3 Paleo-climate and -ecosystems of the Southwest and High Plains: From the Paleozoic to the Quaternary

Many Phanerozoic climates and ecosystems serve as potential analogues for the future; others highlight the Earth system response to tectonic and climatic forcings. We invite abstracts that probe the paleoclimate/ecosystems of the US Southwest

Monday, 18 May 2026
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alvarado C

Participants

• Chair Rachel Bernstein
• Chair Jeremy Rugenstein
• Chair Taylor Bennett

Presentations

• 9:00 AM
  Tracing Aridity Across Equatorial Pangea Using Paleosol Carbonate δ¹³C
  Taylor Bennett, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Jeremy Rugenstein, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Gabriela Sanchez Ortiz, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and John Singleton, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Dylan Frawley, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Hunter Broeder, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Jacob Flack, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Paul Myrow, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
  410668 (Technical Sessions)
• 9:20 AM
  Contrast between Macroflora and Palynoflora from an Organic-shale Bed in the Tinajas Member, Atrasado Formation, Upper Pennsylvanian, Socorro County, NM
  William DiMichele, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC and Cortland Eble, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky and Spencer Lucas, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  410595 (Technical Sessions)
• 9:40 AM
  Reconstructing the Hydroclimate and Environmental Response to Middle Miocene Warming in the Española Basin, New Mexico
  Siânin Spaur, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM and Daniel Koning, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM and Matthew Heizler, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM and Scott Aby, Muddy Spring Geology, Dixon, NM and Garrett Williamson, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX and Jeffrey Knott, California State University, Fullerton, CA and Rene Paul Acosta, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA and Jeremy Rugenstein, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  410630 (Technical Sessions)
• 10:00 AM
  Characterizing the Magnitude and Drivers of Neogene Temperature Change with Clumped Isotope Analyses in the Central Rio Grande Rift
  Rachel Bernstein, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO and Daniel Koning, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM and Ashley Maloney, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO and Siânin Spaur, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM and Olivia Lee, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO and Gabriela Sanchez Ortiz, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO and Daniel Ibarra, Brown University, Providence, RI and R. Paul Acosta, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA and Kathryn Snell, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO and Jeremy Rugenstein, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  410624 (Technical Sessions)
• 10:20 AM
  A Million-Year Long Record of Climate and Environmental Change from Central Arizona: The Stoneman Lake Project
  Peter Fawcett, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM and Spencer Staley, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV and R. Anderson, Northern Arizona University, SESES, Flagstaff, AZ and Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Universidad de Granada, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Granada and Vera Markgraf, University of Colorado, Monte Vista, CO
  410704 (Technical Sessions)
• 10:40 AM
  Reconstructing hydroclimate variability in the Basin of Mexico over the past 400 ka using triple oxygen isotopes in Lake Chalco carbonates
  Payal Banerjee, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM and Zachary Sharp, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM and Peter Fawcett, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
  410730 (Technical Sessions)