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<p> Prairie mounds from the general area of Foremost-Cypress Hills, Alberta, have been described. Various morphometric parameters, including relative and absolute altitude of the mounds, depth of their central depressions, orientation of breaches in their rims, angle of the bounding slopes, and distribution of surficial stones were measured. Several characteristics of the mounds were found to be widespread. Firstly, the mounds occur in elongate fields that correspond roughly to the 3,000 ft. contour interval. Secondly, surficial stones invariably have their greatest concentration on the rims of the mounds. Also the mounds are frequently separated by interrupted drainage channels. The bounding slopes of the mounds are asymmetrical, with west and north-west slopes being least steep. Interpretation of these morphological observations and a consideration of the various hypotheses of formation proposed in the literature leads to the conclusion that prairie mounds most likely originated by the differential melting of a stagnant ice mass in a manner proposed by Gravenor in 1955, and have subsequently been modified by mass-wasting processes. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Woodland-period archaeological sites in the North Central Hills physiographic region of Mississippi appear to be highly variable in occupation size, site function, duration, and occupational intensity. To better understand the occupational history and settlement patterns of such sites, several characteristics of four Woodland-period sites located within the Tombigbee National Forest, Ackerman Unit, Mississippi, are evaluated and compared to a larger, previously investigated site, 22WI516. From the data obtained in the field and laboratory, a determination of the causes of the variability among Woodland-period sites in the study area is attempted. Physiographic constraints appear to underlie much of the variability presented by the archaeological record.

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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 J36 / Master of Science

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Stratigraphic records in four basins in the central Black Hills in combination with hydraulic calculations show that all basins have experienced multiple large floods in the last 2,000 years with flow rates substantially larger than those gaged historically. Flood-frequency analyses for the study reaches account for 29 paleofloods inferred from interpretation of stratigraphic records locally extending back 1,000 to almost 2,000 years. The addition of paleoflood data to the gaged and historical data significantly reduced uncertainties related to flood-frequency. For all study reaches the 95-percent confidence intervals about the low-probability quantile estimates (100-, 200-, and 500-year recurrence-intervals) were reduced by at least 78 percent relative to those for the gaged records only. In some cases, 95-percent uncertainty intervals were reduced by 99 percent or more. Additionally, a stratigraphic record of 35 large paleofloods and four large historical floods during the last 2,000 years (including several floods not used in the frequency analyses due to age constraints) reveal four flooding episodes at A.D.: 130-40, 640-670, 900-1290, and 1410 to present. During the Medieval Climate Anomaly (~A.D. 900-1300) the Black Hills experienced 13 large floods compared to nine large floods in the previous 800 years. This high concentration of large flooding events were likely caused by: 1) instability of air masses caused by stronger than normal westerlies; 2) larger or more frequent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean; and/or 3) reduced land covering vegetation and an increase in forest fires caused by the severe drought. By examining the response of streamflow to the MCA, it seems likely that if severe long-term drought conditions persist for the Black Hills region, an increase in the frequency and magnitude of large floods can be expected. The Black Hills paleofloods represent some of the largest known floods, relative to drainage area, for the United States. Many of the other largest known United States floods are in areas with physiographic and climatologic conditions broadly similar to the Black Hills--semi-arid and rugged landscapes that intercept and focus heavy precipitation from convective storm systems.

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