GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS AS A TOOL IN THE IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF PALEOECOLOGICAL STUDY SITES: A CASE STUDY FROM WESTERN NEW YORK STATE, USA

The selection of study sites for paleoecological and paleoclimatological analysis – pollen, plant macrofossils, stable isotopes, etc. – requires the field reconnaissance and sampling of numerous wetland and lacustrine sites with the ultimate goal of obtaining the longest and most continuous sedimentary records possible. Depending upon the size of the study area, the nature of the paleoecological questions posed, and variable inter-site depth and sediment accumulation rates, this process can be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly. Georeferenced soil survey data distributed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service can be used in conjunction with digital elevation model (DEM) rasters and a geographic information system (GIS) for predictive landform mapping that may reduce some of the burdens of preliminary field reconnaissance. By (1) selecting soil series associated with sand and gravel parent material from the accompanying soil database and (2) creating slope maps from the DEM rasters, ice-stagnation landscape features most likely to possess kettles suitable for coring can be preferentially identified. The resulting maps are generally better predictive tools than existing 1:250,000-scale surficial geologic maps of New York State since they utilize county-wide soil survey data that have been mapped at a scale 1:24,000 or greater. This technique is being used to aid ongoing research to supplement existing “bog-bottom” radiocarbon dates in western New York State. Through identification, selection, and analysis of new study sites – particularly the improvement of chronological control – we hope to better understand the timing and nature of regional Wisconsinan glacial retreat as well as develop more detailed records of regional paleoenvironments and paleoclimate.