David J. Meltzer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226293226
- eISBN:
- 9780226293363
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226293363.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In 1872, Charles Abbott started finding artifacts in Delaware River gravels at Trenton, NJ, similar to European paleoliths. That discovery caught the eye of Harvard's Frederic Putnam, who provided ...
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In 1872, Charles Abbott started finding artifacts in Delaware River gravels at Trenton, NJ, similar to European paleoliths. That discovery caught the eye of Harvard's Frederic Putnam, who provided financial aid, moral support and scientific respectability to the cause. Geologist George F. Wright seized the challenge of ascertaining the age of Abbott's finds. It was no easy task. Trenton was south of the limit of glacial advance by 60 miles, and had multiple gravel layers. Which were the same age as the glacier, and which were more recent? How did paleoliths fit that sequence, and the broader history of North American glaciation, then becoming more complicated with the realization there had been more than one glacial episode? The age of Abbott's paleoliths landed in a tug of war between competing camps. Nonetheless, he was certain the specimens were glacial in age, and in January of 1881 they took center stage at a Boston Society of Natural History meeting, where the city's scientific elite rose to bear witness to his discoveries. In scarcely a decade Abbott had shown that the future of American archaeology might be deep in its geological past.Less
In 1872, Charles Abbott started finding artifacts in Delaware River gravels at Trenton, NJ, similar to European paleoliths. That discovery caught the eye of Harvard's Frederic Putnam, who provided financial aid, moral support and scientific respectability to the cause. Geologist George F. Wright seized the challenge of ascertaining the age of Abbott's finds. It was no easy task. Trenton was south of the limit of glacial advance by 60 miles, and had multiple gravel layers. Which were the same age as the glacier, and which were more recent? How did paleoliths fit that sequence, and the broader history of North American glaciation, then becoming more complicated with the realization there had been more than one glacial episode? The age of Abbott's paleoliths landed in a tug of war between competing camps. Nonetheless, he was certain the specimens were glacial in age, and in January of 1881 they took center stage at a Boston Society of Natural History meeting, where the city's scientific elite rose to bear witness to his discoveries. In scarcely a decade Abbott had shown that the future of American archaeology might be deep in its geological past.
Donald A. Walker, Thomas D. Hamilton, Hilmar A. Maier, Corinne A. Munger, and Martha K. Raynolds
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199860401
- eISBN:
- 9780190267889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199860401.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter investigates the glacial history and long-term ecology in the Toolik Lake Region. It focuses on understanding the current variety of landforms, soils, and vegetation that occupy the ...
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This chapter investigates the glacial history and long-term ecology in the Toolik Lake Region. It focuses on understanding the current variety of landforms, soils, and vegetation that occupy the region. It examines how arctic ecosystems function and the processes of arctic systems changing over long periods. It studies information from maps and analyzes glacial geology, landforms, and vegetation of the Toolik Lake and the upper Kuparuk River region.Less
This chapter investigates the glacial history and long-term ecology in the Toolik Lake Region. It focuses on understanding the current variety of landforms, soils, and vegetation that occupy the region. It examines how arctic ecosystems function and the processes of arctic systems changing over long periods. It studies information from maps and analyzes glacial geology, landforms, and vegetation of the Toolik Lake and the upper Kuparuk River region.
John E. Hobbie and George W. Kling (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199860401
- eISBN:
- 9780190267889
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199860401.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This book synthesizes the findings from the NSF-funded Arctic LTER project based in Toolik Lake, Alaska, a site that has been active since the mid-1970s. The book presents research concerning the ...
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This book synthesizes the findings from the NSF-funded Arctic LTER project based in Toolik Lake, Alaska, a site that has been active since the mid-1970s. The book presents research concerning the core issues of climate-change science, and addresses the treeless regions of arctic Alaska, as well as the adjoining boreal forests. The book examines both terrestrial and freshwater-aquatic ecosystems, and their three typical habitats: tundra, streams and lakes. The book provides a history of the Toolik Lake LTER site, and discusses its present condition and future outlook. The chapters create a multidisciplinary survey of the Alaskan arctic ecosystem. Topics include glacial history, climatology, land-water interactions, mercury found in the Alaskan arctic, and the response of lakes to environmental change. The final chapter brings together these findings in order to make predictions regarding the consequences that arctic Alaska faces due to global warming and climate change, and discusses the future of the LTER site in the region.Less
This book synthesizes the findings from the NSF-funded Arctic LTER project based in Toolik Lake, Alaska, a site that has been active since the mid-1970s. The book presents research concerning the core issues of climate-change science, and addresses the treeless regions of arctic Alaska, as well as the adjoining boreal forests. The book examines both terrestrial and freshwater-aquatic ecosystems, and their three typical habitats: tundra, streams and lakes. The book provides a history of the Toolik Lake LTER site, and discusses its present condition and future outlook. The chapters create a multidisciplinary survey of the Alaskan arctic ecosystem. Topics include glacial history, climatology, land-water interactions, mercury found in the Alaskan arctic, and the response of lakes to environmental change. The final chapter brings together these findings in order to make predictions regarding the consequences that arctic Alaska faces due to global warming and climate change, and discusses the future of the LTER site in the region.
