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Quaternary Volcanic Ash Transformation in the Mayan Lowland

Milawski, James
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377871595

Abstract Details

2013, MS, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Geology.
Tikal, Guatemala is one of the largest Archaeological Sites of the Pre-Columbian Era. Soil samples from Tikal and the surrounding Mesoamerican region were collected for study of the clay component and chemical properties. The importance of the discoveries within this research will supply archaeologists' concrete evidence of soil transformation from volcanic ash to smectite during the Mayan inhabitance (2,000 BC to 1600 AD). Mayan ceramics have been found to be made with volcanic ash as a component, the source of the ash and the accessibility is made clear from research proposed here. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) have revealed the presence of volcanogenic deposits prior to and including the Preclassic through the Postclassic Mayan cultural periods. Decomposed volcanic ash in the form of smectite has been identified from samples taken from areas of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. Euhedrel quartz (50 µm, SEM) has correlated with smectite identified from XRD, confirming quartz as volcanically derived. XRF data of the geographically common dust blown Sahara-Sahel is the only abundant non-volcanic dust source, and does not correlate with the soils from Tikal. The Ni/Cr and Zr/Y trace elements identified from XRF are a more suited match with Guatemalan and Salvadoran volcanic events. The existence of smectite within the dated strata provides clues of the fertility of the soils during Mayan inhabitance.
Warren Huff, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
J Barry Maynard, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kenneth Tankersley, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
79 p.
Geology
Volcanic Ash; Maya; Bentonite; Volcano

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Milawski, J. (2013). Quaternary Volcanic Ash Transformation in the Mayan Lowland [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377871595

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Milawski, James. Quaternary Volcanic Ash Transformation in the Mayan Lowland. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377871595.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Milawski, James. "Quaternary Volcanic Ash Transformation in the Mayan Lowland." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377871595

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1377871595
482
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Quaternary Volcanic Ash Transformation in the Mayan Lowland by James Milawski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.