A PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION FOR THE SOUTHERN BLACK HILLS (SD) FOR THE PAST 30,000 CALENDAR YEARS

Combining data sets from geology, hydrology, paleontology, climatology, botany and archaeology a tentative reconstruction of the past 30,000 years in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota has been derived. The 1974 discovery of the Mammoth Site led to geological, hydrological and paleontological research of this natural trap. Recognition of the deposit as the fill of an ancient sinkhole (karst) that had served as a conduit for thermal artesian water led to expanded research in the region. A paleoclimate workshop, conducted by Dr. Reid Bryson (Univ. Wisconsin), was held at the Mammoth Site. That workshop resulted in the publication of two climate modeling workbooks. The models were combined with geologic-hydrologic and botanical interpretations for the sinkhole fill and the development of the Fall River terraces, plus data from adjacent paleontological and archaeological localities produced a model for the paleoenvironment of the late Pleistocene of the southern Black Hills.