Desert Pavement: An Environmental Canary?
نویسنده
چکیده
Ongoing cti sruption of ancient , varnished desert pave ment surfaces ncar Death Valley Nat ional Park is inferred to be the result of unusually intense animal foraging activity. lncreased levels of biotllrbation are associated with enhanced vegetation growth stimulated by recen t EI Nino precipitation. The occurrence of abundant, recen tly overturned, varnished clasts suggests that the pavement disturbances reported here ~ue rarc on the millcnnhll tim e scale of desert varnish format ion. These observations suggest the possibili ty that ch ~lJ1 gcs in desert pa vement surfaces 1113}' provide ea rl y hints of future changes in desert ecology and environment.
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