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Quaternary and Late Tertiary of Montana: Climate, Glaciation, Stratigraphy, and Vertebrate Fossils

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Quaternary and Late Tertiary of Montana: Climate, Glaciation, Stratigraphy, and Vertebrate Fossils QUATERNARY AND LATE TERTIARY OF MONTANA: CLIMATE, GLACIATION, STRATIGRAPHY, AND VERTEBRATE FOSSILS Larry N. Smith,1 Christopher L. Hill,2 and Jon Reiten3 1Department of Geological Engineering, Montana Tech, Butte, Montana 2Department of Geosciences and Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Idaho 3Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Billings, Montana 1. INTRODUCTION by incision on timescales of <10 ka to ~2 Ma. Much of the response can be associated with Quaternary cli- The landscape of Montana displays the Quaternary mate changes, whereas tectonic tilting and uplift may record of multiple glaciations in the mountainous areas, be locally signifi cant. incursion of two continental ice sheets from the north and northeast, and stream incision in both the glaciated The landscape of Montana is a result of mountain and unglaciated terrain. Both mountain and continental and continental glaciation, fl uvial incision and sta- glaciers covered about one-third of the State during the bility, and hillslope retreat. The Quaternary geologic last glaciation, between about 21 ka* and 14 ka. Ages of history, deposits, and landforms of Montana were glacial advances into the State during the last glaciation dominated by glaciation in the mountains of western are sparse, but suggest that the continental glacier in and central Montana and across the northern part of the eastern part of the State may have advanced earlier the central and eastern Plains (fi gs. 1, 2). Fundamental and retreated later than in western Montana.* The pre- to the landscape were the valley glaciers and ice caps last glacial Quaternary stratigraphy of the intermontane in the western mountains and Yellowstone, and the valleys is less well known. Mapping of deposits older continental Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets that than the last-glacial maximum (LGM) is spotty. At least advanced southward into Montana Plains and west- four glacially dammed lakes existed across the central ern mountains, respectively (fi g. 3). In intermontane part of Montana. valleys and along many of the major drainages in the Plains region, fl uvial deposition and incision leading Outside of the Flathead Valley, broad exposures of to terrace formation, and alluvial fan sedimentation Tertiary (Paleogene and Neogene) sedimentary rocks and pediment formation, created areas of low relief at the surface, and shallow depths to them in wells in that are now locations for human habitation, farming, many valleys in western and central Montana, point to and ranching. the Quaternary generally being a time of erosion rather than sedimentation in the intermontane valleys. In the Now classic studies of broad regions of Montana Flathead Valley and northern Swan Valley, Quaternary were carried out in the early to mid-20th century (Al- sediments may extend to depths of 120 m (700 ft) or den, 1932, 1953; Howard, 1958, 1960); many of their more below the surface in deep troughs of glacial and/ observations and conclusions are still relevant today. or tectonic origin. More recent overviews of the Quaternary geologic his- tory of Montana have been limited to regional studies, Flights of terraces along the major stream systems such as in the Yellowstone area (Licciardi and Pierce, represent periods of stability and deposition followed 2018; Pierce, 1979; Pierce and others, 2014b) and the eastern and central Plains (Wayne and others, 1991). *All radiocarbon ages are reported as cal ka BP or cal yr BP, depending on how they were originally published. Radiocarbon The overall distribution of late Pleistocene glaciers in ages (14C yr BP or 14C ka BP) were converted to calendar ages the mountains and/or Plains regions (Locke and Smith, using the IntCal13 calibration curve (Reimer and others, 2013), 2004; Fullerton and others, 2004a) of North America with Calib 7.1 (for numerical 2-sigma ranges). Optical (optical- were compiled in a volume on the extent and chronol- 10 ly stimulated luminescence) and Be (cosmogenic radiogenic ogy of Quaternary glaciations (Ehlers and Gibbard, nuclide exposure) ages are reported in ka with standard error. Approximate ages are reported in ka. 2004). 1 MBMG Special Publication 122: Geology of Montana, vol. 1: Geologic History Figure 1. Glacial ice (white) was distributed from Canada into the northern third of Montana during the last glacial maximum at about 15–20 ka. Area of the State of Montana shown by dashed outline, Pleistocene lakes shown in light blue; from Blakey, https://deeptime- maps.com (Blakey, 2016). 2 : : : : : : : 3XUFHOO7UHQFK 1 1 !(XUHND Big Swiftcurrent !2XWORRN Lake :KLWHILVK Muddy 5DQJH Cr &XW%DQN 7UR\ ! ! ! +DYUH Milk River Medicine 2OQH\ 0HGLFLQH/DNH ! Lake !/LEE\ ! !:KLWHILVK ! 0DOWD )URLG ! &ROXPELD)DOOV ! Foy Lake ! .DOLVSHOO *ODVJRZ ! 1DVKXD 1 Bull R ! 6ZDQ5LYHU ! 1 !)UD]HU Flathead %\QXP )RUW3HFN ! 7URXW&UHHN ! r ! Lake e 6ZDQ5DQJH v S i w &KRWHDX ! R a ! n ! +RZHU&RXOHH M r 3ROVRQ R e 3RZHU iss t i ou a 3ODLQV v ri River ! e w r Sun River d ! e So Fork Flathead R *UHDW)DOOV R Deer Cr ! Deer 'L[RQ !5R\ C ! reek /LQGVD\ 1 *OHQGLYH ! %LWWHUURRW5DQJH 1 !$OEHUWRQ ! Beaver Cr 0LVVRXOD Blackfoot River :LEDX[ ! *DUQHW5DQJH %LJ%HOW0RXQWDLQV %LJ6QRZ\ ! r 0RXQWDLQV e 'UXPPRQG &DQ\RQ)HUU\ ! v i ! ! R +HOHQD t 6WHYHQVYLOOH o )OLQW 0LOHV&LW\ ! ofMontana Tertiary Smith andothers:QuaternaryLate o Mu r sse r &UHHN (ONKRUQ lsh er e e Ye tone Riv t ! ll llows t Boulde 0RXQWDLQV River i +DPLOWRQ 5DQJH r R B iv 1 er ! 1 %XWWH S BigTimber River 'DUE\ ! :LOVDOO h ! i e &UD]\ :KLWHKDOO G l Cr ! al d Tongue Fish Cr la s 0WQV t $QDFRQGD5DQJH i R +LJKODQG R n ! %LOOLQJV n R 0RXQWDLQV o /LYLQJVWRQ /DXUHO ! s ! i r ! d e $VKODQG iver v a i r R 6SDQLVK e R R v d M i %HDYHUKHDG0RXQWDLQV a 3HDNV R e n r h (QQLV! 0DGLVRQ5DQJH%LJ6N\ r ! e r 9DOOH\ o e ! 3DUDGLVH h d v ! 3U\RU ig %LUQH\ w Missouri a 9LUJLQLD&LW\ Dailey Lake B o e %HDUWRRWK P 1 B ! 0RXQWDLQV B Deerlacktail Cr Rock Creek *UDYHOO\ 0RXQWDLQV Little 1 *DOODWLQ5DQJH 5HG *DUGLQHU 5DQJH ! /RGJH .LORPHWHUV &HQWHQQLDO9DOOH\ ! :HVW Lima Reservoir <HOORZVWRQH 0LOHV &HQWHQQLDO0RXQWDLQV 1 . 1 : : : : : : : Figure 2. Locations mentioned in text. 3 MBMG SpecialPublication122:GeologyofMontana,vol.1:Geolo 4 : : : : : : : *ODFLDOGDPRI /DNH0LVVRXOD 1 1 Glacial Lake Missoula Glacial Lake Great Falls Glacial Lake Glacial Lake Circle Glacial Lake Musselshell Glendive 1 1 gic History 0LOHV Greater Yellowstone .LORPHWHUV glaciation 1 . 1 : : : : : : : Figure 3. Distribution of last glacial maximum (LGM) glaciers in light blue; data from Ehlers and Gibbard (2004), but is incomplete in the mountains of Idaho; glacial lakes shown in dark blue. Smith and others: Quaternary and Late Tertiary of Montana The west-to-east division of topography, with vids (Bison, Bootherium/Symbos, Ovibos, Ovis). Large mountains and the Continental Divide in the west, and to medium-size carnivores include the canids (Canis, the Plains in the east, has an impact on the State’s cli- Vulpes), felids (Miracinonyx, Homotherium, Lynx), mate. The climatic and paleoclimate regime of Mon- mustelids (Gulo, Mustela, Taxidea), and bears (Ursi- tana were mostly aff ected by storm systems from the dae undet., Arctodus, Ursus). Smaller mammals are Pacifi c and Arctic oceans, generally moist and dry, re- also well represented and include the Sciuridae (Cy- spectively (Whitlock and others, 2017). The southeast- nomys, Marmota, Spermophilus, Tamiasciurus), Cas- ern part of the State, including Yellowstone, are peri- toridae (Castor), Geomyidae (Thomomys), Muridae odically infl uenced by moisture traveling northward (Arvicolinae: Clethrionomys, Docrostonyx, Lemmis- from the subtropical Gulf of Mexico (Wuebbles and cis, Microtus, Phenacomys, Ondatra; Sigmodontinae: others, 2017) and the Snake River Plain (Licciardi and Neotoma, Peromyscus), Erethizondtidae (Erethizon), Pierce, 2018). Pleistocene glacial advance into Mon- and the lagomorphs (Ochontonidae: Ochontonidae; tana from the north and ice caps in the western part of Leporidae: Lepus, Sylvilgagus). the State aff ected the temperatures and storm tracks, as Direct dating of the fossil remains provides inferred from climate modeling and the distribution of chronologic controls on the landscape features and mountain glaciers (Locke, 1990). Paleoclimatic studies stratigraphic sequences where they have been discov- in the mountainous regions and plains have been car- ered, and this in turn has provided a basis for devel- ried out by lake and wetland cores (Krause and others, oping models of Quaternary landscape evolution as 2015; Herring and Gavin, 2015; O’Neil and Stevens, well as examining the impacts of climate change on 2015), inference from glacial and fl uvial deposits Quaternary ecosystems. The Quaternary mammals (Locke, 1990; Pierce and others, 2014c), soils, den- of Montana can be divided into two categories: those drochronology (Gray and others, 2004; Pederson and that are extinct and those that have survived from the others, 2006), fossil occurrences (Krause and others, Pleistocene (cf. Hill, 2006). Although many of the 2015; Krause and Whitlock, 2017), and stable isotopes smaller mammals present in the Pleistocene still exist (Anderson and others, 2016). in the region, there have been shifts in some of their Fossils of Pleistocene vertebrates have been recov- ranges. This is in contrast to the larger mammals; var- ered from a variety of stratigraphic and depositional ious taxa from the Pleistocene including some taxa of contexts in Montana (Hill, 2006) and provide evidence canids, felids, and herbivores have not survived from of the changing patterns of biotic communities in this the Pleistocene. region of diverse and changing landscapes. The fos- The diverse topography and Quaternary process sil remains have been found across Montana in both history of Montana leads to this review of the Qua- unglaciated and glaciated areas of the Montana Plains ternary history separated into physiographic regions, and the more extensive Rocky Mountains. Pleistocene such as Alpine mountain areas, intermontane basins, faunas are found in a variety of depositional settings, and the eastern and central Montana Plains.
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