The great basin : a natural prehistory /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Grayson, Donald K.
Edition:Rev. and expanded ed.
Imprint:Berkeley : University of California Press, 2011.
Description:1 online resource (xiii, 418 pages) : illustrations, maps
Language:English
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11261359
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other uniform titles:Grayson, Donald K. Desert's past.
ISBN:9780520948716
0520948718
9780520267473
0520267478
9786613277824
6613277827
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-408) and index.
English.
Print version record.
Summary:"The Great Basin, centering on Nevada and including substantial parts of California, Oregon, and Utah, gets its name from the fact that none of its rivers or streams flow to the sea. This book synthesizes the past 25,000 years of the natural history of this vast region. It explores the extinct animals that lived in the Great Basin during the Ice Age and recounts the rise and fall of the massive Ice Age lakes that existed here. It explains why trees once grew 13' beneath what is now the surface of Lake Tahoe, explores the nearly two dozen Great Basin mountain ranges that once held substantial glaciers, and tells the remarkable story of how pinyon pine came to cover some 17,000,000 acres of the Great Basin in the relatively recent past. These discussions culminate with the impressive history of the prehistoric people of the Great Basin, a history that shows how human societies dealt with nearly 13,000 years of climate change on this often-challenging landscape"--
Other form:Print version: Grayson, Donald K. Great basin. Rev. and expanded ed. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2011 9780520267473
Description
Summary:Covering a large swath of the American West, the Great Basin, centered in Nevada and including parts of California, Utah, and Oregon, is named for the unusual fact that none of its rivers or streams flow into the sea. This fascinating illustrated journey through deep time is the definitive environmental and human history of this beautiful and little traveled region, home to Death Valley, the Great Salt Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Donald K. Grayson synthesizes what we now know about the past 25,000 years in the Great Basin--its climate, lakes, glaciers, plants, animals, and peoples--based on information gleaned from the region's exquisite natural archives in such repositories as lake cores, packrat middens, tree rings, and archaeological sites. A perfect guide for students, scholars, travelers, and general readers alike, the book weaves together history, archaeology, botany, geology, biogeography, and other disciplines into one compelling panorama across a truly unique American landscape.
Physical Description:1 online resource (xiii, 418 pages) : illustrations, maps
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-408) and index.
ISBN:9780520948716
0520948718
9780520267473
0520267478
9786613277824
6613277827