SBR-9506564 James C. Knox Joseph A. Mason University of Wisconsin at Madison Dissertation Improvement Research: Effects of Glacial-Interglacial Climate Change on Mass Wasting, Southeastern Minnesota This project will investigate the effects of glacial-interglacial climate change on processes of hillslope erosion in a part of southeastern Minnesota that was near the ice margin during the last glacial period. Study results should be applicable to a larger area of the Upper Mississippi Valley that is physiographically similar. The project will test the hypothesis that extensive slope erosion by mass wasting was triggered by permafrost formation during the last glacial period, but that mass wasting has been inactive under subsequent interglacial climatic conditions. Radiocarbon dating and other methods will be used to determine the chronology of past mass wasting episodes. The results of the study should enhance interpretation of large-scale changes in sediment movement and storage in the Upper Mississippi basin over the past 25,000 years. )
