Late Quaternary landscape evolution, soil stratigraphy, and geoarchaeology of the Caprock Canyonlands, Northwest Texas, USA Laura R. Murphy a, * , Stance C. Hurst b , Vance T. Holliday c , Eileen Johnson b a Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas,1930 Constant Ave, Lawrence, KS 66047, USA b Museum of Texas Tech University, Box 43191, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA c Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Late Quaternary Geoarchaeology Landscape evolution Soil stratigraphy abstract In northwest Texas, USA, between the Southern High Plains to the west and the Central Lowlands to the east, lies a geographic boundary known as the “Escarpment Breaks” or “Caprock Canyonlands.” The canyonlands contain abundant springs, lithic resources, shelter, and plant and animal food sources that attracted hunter-gatherer groups. A geoarchaeological study was conducted in the canyonlands to determine the effects of late-Quaternary landscape evolution, especially intensive erosion, on the re- gion's archaeological record. Geomorphic and stratigraphic field research and a total of 95 new radio- carbon age determinations, 94 of which were determined on paired samples, aid in reconstructing an understudied dynamic and erosive landscape, and explain how the landscape has changed. The pattern is similar to reported data from the Central Plains and western Rolling Plains but dissimilar to the Southern High Plains. High rates of erosion and geological controls on the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, a 4th order stream, have hindered the discovery of deeply buried soils and in situ Paleoindian artifacts and features, but a late-Holocene pedocomplex is relatively intact in valley fills beneath remnants of the T-2 terrace of the South Fork. The eroding slopes near the edge of the caprock escarpment exposed a record of in situ Archaic to Protohistoric-aged materials. The eroding slopes should be targeted for future quantification of erosion and archaeological preservation bias for the canyonlands. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A steep, abrupt, approximately 300 km-long north-south escarpment marks the eastern edge of the westward eroding Southern High Plains in Northwest Texas. This physiographic boundary, referred to locally as either the “Escarpment Breaks” (Texas Parks and Wildlife, 2011) or “Caprock Canyonlands” (Flores, 1990; Boyd, 2004) (hereafter: canyonlands), is defined by rugged incised canyons, remnant mesas, and alluvial outwashes (Fig. 1; Gustavson and Simpkins, 1989). The Brazos, Canadian, Red, and White rivers flow west to east through the canyonlands, where the topography transitions to more gentle hills of the Osage Plains section of the Central Lowlands physiographic province (Ferring, 1995; USGS, 2002), referred to locally as the Rolling Plains. Regional topographic diversity occurs along the escarpment, but in general, with the Rolling Plains to the east and High Plains plateau to the west, the canyonlands landscape stands out in sharp contrast to its surroundings. The canyonlands mark a distinctive geographic boundary be- tween the Southern High Plains to the west and the Rolling Plains to the east, making it an ideal area to assess archaeological and geoarchaeological questions in relation to the adjacent physio- graphic regions by examining late-Quaternary landforms and soils. Ongoing interdisciplinary research near Post, Texas (see Backhouse and Johnson, 2007a), is providing new information about hunter- gatherer landscape interactions, including hearthstone and lithic procurement strategies in the region (see: Backhouse and Johnson, 2007b; Backhouse et al., 2009, 2010; Hurst et al., 2010). Here, as part of the interdisciplinary effort, we evaluate the landscape evolution of a portion of the canyonlands along the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (hereafter: South Fork) within the broader regional context of the Southern Plains. We compare soil-stratigraphic records from the Great Plains (e.g., Blum et al., 1992; Mandel, 1992, 2006, 2008; Bettis and Mandel, 2002; Thurmond and Wyckoff, 2004; Quigg et al., 2010; Beeton and Mandel, 2011) with the record from the canyonlands to create a more robust understanding of the landscape and to provide * Corresponding author. E-mail address: murphy.geoarch@gmail.com (L.R. Murphy). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.060 1040-6182/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e16 Please cite this article in press as: Murphy, L.R., et al., Late Quaternary landscape evolution, soil stratigraphy, and geoarchaeology of the Caprock Canyonlands, Northwest Texas, USA, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.060