AGES Lab Summer Research in the Chippewa River Valley
Students Use Geoprobe to Collect Sediment Samples
Earlier this month, Minnesota State University, Mankato Geography student Richard Mataitis and Anthropology student Luke Burds worked in the Chippewa River Valley in western Wisconsin with colleagues and students from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point as part of the AGES Research Laboratory. The group operated a Geoprobe hydraulic coring unit to collect sediment samples from a sand dune-like landform that will be used for optical stimulated luminescence dating (a way to determine the age of those sediments). This research is part of Mataitis' thesis. He is looking at these landforms as an indicator of aeolian (wind-blown) activity tied to climatic changes at the end of the last glaciation (when the glaciers were retreating from the upper Midwest). Anthropology professor Ron Schirmer and Earth Science professor Phil Larson, co-directors of AGES Lab, also participated in the research.
The Archaeology, Geography, and Earth Science Laboratory is an interdisciplinary teaching and research facility within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The scope and impact of AGES is focused in Minnesota, but also spans the globe. AGES has major, positive impacts in understanding, interpreting, and managing cultural and natural resources.
