A Paleosol-Derived Environmental Perspective on MIS 3 in the Central Great Plains

Abstract

The Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 Gilman Canyon Formation (GCF) is a unique stratigraphic unit prevalent throughout the Central Great Plains of North America and serves as an important underutilized archive of paleoenvironmental data. This study focuses on the GCF in central Kansas where it contains two cumulic paleosols and an intervening detrital unit, which have been radiocarbon dated ~46 ka to 24 ka, a period that spans most of MIS 3. Herein, newly obtained stable isotope, elemental, enviromagnetic, phytolith, particulate charcoal, particle size, color, and observational data from the GCF are used to generate the most comprehensive look at the MIS 3 environment in the Central Great Plains to date. In the distal portion of the Central Great Plains loess plume the GCF supported a moderately active soil community dominated by C4 grass prairies, suggesting a warm fairly dry climate prevailed during most of MIS 3.