VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 75 THE QUATERNARY OF VIRGINIA - A SYMPOSIUM VOLUME Edited by J.N. McDonald and S.O. Bird COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologist CHARLOTTESVI LLE, VI RGIN IA 1 986 VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 75 THE QUATERNARY OF VIRGINIA - A SYMPOSIUM VOLUME Edited by J.N. McDonald and S.O. Bird COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologist CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA 1 986 FRONT COVER: Quaternary travertine-marl deposits at Beaverdam Falls, Alleghany County. The falls are approximately 25 f.eet high (Photograph by David A. Hubbard, Jr.). VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 75 THE QUATERNARY OF VIRGINIA _ A SYMPOSIUM VOLUME Edited by J.N. McDonald and S.O. Bird COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologist CHARLOTTESVI LLE, VI RGINIA 1 986 DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY RICHMOND. VIRGINIA O. GENE DISHNER. Director Commonwealth of Virginia, copyright 1986 FOREWARD River and some of its tributaries on selected headwater parts of the drainage basin by Kite, The Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Bell and Armstrong, and on travertine and marl celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding deposits known from the state by Hubbard, Gi- in 1984 and 1985. One of several events sponsored annini and Lorah. Holman and Fay, in separate by the Division in commemoration of this anni- papers, present evidence that Pleistocene and versary was a Symposium on the Quaternary of modern assemblages of reptiles and amphibians Virginia, held in Charlottesville on September (herptiles) from middle Appalachian localities 26-28, 1984. This Symposium was designed to are harmonious, unlike those of mammals; herp- meet several important objeetives: to summarize tiles appear to have tolerated the extreme the state of knowledge on the Quaternary of ehanges in climate more easil5r than mammals. Virginia and its environs; to call attention to Changes in the composition of plant communities research underway on the Quaternary of Virginia in the Appalachians over the last 23,000 years and to identify problems, priorities, and direc- are described by Delcourt and Delcourt. Rem- tions for future work; to assemble scientists, nants of several Arctic and boreal plant species students and layman with interest and expertise which evidently became established in Virginia in the Quaternary of Virginia and its environs during glacial stages exist today in isolated areas in order to promote and facilitate the exchange near the summits of some of the State's higher of ideas and information on the subject; and to mountains as shown by Woodward and Ruska. promote new interest in the study of the Qua- Two recent studies of Pleistocene vertebrate fau- ternary of the region. The program provided a nas are included: one from a fissure-fill in Penn- comprehensive overview of the status of knowl- sylvania (Fonda and Czebieniak), the other from edge of the Quaternary of Virginia. Knowledge a fluvial (?) deposit in northern Virginia (Ott and about the megafauna of the region was empha- Weems). Eshelman and Grady give detailed des- sized in commemoration of Thomas Jefferson's criptions of Quaternary vertebrate localities in interest in this subject area. Virginia, ineluding lists of bird and mammal Eight of the thirteen invited papers and ten species found at these sites. McCary summarizes of the eleven poster papers presented at the some of his lifelong work on Paleo-Indians in Symposium are included in this volume. The Virginia by describing the distribution of Clovis keynote address presented by Silvio Bedini en- projectile points from around the State and notes titled "Thomas Jefferson and American Paleon- that nowhere in the State have ancient human tology" was published in 1985. The meeting closed activities been found in association with Pleis- with a field trip to Saltville led by Jerry McDo- tocene animal remains. Papers by White and nald (1984). Barfield summarize aspeets of recent archeolog- Contained in this volume are papers dealing ical investigations at one of the Saltville sites with many of the major topical areas of Quater- (aaSm5f). Rose uses archeologieal data and his- nary studies for Virginia and environs. A general torical accounts by early European observers to summary of geomorphic processes and an eval- document the occurrence and distribution of uation of evidence for Pleistocene overprints on large mammals in Virginia during the late pre- them are given by Conners, who finds a great historic and early historic period. McDonald need for detailed work on Pleistoeene geology in gives a historical sketeh of the development of Virginia. Three examples of geomorphic studies Quaternary vertebrate paleontology and zooar- ineluded in the present volume are those sum- cheology within Virginia, lists modern work un- marizing differences measured in fans on either derway on these topics, reviews some of the major side of the Blue Ridge by Kochel and Simmons features of ongoing field work at Saltville, and and on alluvial deposits lying above the Potomac recommends more emphasis on vertebrate pa- leontology and zooarcheology at Virginia univer- References sities and museums. A novel idea of Pleistocene extinctions, dwarfism, and deformity resulting Bedini, S., 1985, ThomasJefferson and American from inferred climate-induced decreases in blood paleontology: Virginia Division of Mineral supply to the mammalian uterus is presented by Resources Publieation 61,26 P. Mclean. Boaz recounts some of the early ideas Hoffer, F. B., 19??, Bibliography of Virginia on evolution of J. L. Cabell. geology and mineral resources-1960-1969: The editors here make readers aware of two Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Pub- important bibliographic works on the geology of lication 1, 68 p. Virginia, including those dealing with Quater- McDonald, J. N., 1984, The Saltville, Virginia nary geology, that mightotherwise be overlooked. locality: A summary of research and field trip One is the matchless product of a supreme effort guide: Charlottesville, Virginia Division of by J. K. Roberts (1942) and the other is a fine Mineral Resources 45 P. work eovering the decade from 1960 to 1969 by Roberts, J. K., 1942, Annotated geologieal bib- Boyd Hoffer (19??). We have compiled a new liographyof Virginia: Riehmond, Dietz Press, bibliography on the Quaternary of Virginia for 726p. those years to the present not included in the earlier cited works. This reference work was obtained from the GeoRef file of the Dialog Sys- tem in California. It is on open-file at the Virginia Division of Mineral Resourees and can be ob- tained by writing the Division Librarian. J. N. McDonald S. O. Bird, editors THE QUATERNARY OF VIRGINIA CONTENTS Invited Papers Page Quaternary geomorphic proeesses in Virginia, by John A. Conners 1 Late Quaternary vegetational change in the central Atlantie states, by Hazel R. Delcourt and Paul A. Delcourt Zg The known herpetofauna of the late Quanternary of Virginia poses Quaternary vertebrate localities of Virginia and their avian and mammalian fauna, by Ralph Eshelman and Frederick Grady 4g Early man in Virginia, by Ben C. McCary 7l Late prehistoric and protohistoric large mammal zoogeography of on the status of Quaternary vertebrate paleontologT and zooarcheology in Virginia, by Jerry N. McDonald ................. gg Embryogenesis dysfunction in the Pleistocene/Holoeene transition mammalian extinction, dwarfing, and skeletal abnormality, by Dewey M. Mclean .. .... rOb Abstracts of Poster Papers Preliminary observations on floodplain, terrace, and fan deposits in the upper Potomac River basin of virginia and west virginia, by J. steven Kite, Quaternary alluvial fans in central Virginia, by R. Craig Kochel and David W. Simmons ........................ 123 Quaternary travertine - marl deposits of virginia, by David A. Hubbard, Jr., William F. Giannini, and Michelle M. Lorah . .. ........ 126 wisconsinan herpetofaunas of the central Appalachians, by Leslie p. Fay ........... 126 Late Pleistocene fauna of the Hollidaysburg fissure, by shirley s. Fonda The Hot Run site: A new Pleistocene vertebrate locality in northern Virginia, by James R. Ott and Robert E. Weems .......l}g A Pleistocene legacy: Artic and boreal elements in the eontemporary biota of Virginia, by Susan L. Woodward and William F. Ruska, Jr. .............. ..:................... ........ 181 Projectile points from a multieomponent site (44Sm51) in the Saltville Valley, Tools anddebitage: Cultural debris from a multicomponent site (44Sm51) in the Saltville Valley, Virginia, by Eugene Barfield ..................... ........... 1BB Virginia's first evolutionist: James Lawrence Cabell, by N.T. Boaz .......... ... ....... l8b QUATERNARY GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES IN VIRGINIA John A. Connersr CONTENTS ?age Introduction ..............,.., Geomorphic processes and climatic change: problems and overview ................. 6 Processes of eavern and karst Suggestions for the Quaternary ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure l: H"?;1,H1'#:"*;il'""1t#ffi'Hf,,;;;re;;, N",tn c"";ii;; : 3 3. view of northern slopes of Rich Mountain, showing foot-slope deposits g 4. Partof a seree slope near Sherando