Loess in the mid-Atlantic region, USA

Abstract

AbstractLoess is common in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States south of the Late Wisconsinan glacial border particularly along rivers draining the glaciated areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The broadest deposits occur on the flat landscapes of the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland where two episodes of deposition have been identified. The earlier Miles Point Loess has a limited distribution and is buried by the more widespread Paw Paw Loess. OSL and 14C dates place deposition of the Miles Point Loess during MIS 3. The well developed paleosol formed in the Miles Point Loess acts as a stratigraphic marker. The Paw Paw Loess buries Clovis age cultural materials which date deposition to the end of the Pleistocene. Loess deposits and paleosols are critical in understanding regional landscape evolution, Late Pleistocene environments, and early North American cultural history. Mapping the extent of loess in the Mid-Atlantic using the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s gSSURGO database overrepresents loess in some areas and underrepresents in others.