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Aurora Mastodont Project Matrix Analysis Project

Aurora Mastodont Project Matrix Analysis Project. David Voorhees Chris Widga Paul Ritter. Illinois in the Ice Age (aka Pleistocene) Continental glaciation extinct ecosystems The Aurora Mastodont Site A crash course in paleontological excavation. Time.

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Aurora Mastodont Project Matrix Analysis Project

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  1. Aurora Mastodont Project Matrix Analysis Project David Voorhees Chris Widga Paul Ritter

  2. Illinois in the Ice Age (aka Pleistocene) • Continental glaciation • extinct ecosystems • The Aurora Mastodont Site • A crash course in paleontological excavation

  3. Time Few exposures of this age in Illinois

  4. Central Illinois ~100,000 years ago Open Parkland, mild winters

  5. Central Illinois ~20,000 years ago Steppe/Forest Tundra: Cold and Dry

  6. Central Illinois ~15,000 years ago Black Ash Swamp: Damp and Cold, similar to modern day Upper Penn. of Michigan

  7. 0-6000 6-10,000 10-14,000 14-18,000

  8. Aurora Mastodont Site

  9. Mastodon Lake in Kettle

  10. Sketch Map from the 1930s Mastodon Lake Today 2004 Excavations

  11. 98.5 modern Stratigraphy: The 3rd dimension Reworked sediment (historic fill) 98.3 10,500 98.1 Depth (m) Years BP Marl (snails) 11,600 97.9 Organic Rich “Gyttja” 97.6 14,000

  12. The coffer dam

  13. Beginnings..

  14. The dig grid

  15. Excavation Block 98.5 98.4 98.3 Elevation (meters) 98.2 98.1

  16. Excavation Block Excavated Levels Types of material from excavated levels

  17. 2004 Excavation

  18. To screenwash Marl

  19. Wet Screening Sediment (“Matrix”)

  20. Rocks Screenwash Slag Gastropods Botanicals

  21. What can we do with this information?

  22. Pontiac H.S. Data--2011 13,370 BP 14,400 BP 16,190 BP

  23. …and why do we care? landscape changes = long term ecosystem processes = insight into how ecosystems work!

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