Erosion and deposition on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, and implications for geomorphic responses to late Quaternary climatic changes

Abstract

The Pajarito Plateau of northern New Mexico contains a rich and diverse record of late Quaternary landscape changes in a variety of geomorphic settings that include gently-sloping mesa tops, steep canyon walls, and canyon bottoms. A broad range of investigations during the past decade, motivated by environmental and seismic hazard concerns, have resulted in examination of the characteristics, stratigraphy, and age of sediments and soils at numerous locations throughout the Plateau. Geochronologic control is provided by >140 radiocarbon dates supplemented by soil characterization and tephrochronology. In this paper we first summarize some of the results of recent and ongoing work on late Quaternary deposits on the Pajarito Plateau, illustrating both the complexity of the geomorphic record and some common elements that have been observed in multiple locations. We then use these observations, in combination with other work in the Southwest, to make some inferences about the local geomorphic response to regional climatic changes. Because the geomorphic and paleoclimatic records are fragmentary, and because the relations between large scale climate changes and local variations in precipitation, vegetation, and geomorphic processes are not fully understood, many uncertainties exist concerning the response of the local landscape to past climatic fluctuations. In addition, variations in local landscape sensitivity related to prior erosional history and spatial variations in vegetation, and the localized nature of many storms, probably contribute to the complexity of the geomorphic record. Nevertheless, the work discussed in this paper suggests a strong relation between regional climatic changes and local geomorphic history, and provides a framework for considering relations between modem processes, the record of past landscape changes, and future erosion and deposition on the Plateau and in surrounding areas.