Reconstructing Fire History in the Nebraska Sand Hills

Nebraska Sandhills Wetlands photo by Mariah Lundgren

https://research.unl.edu/blog/onetime-ucare-student-benes-now-mentors-two-students-in-research/
Student Participants: Jasmine Pham & Joe Stalder

Mentor: Jim Benes

Overview: This project involves describing and analyzing a sediment core taken from Dewey Marsh in the Nebraska Sandhills. We are looking at how the environment has changed based on the stratigraphic record, with a particular interest in how the history of fires in the region has changed over time. To do this, we will be conducting a grain size analysis, counting the amount of charcoal present in the core, running a LOI test, extracting macrofossils, and determining the age of the sediments using Carbon-14 and OSL dating techniques. 

Initial Core Description (ICR): Using the Munsell Soil Charts, Joe and Jasmine assess the color and depth of the layers (bed zones), describing the approximate composition of the layers and the boundaries between the layers. 

Jasmine measuring core sample
Using color charts
Joe and Jasmine using color charts
Closeup of the color charts and samples