scholarly journals Soil and topographic controls on runoff generation from stepped landforms in the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradford P. Wilcox ◽  
Larry P. Wilding ◽  
C. M. Woodruff
Keyword(s):  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Edwards Plateau ◽  
Topographic Controls ◽  
Central Texas

Experimental Burned Rock Studies on the Edwards Plateau: A View from Camp Bullis, Texas

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Pagoulatos
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Color Change ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Edwards Plateau ◽  
Thermal Alteration ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Earth Oven

This article presents an experimental study concerning the use of thermally altered stone, commonly referred to as fire-cracked, or burned rock. A series of controlled cooking experiments were initiated as limestone cobbles were placed within a prepared earth-oven and re-heated; this type of earth-oven is similar to those found within prehistoric burned rock mounds on the Edwards Plateau of central Texas. Twelve experiments were conducted in this study, as four different sets of cobble assemblages were each re-heated three times, at six, twelve, twenty-four, and forty-eight hour intervals. These heated limestone cobbles were then analyzed for thermal alteration characteristics such as color change, cracking, and spalling, for comparative purposes. Quantitative analyses were then applied to the data in order to establish whether different patterns of thermal alteration exist dependent upon short-term and long-term re-uses.

Evidences of Pre-Pottery Cultures in Louisiana

1948 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Webb
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Edwards Plateau ◽  
Coles Creek ◽  
Northern Portion ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
River Valleys ◽  
Southern Louisiana

Studies of Louisiana's prehistory have been devoted largely to the pottery-making and mound-building cultures. The topography of the state is primarily responsible for this fact, since the delta lands of southern Louisiana and the wide, fertile river valleys of the northern part were particularly suitable for the agricultural peoples whose numerous sites have attracted attention. Witness to this fact is the long sequence of pottery-containing cultures (Tchefuncte, Marksville, Troyville, Coles Creek, Plaquemine, historic Natchez) delineated by Ford, Willey, and Quimby in central and southern Louisiana, while the Red and Ouachita River valleys in the northern portion present another series of culture periods (Marksville, Coles Creek, Gahagan, Bossier, Belcher, Glendora) which culminate in the historic Caddo.Despite these facts, evidences of pre-pottery cultures are appearing in the state and these may be expected to increase as more careful investigations are pursued. This could be anticipated from the situation in surrounding states—the Edwards Plateau culture of central Texas, the Ozark Bluff Dweller culture of Arkansas and the several strata which underlie the pottery containing cultures in the Southeast, recently reviewed by Haag.

Evidence for the silicate source of relict soils on the Edwards Plateau, central Texas

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jennifer Cooke ◽  
Libby A. Stern ◽  
Jay L. Banner ◽  
Lawrence E. Mack
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
Edwards Plateau ◽  
Quaternary Climate ◽  
Limestone Bedrock ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Del Rio

AbstractRelict soils provide insights into Quaternary soil formation and erosion on the Edwards Plateau of central Texas and into soil-forming processes in karst terranes. Late Quaternary climate-driven soil erosion produced a mosaic of thick and thin soils on the Edwards Plateau landscape. Thick soils on uplands of the Edwards Plateau are interpreted to be relicts of a formerly more extensive soil cover that was eroded during the late Pleistocene to middle Holocene. The relict, thick soils are silicate-rich and most commonly overlie the relatively silicate-poor Cretaceous Edwards Limestone, which supports the idea that the thick soils did not form from weathering of the underlying limestone. Other potential sources of silicates for the relict soils include dust, alluvial sediments, and the Del Rio Clay, a stratigraphically higher but locally eroded clay-rich unit. Here we investigate the geographic distribution, texture, clay-sized mineralogy, rare earth element geochemistry, and neodymium isotope composition of the relict soils. We have found that the relict, thick soils are deeply weathered soils that occur dominantly over the Edwards Limestone and have a high clay content and a neodymium isotope composition that is similar to that of the Del Rio Clay. Thus, we propose that in situ weathering of the Del Rio Clay, along with partial weathering of the upper portion of the underlying Edwards Limestone produced thick chert- and clay-rich soils over resistant limestone. In areas like the Edwards Plateau, where pure limestones are interbedded with clay-rich strata, the overlying clay-rich strata must be considered as a possible silicate source to soils on pure limestone bedrock.

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