This doctoral dissertation award will support a study of the late Quaternary climatic and phytogeographic history of the Arizona monsoon. The purpose of the project is to provide information on the timing and extent of the putative monsoonal maximum during the glacial- interglacial transition. The project will add to our knowledge of the effects of human activities on climate by illuminating the long-term fluctuations that occurred prior to major human impacts. It will contribute baseline data needed to evaluate the variability of climate in the post- agricultural and industrial periods by establishing a good record of climate over the U.S. Southwest during the Holocene. The project will enhance our understanding of potential desertification in this region of the country as well as of effects of global climatic change.
