Transactions of the Regional Archeological Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas: 1983 Page: 39
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CLIMATE
The cJimate c&f the survey area is typical of a semi-arid region.
The vegetation consists mostly of native grasses. Of the very few
trees in the area, most are mesquite. There is very little farming in
the immediate vicinity. The economy is based on ranching and extensive
oil and gas production.
Droughts occur with monotonous frequency. Although several, years
have excessive precipitation resulting in large accumulations of water,
the runoff is so rapid that little benefit is derived from the rainfall.
If good rains occur in the spring and summer months, grass production
is good, even if the remainder of the year is well below normal.
The annual average precipitation is 12.9 inches in Crane County.
Most of the annual precipitation in the area comes as a result of
spring and early summer thunderstorms.
Winters are characterized by frequent cold periods followed by
rapid warming. In spring there is violent thunderstorm activity, but
summers are warm and dry and are characterized by numerous small con-
vective showers. Extremely variable weather occurs during the fall.
Frequent cold fronts are followed by chilly weather for two or three
days and then by rapid warming. Cloudiness is at a minimum.
All through summer, afternoon temperatures are frequently above
90 degrees F, the low humidity and resultant rapid evaporation has a
cooling effect. The climate of the area is generally quite pleasant,
and the more disagreeable weather is concentrated in the late winter
and spring months.
GEOLOGY and STRATIGRAPHY
The early work of Huffington and Albritton (1941) on the Quaternary
deposits of the dunes, recognized two separate formations. The older of
the two formations, reddish-brown massive sand, was designated as the
Judkins formation and the younger, lighter colored sands as the Monahans
formation.
In 1955 (Wendorf, Krieger, and Albritton) (Scharbauer 41 MD 1)
extended the Judkins formation to include lacustrin sediment which
contains a Late Pleistocene vertebrate fauna.
Judkins formation: This term should be restricted to the
massive, compact argillaceous sand of predominantly reddish-
brown color but also various shades of light greenish-gray
where its iron content has been subjected to reduction in
topographic lows and beneath Pleistocene pond sediments.
There are many color graduations between the red-green phases;
such as the light greenish-gray exposures which are typically
mottled with light brown, yellow, and olive-green colors.39
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Transactions of the Regional Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas: Index to Volumes 1-57 [1965-2024] (Book)
Index to the proceedings of the regional archeological symposium including separate lists by subject, title, author, and volume along with subject categories, a map of regions, and Texas county abbreviations.
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Transactions of the Regional Archeological Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas: 1983, book, 1984; United States. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1661464/m1/47/?q=+date%3A1945-1972: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Southwestern Federation of Archaeological Societies.