Pliocene Paleoenvironments in the Meade Basin, Southwest Kansas, U.S.A
Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2019, v. 89, 416–439 Research Article DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2019.24 PLIOCENE PALEOENVIRONMENTS IN THE MEADE BASIN, SOUTHWEST KANSAS, U.S.A. WILLIAM E. LUKENS,1,2 DAVID L. FOX,3 KATHRYN E. SNELL,4 LOGAN A. WIEST,2 ANTHONY L. LAYZELL,5 KEVIN T. UNO,6 PRATIGYA 6 7 8 9 J. POLISSAR, ROBERT A. MARTIN, KENA FOX-DOBBS, AND PABLO PELAEZ-CAMPOMANES´ 1School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana 70504, U.S.A. 2Terrestrial Paleoclimatology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798, U.S.A. and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, Department of Geosciences, Mansfield, Pennsylvania 16933, U.S.A. 3Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, U.S.A. 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A. 5Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas 66407, U.S.A. 6Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, U.S.A. 7Department of Biological Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky 42071, U.S.A. 8Department of Geology, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington 98416, U.S.A. 9 Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Madrid, Spain ABSTRACT: Terrestrial paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the Pliocene Epoch (5.3–2.6 Ma) of the Neogene Period are rare from the North American continental interior, but are important because they provide insight into the evolutionary context of modern landscapes and ecological systems. Pliocene marine records indicate that global climate was warmer and atmospheric pCO2 was higher than pre-industrial conditions, spurring efforts to understand regional climate and environmental variability under conditions potentially analogous to future warming scenarios.
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