Summary of the Snowmastodon Project Special Volume: A high-elevation, multi-proxy biotic and environmental record of MIS 6–4 from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA

Authors

• Ian M. Miller, Denver Museum of Nature and ScienceFollow
• Jeffrey S. Pigati, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• R. Scott Anderson, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
• Kirk R. Johnson, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Shannon A. Mahan, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Thomas A. Ager, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal CenterFollow
• Richard G. Baker, University of Iowa, Iowa CityFollow
• Maarten Blaauw, Queen's University Belfast
• Jordon Bright, University of Arizona, Tucson
• Peter M. Brown, Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring ResearchFollow
• Bruce Bryant, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Zachary T. Calamari, University of Michigan
• Paul E. Carrara, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Michael D. Cherney, University of Michigan
• John R. Demboski, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Scott A. Elias, University of London, Egham
• Daniel C. Fisher, University of Michigan
• Harrison J. Gray, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Danielle R. Haskett, University of Georgia, Athens
• Jeffrey S. Honke, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Stephen T. Jackson, University of Wyoming kanFollow
• Gonzalo Jiménez- Moreno, Universidad de Granada, Fuente Nueva
• Douglas Kline, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Eric M. Leonard, Colorado College, Colorado Springs
• Nathaniel A. Lifton, Purdue University, West Lafayette
• Carol Lucking, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• H. Gregory McDonald, Museum Management Program, National Park Service
• Dane M. Miller, University of Wyoming
• Daniel R. Muhs, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal CenterFollow
• Stephen E. Nash, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Cody Newton, University of Colorado, BoulderFollow
• James B. Paces, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Lesley Petrie, University of California Santa Cruz
• Mitchell A. Plummer, Idaho National Laboratory
• David F. Porinchu, University of Georgia, Athens
• Adam N. Rountrey, University of Western Australia
• Eric Scott, San Bernardino County Museum
• Joseph J.W. Sertich, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Saxon E. Sharpe, Desert Research Institute
• Gary L. Skipp, U.S. Geological SurveyFollow
• Laura E. Strickland, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Richard K. Stucky, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Robert S. Thompson, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center
• Jim Wilson, Aeon Laboratories

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2014

Citation

Quaternary Research 82 (2014) 618–634

doi 10.1016/j.yqres.2014.07.004

Comments

US government work

Abstract

In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 are rare. Where found, they provide insight into how the coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system is manifested in biotic and environmental records and how the biosphere responds to climate change. In 2010–2011, construction at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado (USA) revealed a nearly continuous, lacustrine/wetland sedimentary sequence that preserved evidence of past plant communities between ~140 and 55 ka, including all of MIS 5. At an elevation of 2705 m, the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site also contained thousands of well-preserved bones of late Pleistocene megafauna, including mastodons, mammoths, ground sloths, horses, camels, deer, bison, black bear, coyotes, and bighorn sheep. In addition, the site contained more than 26,000 bones from at least 30 species of small animals including salamanders, otters, muskrats, minks, rabbits, beavers, frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, and birds. The combination of macro- and micro-vertebrates, invertebrates, terrestrial and aquatic plant macrofossils, a detailed pollen record, and a robust, directly dated stratigraphic framework shows that high-elevation ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado are climatically sensitive and varied dramatically throughout MIS 5.