Geoarchaeological investigations of henson creek: A low‐order tributary in Central Texas

Abstract

AbstractA complex late Quaternary alluvial history was documented along Henson Creek, a low order tributary on the Fort Hood Military Reservation in central Texas. Three Quaternary alluvial landforms were recognized: terrace 2 (T2), terrace 1 (T1), and the modern floodplain (T0). The late Pleistocene T2 terrace may contain an array of sites spanning the entire known cultural record, while T1 may have sites spanning the last 5000 years only. Five fluvial units, three colluvial facies, two alluvial fan facies, and two buried paleosols were also recognized. Fluvial deposition was occurring approximately 15,000 yr B.P., 10,000‐8000 yr B.P., 7000–4800 yr B.P., 1650‐600 yr B.P., and during the last 400 years. Colluvial deposition was ongoing mainly in the early and middle Holocene, while alluvial fan aggradation was proceeding primarily in the middle Holocene. Because of erosional unconformities, there is minimal potential for recovering buried sites dating to intervals between depositional eposides for most of the drainage basin. Preservation potentials for buried sites are greatest in fine‐grained fluvial deposits dating to the late Pleistocene, early Holocene, and parts of the late Holocene, and in fine‐grained colluvial deposits dating to the early and middle Holocene. This investigation demonstrates that within the study area, and perhaps throughout much of central Texas, a greater continuum of sediments and preservation potentials exists in late Quaternary alluvial deposits of rivers than in low‐order tributaries.