last decades in western countries are also the result of the socio-economic changes after the II world war which yielded land-use changes with the urban sprawl process and the increase in human settlements of the natural environments. We are also witnessing a change in the perception of the natural environment and the relevant values. This study benefits from the availability of historical maps and rainfall ...

This thesis would not have been at all possible without the support and guidance of my academic mentors, peers, friends, and family. I would first like to thank my advisor, Thomas Pluckhahn, for his constant encouragement, trust, and advocacy throughout my time at USF Applied Anthropology. This research would truly not have happened without the support of Tom Whitmore and Melanie Riedinger-Whitmore who graciously welcomed me into their ecology labs, facilitated my sample processing and analysis, and willingly shared their deep knowledge of Florida ecology. Christian Wells and Robert Tykot have my sincerest gratitude for serving on my thesis committee, and for sharing their insight and expertise. I would also like to thank John and Kathy Arthur for inspiring and cultivating my passion for anthropology. They have remained a constant source of support, guidance, and inspiration in my life over the past six years. I also would like to thank my dear friends and colleagues, Liz Southard-Razzouk and Shaun West, who have been fountains of: reassurance, brilliant ideas, and, occasionally, much-needed 'real talk'. I wouldn't have made it through this program without their friendship. Finally, this thesis would have been impossible without the support of my friends and family. Mom and Dad, I can't thank you enough for your boundless love and unwavering support. My sister Kelly deserves my gratitude for her love and frequent assurances that my work is (at least somewhat) interesting outside of the academy. Lastly, I thank my closest friend and partner, Emily Keen, who has often been a shining beacon in the fog of academia, and has been my loving rescuer in times of doubt and frustration. i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .

The data of 45 soil profiles from a 16 × 16 km grid across Slo-venia was analysed to develop a local pedotransfer function (PTF) for bulk density (ρb) estimation. In total, 106 soil horizons were considered. Concentration of organic carbon (OC) was found to be well correlated (r =-0.861, p &lt; 0.001) with ρb. Two separate line segments were fitted to the data, which was partitioned into two intervals, based on OC content (below 36.0 g/kg and above 36.0 g/kg). Nearly 80 % of the variability in ρb is explained with segmented regression. The local PTF was compared with published PTFs and four validations indices (MPE, SDPE, RMSPE and R 2) confirmed the highest prediction quality of the local PTF. The differences of carbon stock (C pool) estimation, based on usage of different PTFs could be higher than 160 t OC per hectare. Prediction of carbon stocks could be substantially improved by calibration of the models coefficients with data stratified according to each unique soil type. K e y...

The data of 45 soil profiles from a 16 × 16 km grid across Slo- venia was analysed to develop a local pedotransfer function (PTF) for bulk den- sity (ρb) estimation. In total, 106 soil horizons were considered. Concentration of organic carbon (OC) was found to be well correlated (r = -0.861, p &lt; 0.001) with ρb. Two separate line segments were fitted to the data, which was partitio- ned into two intervals, based on OC content (below 36.0 g/kg and above 36.0 g/kg). Nearly 80 % of the variability in ρb is explained with segmented re- gression. The local PTF was compared with published PTFs and four valida- tions indices (MPE, SDPE, RMSPE and R2 ) confirmed the highest prediction quality of the local PTF. The differences of carbon stock (C pool) estimation, based on usage of different PTFs could be higher than 160 t OC per hectare. Predic- tion of carbon stocks could be substantially improved by calibration of the mo- dels coefficients with data stratified according to each unique so...

Aim  To determine whether the pronounced ecological importance of pebble mounds to pebble-mound mice (Pseudomys) is manifest in their continental biogeography.Location  Northern Australia.Methods  A GIS-based comparison was made between the habitats contained within the potential climatic distributions of mice, representing a null hypothesis of no habitat selection, and their actual distributions based on all known location records.Results  All species had a clear preference for hilly, rocky landscapes with a surficial cover dominated by bedrock. Simple vegetation communities with relatively open eucalypt overstorey and grassy understorey were preferred. Highly degraded rocks and aggradational surfaces and plains were avoided. The extent of the summer monsoon may be important in determining the southern limits of the group&#x27;s distribution. Major disjunctions between species were attributable to the presence of clay plains and sand sheets.The behavioural requirement of pebble-mou...

investigating soil at an irrigation pivot north of the Shay Gap study area (photo: J Laycock, DPIRD) Unless otherwise indicated, Shay Gap soil survey: investigating the suitability of soils and landforms for irrigated agriculture in the western West Canning Basin by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australian Licence. This report is available at dpird.wa.gov.au.

This report presents the results of excavations on the dugout house site (21SW17) of Anna Byberg Christopherson Goulson in west-central Minnesota. The work was completed by Dr. Donald W. Linebaugh of the University of Kentucky and a group of family volunteers between June 6 and 12, 2002. Anna and Lars Christopherson reportedly moved into their dugout house ca. 1868. Lars and two of the five Christopherson children died of scarlet fever ca. 1878. Anna married Hans Goulson, who had immigrated to the area from Wisconsin, in 1879. Sometime after the birth of their first child in the dugout in late 1879, Anna and Hans built a small wood frame house on land located about a half mile south of the dugout. Archaeological survey and investigations identified the dugout house and documented the belowground architecture of the structure. The later ca. 1880 wood frame house was also recorded as part of this project. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many members of the Goulson family who made this excavation possible. Without their intense interest and participation this project would not have been possible. First and foremost, I need to thank Hilton and Dan Goulson, who spearheaded the expedition to Minnesota. Their untiring work included recruiting and scheduling the volunteers, arranging for equipment and supplies at the site, and supervising the entire proceedings. The results of this hard work were an organized, effective, and enjoyable project. The many volunteers who helped at the site provided the labor needed to dig the holes, screen the dirt, keep the records, and importantly, cook the meals. Volunteers who assisted with the excavation and crew support included

Geoarchaeological Investigations into Paleoindian Adaptations on the Aucilla River, Northwest Florida. (May 2012) Jessi Jean Halligan, A.B., Harvard University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael R. Waters This dissertation addresses how Paleoindians used the karst drainage of the Aucilla River in northwestern Florida during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (approximately 15-10,000 C yr B.P.). I take a geoarchaeological approach to discuss Paleoindian land use by first defining the Late Pleistocene and Holocene geological record, and then by creating a model of site formation processes in the Aucilla River. Both underwater and terrestrial fieldwork were performed. Underwater fieldwork consisted of hand-driven cores and surface survey, vibrocoring, underwater 1 x 1 m unit excavation, and controlled surface collection. Terrestrial fieldwork consisted of shovel and auger test pits. Seventeen cores were collected from five different submerged sinkhole sites, which were used to s...

This study examines faunal materials recovered from a Savannah period aboriginal site in the Okefenokee Swamp. Overall mammalian fauna made a small contribution to the diet with primary emphasis upon fishes and turtles. Analyses from other wetland sites within the southeastern interior show a similar pattern of resource exploitation. While the sites are located in freshwater settings, they differ in length of occupancy and time of occupation. These data demonstrate the potential productivity of wetland habitats scattered throughout the Coastal Plain offering a rich and varied subsistence available on a multi-seasonal basis.

ABSTRACT Interrelated themes within the tour are principally landsurfaces and landscape evolution; clays and other weathering and alteration minerals in sediments, saprolite and soil materials; and silicification phenomena, including precious opal. The tour is written in such a way that it can be followed while travelling, and hopefully provides sufficient references to distances and landmarks to enable &amp;quot;tourists&amp;quot; to locate themselves readily. The distances to be travelled are vast and the time-frame is short, and so the opportunity for stopping at unscheduled sites is unfortunately limited. We hope you enjoy the highlights we have selected. Features of particular interest include: clay minerals; palaeosurfaces; salinas; dunes; desertic soils and stone pavements; gjlgai; carbonates and salts; Andamooka precious opal, pedogenic and groundwater silcretes, deep bleaching and weathering Lake Eye; mound springs; treeless pains of cracking clays, with gypsum and epsomite; Coober Pedy precious opal, pedogenic and groundwater silcretes, deep bleaching and weathering, termite burrows, alunite, and red-brown hardpans; Stuart Range scarp and breakaway country, and maghemite gravel lags. Palaeosurfaces: the Mesozoic Arcoona Surface developed on Proterozoic and Cambrian sediments, and covered by non-marine and marginal marine Cretaceous sediments; a Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary landsurface; a later Tertiary landsurface characterised by pedogenic silcrete, the dissection of which may be related to a series of groundwater silcretes; a complex of younger landsurfaces approaching regional baselevel. Landscape processes: rolling stony downs, with carbonate and salts, gilgai and swamps; sand dunes and eolian processes; landsurface remnants like mesas and plateaux, with breakaways and other forms of landsurface dissection and degradation; pedogenic silcretes and collapse structures; weathering processes and the deep bleached profile, groundwater silcretes, and the influence of biological processes including termite activity; hardpans (duripans), silica, gypsum and carbonates; mound springs; salinas and the regional watertable. Clays: character of clays in the contemporary soil mantle, carbonates and salts; minerals of the deep bleached and weathered profile, including opal and alunite.

ABSTRACT: In India, the state of Kerala and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state are the traditional rubber growing areas accounting for 90 per cent of rubber production. Rubber Board of India under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India has robust statistics on area under rubber cultivation based on sample survey technique, but this is a costly and time consuming process and it will not give spatial and temporal distribution of rubber cultivation. Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) initiated a project on developing ...

In India, the state of Kerala and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state are the traditional rubber growing areas accounting for 90 per cent of rubber production. Rubber Board of India under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India has robust statistics on area under rubber cultivation based on sample survey technique, but this is a costly and time consuming process and it will not give spatial and temporal distribution of rubber cultivation. Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) initiated a project on developing rubber information system using remote sensing and GIS for the traditional rubber growing areas. In continuation of the experience and results reported earlier, the present effort is an additional step towards analysis, understanding available data and updating rubber information system using modern available tools. Rubber showed a unique spectral signature and it helped to separate rubber plantations of more than four years old from different vegetation. In Kottayam district, total area under rubber (more than 4 year old) was estimated as 66,105.67 hectares. This was distributed mainly in Meenachil taluk (44.7%) followed by Kanjiraplly (23.6%), Kottayam (17.4%), Chenganassery (10.4%) and Vaikom taluk (3.9%). In Kottayam district major rubber area is distributed on moderately suitable land followed by highly suitable land. About 11 per cent of rubber area is distributed on marginally suitable land having limitation with respect to shallow soil depth, high gravel content, nutrient toxicity/deficiency and steep slope. Rubber distribution over different slope classes showed that 49 per cent of area distributed on 5-15 per cent slope which is ideal for rubber cultivation. The remaining rubber area was distributed on lower or higher slopes where waterlog or run off and soil erosion problems may be encountered. It is essential to take up appropriate agronomic and cultural measures in the areas having limitations for proper growth and yield of rubber. Land utilization maps with these information will serve as decision support tools for the extension people, planners, administrators and farmers.

In India, the state of Kerala and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state are the traditional rubber growing areas accounting for 90 per cent of rubber production. Rubber Board of India under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India has robust statistics on area under rubber cultivation based on sample survey technique, but this is a costly and time consuming process and it will not give spatial and temporal distribution of rubber cultivation. Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) initiated a project on developing rubber information system using remote sensing and GIS for the traditional rubber growing areas. In continuation of the experience and results reported earlier, the present effort is an additional step towards analysis, understanding available data and updating rubber information system using modern available tools. Rubber showed a unique spectral signature and it helped to separate rubber plantations of more than four years old from different vegetation. In Kottayam district, total area under rubber (more than 4 year old) was estimated as 66,105.67 hectares. This was distributed mainly in Meenachil taluk (44.7%) followed by Kanjiraplly (23.6%), Kottayam (17.4%), Chenganassery (10.4%) and Vaikom taluk (3.9%). In Kottayam district major rubber area is distributed on moderately suitable land followed by highly suitable land. About 11 per cent of rubber area is distributed on marginally suitable land having limitation with respect to shallow soil depth, high gravel content, nutrient toxicity/deficiency and steep slope. Rubber distribution over different slope classes showed that 49 per cent of area distributed on 5-15 per cent slope which is ideal for rubber cultivation. The remaining rubber area was distributed on lower or higher slopes where waterlog or run off and soil erosion problems may be encountered. It is essential to take up appropriate agronomic and cultural measures in the areas having limitations for proper growth and yield of rubber. Land utilization maps with these information will serve as decision support tools for the extension people, planners, administrators and farmers.

Turtle material was found in all AUs except 3b, where very little faunal material was recovered overall. Much of the turtle assemblage derives from shells that were probably no more than 30 cm, cranialcaudal. Scute lines and sculpting suggest families Kinosternidae and Emydidae, present at Spring Lake today, are represented. However, the material is heavily comminuted and no diagnostic material was recognized.

A chert object embedded in the cranium of a bison found at the Alexon site, Florida, is cited as direct evidence of human and megafauna interaction at the end of the Pleistocene in the American Southeast. Previous analyses identified the chert object as the mid-section of a lanceolate projectile point. Radiocarbon ages on unpurified bison collagen from two separate bison elements yielded Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene ages. We were able to relocate the site and examine the stratigraphy, but our attempts to radiocarbon date the bone failed. We obtained micro-computed tomography scans and used digital imaging software to generate a three-dimensional rendering of the embedded object. Finally, the skull and embedded object were visually examined. We conclude that the object embedded in the skull is not an artifact and that the Alexon site is a paleontological locality.

A chert object embedded in the cranium of a bison found at the Alexon site, Florida, is cited as direct evidence of human and megafauna interaction at the end of the Pleistocene in the American Southeast. Previous analyses identified the chert object as the mid-section of a lanceolate projectile point. Radiocarbon ages on unpurified bison collagen from two separate bison elements yielded Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene ages. We were able to relocate the site and examine the stratigraphy, but our attempts to radiocarbon date the bone failed. We obtained micro-computed tomography scans and used digital imaging software to generate a three-dimensional rendering of the embedded object. Finally, the skull and embedded object were visually examined. We conclude that the object embedded in the skull is not an artifact and that the Alexon site is a paleontological locality.

This field excursion was developed from a more comprehensive Field Workshop on Silcretes held in August, 1985. In planning that venture, it was considered that significant benefits could be gained by having people from many disciplines look at silcretes in the arid zone of Australia where there are good exposures of these materials. The same concept applies to arid zone soils and landscapes, once the preserve of several eminent soil scientists in Division of Soils but a much neglected field of study in latter years. Hence the present excursion. The opportunity to undertake new work in the arid northern lands of South Australia is now presented largely because of the current geological mapping programme of the South Australian Department of Mines & Energy. The maps being produced at 1:250 000 scale incorporate many observations on the regolith, particularly the nature of landforms, the character of soils and palaeosols, the distribution of gilgai, and the composition of materials for...

While seldom integrated within coastal archaeological research in
Southeastern North America, vegetation histories derived from
palynological data offer valuable records of ancient landscape transformations driven by climatic flux, sea-level oscillations, and
anthropogenic modifications. In this paper, we develop a paleo-historical-ecological reconstruction from preliminary analyses on fossil
pollen assemblages preserved within marsh, hammock, and shellmidden soils at the Crystal River site (8CI1), a mound center on
Florida’s west-central coast occupied throughout the first millennium AD. When contextualized alongside paleoenvironmental
records from western Florida and farther afield, our analysis suggests that the nature and timing of late-Holocene climatic changes
varied little between different sub-regions of Florida’s Gulf Coast,
but also that manifestations of eustatic sea-level flux may have been
highly localized.

While seldom integrated within coastal archaeological research in Southeastern North America, vegetation histories derived from palynological data offer valuable records of ancient landscape transformations driven by climatic flux, sea-level oscillations, and anthropogenic modifications. In this paper, we develop a paleo-historical-ecological reconstruction from preliminary analyses on fossil pollen assemblages preserved within marsh, hammock, and shellmidden soils at the Crystal River site (8CI1), a mound center on Florida's west-central coast occupied throughout the first millennium AD. When contextualized alongside paleoenvironmental records from western Florida and farther afield, our analysis suggests that the nature and timing of late-Holocene climatic changes varied little between different sub-regions of Florida's Gulf Coast, but also that manifestations of eustatic sea-level flux may have been highly localized.

In this study, the performance of 63 existing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) is evaluated to estimate oven-dry soil bulk density (BD) by using a dataset of 3316 soil cores taken in the farmlands of Campania (southern Italy). As expected, the lack of direct calibration yields prediction accuracy from unsatisfactory to rather weak. Therefore, we advance the working hypothesis that the use of hierarchical soil mapping information can make the application of existing PTFs more reliable. We show that grouping data according to land-systems classes or soil groups considerably improves the prediction ability quantified through the root mean squared error (RMSE) and the coefficient of determination (R 2). An independent data set of 105 soil cores taken from two hillslopes in the Upper Alento River Catchment in southern Campania was used to verify our assumption. The validation step shows that the knowledge of a soil-landscape map is an efficient tool for improving the prediction of BD. This approach will be employed in a subsequent study to develop site-specific PTFs for the study region.

Testing and excavation at Dos Armadillos (G-154), situated on a small bench above the Rio Santa Rosa, revealed evidence of an indigenous habitation dating to the Tilarán Phase (A. D. 1000-1500). While no structural remains were recovered, a large, horizontal scatter of domestic pottery, lithic debris, groundstone artifacts, subsistence remains, and carbonized wood suggested the dwelling of a small family group with an agricultural subsistence base. Investigations at site G-153 yielded pottery and lithic debitage from a Silencio Phase (A.D. 600-1000) habitation.

The archaeological site of Nova Nadezhda is located on a T1 terrace on the right bank of the Maritsa River and on the left bank of its right tributary, the Dermen Dere stream. Comparison of the grain-size and mineral composition of sediments from the site and natural deposits from the Maritsa and the Dermen Dere suggests that the stream recurrently flooded the eastern part of the site in the later prehistory (6 th and 5 th mill. BC) and later shifted its course to the east. Terrace sediments and later incisions of the Maritsa and the Dermen Dere are obvious in 2D resistivity images.

This is a summary of surface recording, auger testing, and test excavations conducted at the Duck Creek site (48AB2802) in August of 2013 and 2015 by students associated with the University Wyoming. In total these efforts documented 694 flakes, 60 prehistoric and protohistoric tools, 2 stone circles, and several historic artifacts. Most notably, the site contains a small, but diverse assemblage of Late Paleoindian projectile points, including Hell Gap, Pryor-stemmed, Foothills/Mountain, and Great Basin stemmed varieties, as well as a single metal projectile point. Test excavations documented the presence of well-stratified alluvial and colluvial sedimentary deposits extending from present to ca. 11,800 cal yr BP containing artifacts that span most of this time. Auger testing suggests that sediments spanning this time exist over an area of over 1,000 m2. The Duck Creek site holds great potential for clarifying a number of unresolved issues in northwest Plains archaeology, including Late Paleoindian Foothills/Mountain chronology, shifts in upland land use between the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene, and other issues related to use of this reoccupied upland base camp.

To reduce the human influence on natural resources and to identify an appropriate land use, it is essential to carry out scientific land evaluations. Such kind of analysis allows identifying the main limiting factors for the agricultural production and enables decision makers to develop crop managements able to increase the land productivity. Objectives of this study were to develop a GIS based approach for land use suitability assessment which will assist land managers and land use planners to identify areas with physical constraints for a range of nominated land uses. Georef-erenced soil survey data and field work observations have been integrated in a GIS based land use suitability assessment for agricultural planning in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, India. Also, GIS has been used to match the suitability for main crops based on the requirements of the crops and the quality and characteristics of land. Different land quality parameters, viz. soil texture, depth, erosion, slope, flooding and coarse fragments under various land units were evaluated for the crops. Subsequently all of them were integrated using a sequence of logical operations to generate land suitability and capability maps. Suitability and capability maps for each land use were developed to illustrate these suitability degrees and display the spatial representation of soils suitable for agriculture. It was also found that better land use options could be implemented in different land units as the conventional land evaluation methods suffer from limitation of spatial analysis for the suitability of various crops.

Interrelated themes within the tour are principally landsurfaces and landscape evolution; clays and other weathering and alteration minerals in sediments, saprolite and soil materials; and silicification phenomena, including precious opal. The tour is written in such a way that it can be followed while travelling, and hopefully provides sufficient references to distances and landmarks to enable 'tourists' to locate themselves readily. The distances to be travelled are vast and the time-frame is short, and so the opportunity for stopping at unscheduled sites is unfortunately limited. We hope you enjoy the highlights we have selected. Features of particular interest include: clay minerals; palaeosurfaces; salinas; dunes; desertic soils and stone pavements; gjlgai; carbonates and salts; Andamooka precious opal, pedogenic and groundwater silcretes, deep bleaching and weathering Lake Eye; mound springs; treeless pains of cracking clays, with gypsum and epsomite; Coober Pedy pre...

ABSTRACT:
In India, the state of Kerala and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state are the
traditional rubber growing areas accounting for 90 per cent of rubber production.
Rubber Board of India under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India has
robust statistics on area under rubber cultivation based on sample survey technique,
but this is a costly and time consuming process and it will not give spatial and
temporal distribution of rubber cultivation. Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII)
initiated a project on developing rubber information system using remote sensing and
GIS for the traditional rubber growing areas. In continuation of the experience and
results reported earlier, the present effort is an additional step towards analysis,
understanding available data and updating rubber information system using modern
available tools. Rubber showed a unique spectral signature and it helped to separate
rubber plantations of more than four years old from different vegetation. In Kottayam
district, total area under rubber (more than 4 year old) was estimated as 66,105.67
hectares. This was distributed mainly in Meenachil taluk (44.7%) followed by
Kanjiraplly (23.6%), Kottayam (17.4%), Chenganassery (10.4%) and Vaikom taluk
(3.9%). In Kottayam district major rubber area is distributed on moderately suitable
land followed by highly suitable land. About 11 per cent of rubber area is distributed
on marginally suitable land having limitation with respect to shallow soil depth, high
gravel content, nutrient toxicity/deficiency and steep slope. Rubber distribution over
different slope classes showed that 49 per cent of area distributed on 5-15 per cent
slope which is ideal for rubber cultivation. The remaining rubber area was distributed
on lower or higher slopes where waterlog or run off and soil erosion problems may be
encountered. It is essential to take up appropriate agronomic and cultural measures in
the areas having limitations for proper growth and yield of rubber. Land utilization
maps with these information will serve as decision support tools for the extension
people, planners, administrators and farmers.

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is carried out on a series of ninety-three geological chert samples from three known source regions and six beach locations in the western Great Lakes and upper Midwest region. These chemical data are compared with those obtained from a lithic cache from the McCollum site (DiJa-1) on Lake Nipigon to determine the source(s) of the artifacts. A new method permitting whole artifacts to be analyzed by INAA and returned to their curators unaltered was employed to obtain the chemical data from these specimens. Some long distance imports (Knife River Flint) are present in the McCollum cache; however, several sources including Hudson Bay Lowland chert are represented. INAA is an appropriate nondestructive methodology for provenance studies of lithic artifacts whose sources cannot be readily determined by traditional means.

This dissertation addresses how Paleoindians used the karst drainage of the Aucilla River in northwestern Florida during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (approximately 15-10,000 14C yr B.P.). I take a geoarchaeological approach to discuss Paleoindian land use by first defining the Late Pleistocene and Holocene geological record, and then by creating a model of site formation processes in the Aucilla River. Both underwater and terrestrial fieldwork were performed. Underwater fieldwork consisted of hand-driven cores and surface survey,  vibrocoring, underwater 1 x 1 m unit excavation, and controlled surface collection. Terrestrial fieldwork consisted of shovel and auger test pits. Seventeen cores were collected from five different submerged sinkhole sites, which were used to select two sites for further study: Sloth Hole
(8JE121), which had been previously excavated, and Wayne's Sink (8JE1508/TA280), which was recorded but not formally investigated. Five vibrocores and two 1 x 1m units were used, with previous research, to define the geological and  geoarchaeological context of Sloth Hole. Fifteen vibrocores, six 1 x 1 m excavation units, and ten 1 x 1 m surface collection units were used to define the geological, geoarchaeological, and archaeological context of Wayne's Sink. A combination of 130 shovel and auger test pits was used to define the geological, geoarchaeological, and archaeological potential of the terrestrial landscape. Five new Holocene-aged terrestrial sites were recorded. All of these data were evaluated with archival data from previously-excavated sites to create models of site formation and Paleoindian land use in the lower Aucilla
Basin. This research shows that there have been four major periods of sinkhole infill in the lower Aucilla basin. The first occurred prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, with each
sinkhole containing peat deposits that date in excess of 21,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.). These peats are overlain by sandy colluvium that dates to approximately 14,500 cal B.P. The colluvium is overlain by clays that contain evidence for soil formation. These soils vary in age, with radiocarbon dates of approximately 14,500-10,000 cal B.P. These clays are directly overlain by peats dating to 5,000-3,500 cal B.P., which are
overlain by peats and clays that date to 2,500-0 cal B.P. Intact Paleoindian and Early Archaic deposits are possible in the late Pleistocene soils.

The Twin Bird Island site (16CD118), originally recorded by avocational archaeologists in 1979, is a multicomponent site located near Shreveport, Louisiana. Surface collection at the site yielded 32 Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic tools, including several varieties of San Patrice projectile points and Albany scrapers. Two fluted biface fragments from the site are inferred to be San Patrice preforms based on comparison with the reduction sequence proposed by Webb et al. (1971). Also collected from the site is the first documented prehistoric obsidian artifact from Louisiana. Microwear analysis of the artifacts in this collection was inconclusive for certain types of artifacts, like flake tools, but did provide evidence of use for curated tools, like Albany scrapers.

At least five distinct cultural phases are represented by lithic tools associated with underwater localities in Oregon and Washington. While it was initially assumed that these materials were redeposited from terrestrial sites, there is increasing evidence that they were intentionally used in the water and at shoreline margins. The lithics discussed in this paper include projectile points, other biface tool types such as end scrapers and knives, and debitage. The materials range from basalt to CCS, with some minerals being from local resources and others classified as exotics.

With the recent analysis of the Rosewood site faunal assemblage, it is now possible to examine and compare more specifically Rosewood and Mund phase subsistence patterns in the American Bottom. The available data, while limited in quantity, demonstrate a focus on local upland resources during the Rosewood phase. By the subsequent Mund phase, a reorientation towards floodplain resources is underway although exploitation of upland taxa continued. Factors influencing the initial shift to upland settings and resources and the subsequent renewed exploitation of floodplain resources are discussed.