USING DESERT SPRINGS FOR PALEOECOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTIONS, DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UT

Wetlands provide a repository for paleoecological information in arid regions where continuous deposits are rare to absent. Here we present data from Barking Coyote Spring, located near Fish Springs Wildlife Reserve and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Data from this site contributes to our regional understanding of the Bonneville Basin and its complex paleoecological history. Pollen and charcoal records are used to reconstruct vegetation assemblages and fire regimes for the past ~30,000 years. Pollen percentages, pollen concentration, and ratios provide insight on variations in temperature, precipitation, and seasonality. Magnetic susceptibility and loss on ignition provide information on erosion and sediment influx in the basin. XRF provides high resolution elemental data that capture crypto-tephra signals. This project uses a multi-proxy approach to reconstruct hydrological and ecological histories for Utah’s Bonneville Basin.