QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
Constraining material properties and age of Mima Mounds
Abstract: The Mima Mounds near Olympia, Washington are the archetype for similar appearing mounds around the world. This project seeks to better constraining the time for the formation of the mounding, as well as documenting the nature of the organic matter in the A horizon. An estimate of the time since the mounds have formed will be determined using cosmogenic Be-10. The exposure age of clasts in the center of a mound (shielded by 2+ m of A horizon material) will be compared to the exposure age of clasts from the inter-mound area at depth of a few decimeters. The exposure age will also help determine if the mounds are in a stable positions or if they are dynamically being rebuilt. The dark organic horizons are believed to be from black carbon that formed in the Mima Prairie as it was burned to facilitate the agricultural practices of the Native Americans for growing Camus species, a starch-rich plant that they actively harvested. The black carbon content will be estimated by chemical oxidation followed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to measure the aromatic content. To provide additional characterization, the organic matter in particular mounds that are dated by Be-10 and analyzed for black carbon, will be dated by C-14. The data will be interpreted in the context of the prevailing hypothesis of mound formation being formed by gophers. The Mima Mounds will be featured as an excursion for the Geological Society of America conference to be held in Seattle in October 2017, as well as presented in a talk at the memorial session for Steve Porter.