Pacific Northwest Loess

Palouse loess tied to glacial outburst floods

I continue to conduct research in the Pacific Northwest, where I did my dissertation research at Washington State University that involved investigating the interactions between sand dunes and loess on the Columbia Plateau. The deposition and transport of dust goes hand in hand with dune mobility. Here, dunes and loess are derived from Pleistocene glacial outburst flood deposits - the Missoula Floods. Climate variations over the last ~20 kyr have influenced the rate at which loess has accumulated and the degree of soil development in eolian deposits. A clumped isotope record has provided new insights into paleoclimate and paleotemperature during loess accumulation.

YouTube Video: I was featured in Ice Age Floods A to Z: Episode Q: Loess

Publications

Lechler, A.R., Huntington, K.W., Breecker, D.O., Sweeney, M.R., Schauer, A.J., 2018, Loess-paleosol carbonate clumped isotope record of late Pleistocene-Holocene climate change in the Palouse region, Washington State, USA. Quaternary Research, v. 90, p. 331-347. doi:10.1017/qua.2018.47

King, G.E., Pearce, N.J.G., Roberts, H.M., Smith, V.C., Westgate, J.A., Gaylord, D.R., Sweeney, M.R., 2016, Identification of a Kulshan caldera correlative tephra in the Palouse loess of Washington State, northwest USA. Quaternary Research, v. 86, p. 232-241.

McDonald, E.V., Sweeney, M.R., Busacca, A.J., 2012, Glacial outburst floods and loess sedimentation documented during oxygen isotope stage 4 on the Columbia Plateau, Washington State. Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 45, p. 18-30.

Sweeney, M. R., Gaylord, D. G., and Busacca, A. J., 2007, Eureka Flat: a long-term dust-production engine of the Palouse loess, Pacific Northwest, USA. Quaternary International, v. 162-163, p. 76-96.

Sweeney, M. R., Busacca, A. J., and Gaylord, D. R., 2005, Topographic and climatic influences on accelerated loess accumulation since the last glacial maximum in the Palouse, Pacific Northwest, USA. Quaternary Research, v. 63, p. 263-275.

Sweeney, M.R., Busacca, A.J., Richardson, C.A., Blinnikov, M.S., and McDonald, E.V., 2004, Glacial anticyclone recorded in Palouse loess of northwestern USA. Geology, v. 32, p. 705-708.

Field Trip Guides

Sweeney, M.R., McDonald, E.V., Gaylord, D.R., 2017, Generation of the Palouse loess: Exploring linkages between glaciation, outburst megafloods, and eolian deposition in Washington State. geological Society of America Field Guide 49. doi:10.1130/2017.0049.

Baker, V.R., Bjornstad, B.N., Gaylord, D.R., Smith, G.A., Meyer, S.E., Ahlo, P., Breckenridge, R.M., Sweeney, M.R., Zreda, M., 2016, Pleistocene megaflood landscapes of the Channeled Scabland. In Lewis, R.S., and Schmidt, K.I, eds., Exploring the Geology of the Inland Northwest: Geological Society of America Field Guide 41, p. 1-73.

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