Vegetation and climates of the last 45,000 years in the vicinity of the Nevada Test Site, south-central Nevada
A site in or near the Nevada Test Site in south-central Nevada is being evaluated as a permanent repository for both transuranic-contaminated and high-level radioactive wastes. This study characterizes long-term climatic variability inherent to this area. Specifically, paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions spanning the last 45,000 years are offered to facilitate calculations of potential variations in water-table levels and ground-water recharge. Radiocarbon-dated plant macrofossil assemblages from ancient packrat (Neotoma spp.) middens in the Nevada Test Site and vicinity provide data for these paleoclimatic reconstructions. The uniformitarian assumption is made that climates of the last 45,000 years approximate the climates that will occur in the next 100,000 years. 132 references, 25 figures, 25 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI08-78ET44802
- OSTI ID:
- 59652
- Report Number(s):
- USGS-OFR--83-535; ON: DE84009032
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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