Western Coastal and Marine Geology

U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 2007-1001
Version 1.0

The Role of Aeolian Sediment in the Preservation of Archaeological Sites in the Colorado River Corridor, Grand Canyon, Arizona: Final Report on Research Activities, 2003–2006

By Amy E. Draut and David M. Rubin

2007

photo of pot shards in the sand

This report summarizes a three-year study of aeolian sedimentary processes in the Colorado River corridor, Grand Canyon, Arizona, and discusses the relevance of those processes to the preservation of archaeological sites. Findings are based upon detailed sedimentary and geomorphic investigations conducted in three areas of the river corridor, continuous measurements of wind, precipitation, and aeolian sediment transport at six locations for up to 26 months, short-term field study at 35 other sites, examination of historical aerial photographs, and review of data collected and analyzed by previous studies. Detailed results of this study, which involved collaboration with scientists at the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, National Park Service, Northern Arizona University, the Hopi Tribe, and GeoArch, Inc., have been published previously in topical USGS Open-File Reports (Draut and Rubin, 2005, 2006), a USGS Scientific Investigations Report (Draut and others, 2005), and will be discussed in two forthcoming journal articles. This report serves as an overview of the results and contains new conclusions regarding aeolian sedimentary processes in the Colorado River Ecosystem and their relevance to many archaeological sites.

Download this report as a 141-page PDF document (of2007-1001.pdf; 12.6 MB)

For questions about the content of this report, contact Amy Draut

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