Frequency of Central Mesa Verde Communal Structure Types.

<p>Frequency of Central Mesa Verde Communal Structure Types.</p

Late 13^th Century Shift in Zuni Settlement Organization.

<p>Organization shifts from dispersed room blocks (Scribe S) to planned villages (Pueblo de los Muertos).</p

Coefficients of Variation in Settlement Size for Zuni and Mesa Verde Region Sites over Time.

<p>Plots of the El Malpais annual precipitation reconstruction and of the 9-year running mean are provided at the top of the figure to illustrate climate trends during this period.</p

System Drivers and Variable States in the Case Studies.

<p>System Drivers and Variable States in the Case Studies.</p

Coefficients of Variation for Zuni and Mesa Verde Great Kiva and Plaza Space over Time.

<p>Plots of the El Malpais annual precipitation reconstruction and of the 9-year running mean are provided at the top of the figure to illustrate climate trends during this period.</p

Non-critical and Critical Transformations in the US Southwest.

<p>In 4b: <i>f</i>1 and <i>f</i>2 are fold bifurcation points where a small forcing can cause a sudden qualitative change in a system.</p

Frequency of Central Mesa Verde Communal Structure Types.

<p>Frequency of Central Mesa Verde Communal Structure Types.</p

Examples of Southwestern Public Architecture.

<p>Clockwise from upper left: Long House Plaza, Mesa Verde [Courtesy of Mesa Verde National Park; photo by Robert D. Jensen]; Atsinna plaza, Zuni [Keith Kintigh]; Hubbard tri-wall, Aztec Ruin National Monument [Donna Glowacki]; reconstructed great kiva, Aztec Ruin National Monument [Matthew Peeples].</p

Map of the U.S. Southwest.

<p>The map shows the late pre-Hispanic distribution of major settlements ca. 1250–1300 C.E., and the locations of the Zuni and Mesa Verde areas and of Chaco Canyon.</p

Reconstructing glacial outburst floods (jökulhlaups) from geomorphology: challenges, solutions, and an enhanced interpretive framework

Glacial outburst floods (jökulhlaups) have been significant drivers of landscape change across Earth throughout the Quaternary and are a contemporary hazard in Arctic and alpine regions worldwide. Geomorphologic evidence is a foundation for reconstructing past and contemporary flood events and using additional analytical methods such as geochronology and paleohydraulics. Yet, accurate interpretation of jökulhlaup landforms and depositional sequences poses a persistent challenge due to complex controls on flood hydraulics and landscape evolution. Researchers have developed numerous strategies to reduce or resolve these challenges, but a comprehensive, globally applicable model to interpret flood evidence outside of sedimentary environments is lacking. This article synthesizes existing case studies to describe jökulhlaup geomorphologic interpretive challenges, discuss strategies to resolve them, and present a conceptual model of flood landform assemblages to illustrate hydraulic and environmental controls on resultant geomorphologic impacts. This enhanced interpretive framework aids researchers in identifying, interpreting, and testing geomorphologic evidence to reconstruct past jökulhlaups and predict future flood impacts as robustly as possible at a global, landscape-wide scale. Understanding jökulhlaup geomorphology yields insight into glacial lake and ice margin dynamics, the role of extreme events in landscape evolution, and interactions between climate, ice sheets, and hydrology. Moreover, it is increasingly important as glacial outburst floods may become more frequent due to climate-driven ice retreat, advancing predictive capacities to mitigate societal risk downstream.</div