Stratigraphic evidence for late Quaternary dune activity near Hudson on the Piedmont of northern Colorado

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1990)018<0745:SEFLQD>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:6140294

Forman, S L; Maat, P ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (USA)

Stabilized dune fields are common features near Hudson, on the Piedmont of northern Colorado. Exposures in dune and interdune sites expose a sequence of eolian sediments and paleosols that record a complex history of eolian activity during the late Quaternary. Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence age estimates on A horizons buried by eolian sand indicate that dunes were reactivated sometime between 7 and 9 ka. On the basis of morphology of surface soils, the dunes were most recently stabilized <3 ka. At present that are no data to indicate if there were multiple periods of dune movement and stabilization during the Holocene. The penultimate pre-Holocene dune-forming episode probably terminated ca. 13 ka and may be coincident with the Pinedale glaciation. The stratigraphy at interdune sites shows at least two eolian depositional events prior to the penultimate event; they were separated by periods of pedogenesis, one of which may have exceeded 40 ka. This analysis indicates that dunes in northern Colorado were active during both cold-arid and warn-arid periods in the late Quaternary.

• OSTI ID: 6140294
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Journal Name: Geology; (USA) Vol. 18:8; ISSN GLGYB; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
AGE ESTIMATION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14
CARBON ISOTOPES
CENOZOIC ERA
COLORADO
DEPOSITION
DUNES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION VIII
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
GEOMORPHOLOGY
ISOTOPE DATING
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LUMINESCENCE
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
RADIOISOTOPES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
STABILIZATION
STRATIGRAPHY
THERMOLUMINESCENCE
USA
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES