Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 8812.14.101, Replacement of CIN 820027, Route 199 at Wilbur Pond Outlet, Town of Milan, Dutchess County, New York - D. E. Mazeau (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report for the Town of Milan, Dutchess County, New York - D. E. Mazeau (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

New York State Wildlife Grant T 17: Baseline Survey of Lepidoptera Species of Greatest Conservation Need. 2014 Quarterly Report (2nd Quarter) - T. L. McCabe (2014)
Keywords: biology

New York State Wildlife Grant T 17: Baseline Survey of Lepidoptera Species of Greatest Conservation Need. 2014 Final Report - T. L. McCabe (2014)
Keywords: biology

New York State Wildlife Grant T 17: Baseline Survey of Lepidoptera Species of Greatest Conservation Need. 2014 Quarterly Report (1st Quarter) - T. L. McCabe (2014)
Keywords: biology

Aquastella gen. nov.: a New Genus of Saprolegniaceous Oomycete Rotifer Parasites Related to Aphanomyces, With Unique Sporangial Outgrowths - D. P. Molloy; Glockling, S. L.; C. A. Siegfried; Beakes, G. W.; James , T. Y.; Matitsky, S. E.; Wurdak, E.; L. Giamberini; Gaylo, M. J.; Nemeth, M. J. (Fungal Biology, 2014)
The oomycete genus Aquastella is described to accommodate two new species of parasites of rotifers observed in Brooktrout Lake, New York State, USA. Three rotifer species – Keratella taurocephala, Polyarthra vulgaris, and Ploesoma truncatum – were infected, and this is the first report of oomycete infection in these species. Aquastella attenuata was specific to K. taurocephala and Aquastella acicularis was specific to P. vulgaris and P. truncatum. The occurrence of infections correlated with peak host population densities and rotifers were infected in the upper layers of the water column. Sequencing of 18S rRNA and phylogenetic analysis of both species placed them within the order Saprolegniales, in a clade closely related to Aphanomyces. The Aquastella species were morphologically distinct from other rotifer parasites as the developing sporangia penetrated out through the host body following its death to produce unique tapered outgrowths. Aquastella attenuata produced long, narrow, tapering, finger-like outgrowths, whilst A. acicularis produced shorter, spike-like outgrowths. We hypothesize that the outgrowths serve to deter predation and slow descent in the water column. Spore cleavage was intrasporangial with spore release through exit tubes. Aquastella attenuata produced primary zoospores, whereas A. acicularis released spherical primary aplanospores, more typical of other genera in the Aphanomyces clade.
Keywords: Aquastella acicularis; Aquastella attenuata; Convergent evolution; Phylogenetic analysis; Saprolegniales

Cultural Resources Reconnaissnace Survey for PIN 1306.79.101, Route 7 over Sunkissanissa Creek, Town of Pittstown, Rensselaer County, New York. - Pellerin, J. (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for Multi-Bridge Replacement over the Schoharie Creek, Town of Prattsville, Greene County, New York. - M. Pickands; J. S. Cardinal; T. Thomas; H. Brown (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1BOW.00.101, Route 23 Crossing over the Schoharie Creek, Prattsville, Greene County, New York. - M. Pickands; M.S. LoRusso; T. Thomas; VanNest, J. (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Documentation of Historic Signage along Veterans Memorial Highway, Whiteface Mountain, Town of Wilmington, Essex County, New York - M. Pickands; T. Thomas; C. B. Rieth; V. A. Schmitt (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Prehistoric Occupations at the Pethick Site, Schoharie County, New York - Rafferty, S.; C. B. Rieth; Moragne, S. (Archaeology of Eastern North America, 2014)
The results of the first seven of 10 seasons of excavation at the Pethick site, Schoharie County, New York, are summarized in this report. Substantial Late Woodland (twelfth to fifteenth century A.D.), Early Woodland, and Transitional components have been excavated. During the Late Woodland the site was a horticultural hamlet. Two structures have been identified, but no palisade has been located. Ceramic vessel, floral and faunal analyses are summarized. Small amounts of maize and the nuts of various species are present in the charred floral remains. The Pethick project has been above all else an educational project. Over 100 field school students have been trained at the site, many of whom have gone on to careers in archaeology.
Keywords: anthropology

Affinities and Architecture of Devonian Trunks of Prototaxites loganii - Retallack, G. J; E. Landing (Mycologia, 2014)
Devonian fossil logs of Prototaxites loganii have been considered kelp-like aquatic algae, rolled up carpets of liverworts, enormous saprophytic fungal fruiting bodies or giant lichens. Algae and rolled liverwort models cannot explain the proportions and branching described here of a complete fossil of Prototaxites loganii from the Middle Devonian (386 Ma) Bellvale Sandstone on Schunnemunk Mountain, eastern New York. The “Schunnemunk tree” was 8.83 m long and had six branches, each about 1 m long and 9 cm diam, on the upper 1.2 m of the main axis. The coalified outermost layer of the Schunnemunk trunk and branches have isotopic compositions (δ13CPDB) of −25.03 ± 0.13‰ and −26.17 ± 0.69‰, respectively. The outermost part of the trunk has poorly preserved invaginations above cortical nests of coccoid cells embraced by much-branched tubular cells. This histology is unlike algae, liverworts or vascular plants and most like lichen with coccoid chlorophyte phycobionts. Prototaxites has been placed within Basidiomycota but lacks clear dikaryan features. Prototaxites and its extinct order Nematophytales may belong within Mucoromycotina or Glomeromycota.
Keywords: Chlorophyta; Devonian; Glomeromycota; lichen; New York; Prototaxites

Affinities and architecture of Devonian trunks of Prototaxites loganii - Retallack, G.J.; E. Landing (Mycologia, 2014)

Affinities and architecture of Devonian trunks Prototaxites loganii. Supplement. - Retallack, G.J.; E. Landing (Mycology, 2014)

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey for PIN 1013.11, Town of Lexington, Schoharie County, New York - C. B. Rieth (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources End of Field Report for the Auburn-Cato Plank Road, Oswego County, New York - J. Ross (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

From Evidence to Relic to Artefact - Schaming, M. A. (Death Tourism: Disaster Sites as Recreational Landscape, 2014)
Keywords: history

Cultural Resource Architectural Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 8812.14.101, Replacement of CIN # 820027, Town of Milan, Dutchess County, New York - V. A. Schmitt; D. E. Mazeau (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Architectural Report of PIN 8BOW.00.101, Route 209 over Rochester Creek, Town of Rochester, Ulster County, New York - V. A. Schmitt (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 2016.77.101, Rout 12 Improvements, Town of Trenton, Oneida County, New York - V. A. Schmitt; J. Ross; S. Higgins (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Geophysical Characterization of the Keene Valley Landslide in New York State - Sherrod, L.; Schlosser, K.; A. L. Kozlowski; B. Bird; Wekima, D. D.; Swiontek, J. (Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, 2014)
The largest naturally occurring landslide in New York State history began in early May 2011. Melting of winter snowpack followed by abnormally high volumes of April rain saturated the underlying glacial stratigraphy and initiated the 0.33 km2 (82 acre) landslide on Little Porter Mountain in the High-Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains. Downslope soil movement rates between 15 and 60 cm per day demonstrated their destructive capacity as the shifting soils caused one house to be condemned because of the unstable ground and foundation while simultaneously rendering three other houses into immediate danger. The mechanisms controlling this landslide were investigated using geophysical methods, displacement measurements, and borehole logs. Nineteen electrical resistivity imaging surveys were implemented to map the subsurface glacial features. Ground penetration radar (GPR) profiles were collected along many of the resistivity lines and additional reconnaissance lines in several other locations. These surveys identified subsurface features such as the buried bedrock surface, thick sequences of loose zones of saturated sediments and clays within the glacial till, and boulder zones. The geophysical data were compared with displacement station measurements and precipitation records, which led to the interpretation that the landslide was triggered by large infiltration and the failure surface was along a clay-sand interface. The nature of the slide is revealed as a deep-seated rotational surface within the glacial deposits instead of the bedrock debris avalanche failures that are considered typical of the Adirondack region. The results of this study assist in the Little Porter Mountain landslide characterization and hazard potential classification of similar glacial deposits on slopes in the Adirondacks region.
Keywords: geology

Monophyly and Phylogeny of Schoenoplectus and Schoenoplectiella (Cyperaceae): Evidence from Chloroplast and Nuclear DNA Sequences - Shiels, D. R.; Hurlbut, D. L.; Lichtenwald, S. K.; Monfil, A. K. (Systematic Botany, 2014)
Relationships within Schoenoplectus and Schoenoplectiella are largely unknown and the phylogenetic positions of these genera relative to the other four genera in Fuireneae and clade of Cypereae are unclear. A few studies with sparse or localized sampling have added valuable insights, but a North American sampling and a broad global perspective are needed. To generate a more robust phylogenetic hypothesis, we increased the number and breadth of taxon sampling in Schoenoplectus and Schoenoplectiella, including all constituent species in North America, all genera in Fuireneae, and strategically sampled genera in Cypereae. Phylogenetic relationships were estimated using DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal ITS region, chloroplast DNA trnL intron and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer region, and partial chloroplast DNA ndhF coding region and parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses. The proposed phylogeny reveals Pseudoschoenus, Schoenoplectiella, and Cypereae are supported as a clade, and Schoenoplectiella is paraphyletic and sister to Pseudoschoenus. Schoenoplectus is monophyletic, sister to Actinoscirpus. Schoenoplectus sections Schoenoplectus and Malacogeton were resolved; comprehensive sampling in Schoenoplectus section Schoenoplectus and unclear placement of S. californicus suggests the need to examine formerly recognized section Pterolepis. The proposed phylogeny supports the erection of sections in Schoenoplectiella, but indicates further morphological and molecular data is needed for section diagnoses. Two Cypereae taxa previously resolved in a Schoenoplectiella clade were included in this analysis: Scirpoides varia resolved in a clade with Cypereae taxa, and Isolepis humillima resolved within Schoenoplectiella. Results from the phylogenetic hypotheses support a need to revisit the generic placement of Isolepis humillima and revise Fuireneae to resolve tribal paraphyly.
Keywords: biology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 9806.81.101/C950098, Culvert Replacement, Town of Edmeston, Otsego County, New York - Sobik, C. (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Historic Content for Interpretive Sign, Town of Wilmington, Essex County, New York - Sobik, C. (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

'I trust there will be no failure...': The Importance of Bricks and Brickmaking at the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company's Upper Works - D. Staley; Mills, P. R.; Lundblad, S. P. (IA: The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology, 2014)
Keywords: anthropology

Bedrock Geology of the Gallupville Quadrangle, Albany, Schoharie and Schenectady Counties, New York - Stander, E. J.; C. A. Ver Straeten; Engel, T.; Stander, J. (Map & Chart Series 81, 2014)

Cultural Resources Architectural Report for PIN 9806.80.101, Culvert in the Town of Butternuts, Otsego County, New York. - T. Thomas (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Screening Survey for PIN 3501.56.121 Little York Creek, Cayuga County, New York - T. Thomas (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Geoarchaeological Reconnaissance of a Proposed Pavilion and other Improvements at the Nutten Hook Preserve, Town of Stuyvesant, Columbia County, New York. - Van Nest, J. (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Holocene Mississippi River Floods and Geoarchaeological Site Formation Processes in the Sny Bottom, Western Illinois, USA - Van Nest, J. (Quaternary International, 2014)
Holocene alluvial deposits are well represented in the Sny Bottom, a reach of the Mississippi River in western Illinois characterized by the presence of a long anabranch channel (the Sny). Prior to its engineered confinement, the flood-stage Mississippi functioned as an anastomosed system comprised of many secondary landscape elements hierarchically arranged to distribute water out across a broad floodplain. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphic sequences are used to reconstruct the geological history of this river reach as it metamorphosed from a sandy Late Pleistocene braided floodplain into a system dominated by mud. By 7400 cal BP, the Mississippi migrated to its present position and began to build the natural levee it would use for the remainder of the Holocene. Major subsequent geomorphological adjustments to the system resulted from large floods at ca. 6900, 4900, 3300 and 2000 cal BP. Valley fill is a complex arrangement of individual sedimentary bodies that accumulated at highly variable rates. Vertical accretion by sedimentation and soil upbuilding acted together to preserve numerous buried archaeological sites of all ages.
Keywords: alluvial stratigraphy; Anastomosed rivers; Crevasse splays; Geoarchaeology; Soil upbuilding; Terrace veneers

An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War - Weible, R.; J. A. Lemak; Noble, A. (Excelsior Editions, 2014)
Keywords: Civil War; exhibition; New York

Is the Fossil Record of Complex Animal Behaviour a Stratigraphical Analogue for the Anthropocene? - Williams, M.; Zalasiewicz, J. A.; Waters, C. N.; E. Landing (A Stratigraphical Basis for the Anthropocene, 2014)
The base of the Cambrian System is recognized by a characteristic (marine) trace fossil suite assigned to the Treptichnus pedum Biozone, which signals increasing complexity of animal behaviour and demarcates the Cambrian from the (older) Ediacaran System (Proterozoic Eonathem). Ichnotaxa of the T. pedum Biozone are not the earliest trace fossils, and are preceded in the latest Proterozoic by a progressive increase in the diversity of trace-producing organisms and the communities they comprised, the structural and behavioural complexity of the trace fossils, and even the depth of burrowing in sediments. Parallels can be drawn with the increasing complexity of subsurface structures associated with human cities, which also reflect evolution of an increasingly complex community. Before the nineteenth century, these structures were limited and simple, but beginning with the development of London in the mid-nineteenth century as the world's first megacity, subsurface structures have become increasingly complex, reflecting the technology-driven behaviour of twentieth- and twenty-first-century humans.
Keywords: geology; paleontology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 5811.50.101, NY Route 98, Town of Great Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. - L. J. Xinakes (2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 5811.50.101, NY Route 98, Town of Great Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York. - L. J. Xinakes (New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, 2014)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

The Case of the Coeymans Lady - L. M. Anderson; Dale, V. (New York Archives Magazine, 2013)
Keywords: bioarchaeology; skeletal analysis

Addendum Cultural Resources Report for Keene Slope Failure, Town of Keene, New York - H. Brown (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconaissance Survey for Route 443 over the Fox Creek, Town of Berne, Albany County, New York - H. Brown (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

DEC Second Pond Fishing Access Parking Reconstruction, Town of Harrietstown, Franklin County, New York - H. Brown (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Minerals of the Scott Farm Pegmatite Near Fine St. Lawrence County, New York - S. C. Chamberlain; M. V. Lupulescu; Bailey, D. G. (Rocks & Minerals, 2013)
Keywords: geology

Surficial Geology of the Keene Valley Quadrangle, Essex County, New York - Clift, A.; Graham, B. (New York State Museum Map & Chart, 2013)
Keywords: geology

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report of the Million Dollar Beach Site, Town of Lake George, Essex County, New York - B. R. Dale; A. Gore; Moragne, S. (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Lewis Henry Morgan and the Iroquois - Duggan, B. J. (On the Trails of the Iroquois, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

Occlusal Enamel Complexity and Its Implications for Lophodonty, Hypsodony, Body Mass, and Diet in Extinct and Extant Ungulates - Famoso, N. A.; R. S. Feranec; Davis, E. B. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2013)
Tooth morphology and rates of wear have strong controls on how well mammals survive in their habitats. Herbivorous mammals, specifically ungulates, combat the effects of wear through a combination of changing the occlusal (chewing surface) enamel length, and changing hypsodonty (relative height of tooth). Changes in these two attributes are most notably seen in the fossil record of ungulates as they adapted to living in cooler, drier, and more open habitats. We expect enamel length and hypsodonty to be greater in ungulate taxa that feed on grasses than in non-grass feeders. We tested this hypothesis by digitally photographing 213 maxillary tooth rows from 84 species of extinct and extant ungulates (n = 1083 teeth) and measuring their occlusal enamel length and true occlusal area. We then statistically compared the influences of taxonomy, feeding strategy, tooth position, and tooth area on both hypsodonty and occlusal enamel length using principal components analysis (PCA) and a nested multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results of our PCA indicated a strong correlation between enamel length and tooth area, but little correlation of either with hypsodonty. Our nested MANOVA showed that tooth position had no significant relationship with hypsodonty (p = 0.1539), while all other factors were significant for both hypsodonty and occlusal enamel length. Our results suggest that the occlusal enamel length in ungulate teeth is constrained by both the size of the tooth (and, by proxy, the mass of the individual) and diet. Absolute tooth crown height is similarly affected by a combination of body size and diet, leading to the use of a ratio, hypsodonty index, to characterize the diet component. We propose a similar ratio, the occlusal enamel index (OEI) which reduces the effect of body mass to clearly indicate the component of enamel length determined by abrasiveness of ingested material.
Keywords: Artiodactyla; Enamel complexity; Equidae; Isometry; Mammal; Teeth

Stable Carbon Isotope Evidence for the Abundance of C4 Plants in the Middle Miocene of Southern California - R. S. Feranec; Pagnac, D. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2013)
The abrupt spread of grasslands using C4 photosynthesis, sometimes referred to as the rapid increase in C4 ecosystems (RICE), occurred in the late Miocene in North America. While fossil plant specimens from the Miocene Dove Spring Formation of California as well as data from phylogenetic studies and molecular clocks show that C4 grasses evolved prior to the RICE, most isotopic data from paleosols and mammal tooth enamel suggest that its abundance on the landscape was minimal. However, a few recent studies from the Great Plains suggest that C4 grasslands may have been more prominent prior to the RICE event. Here we examine stable carbon isotope values from ungulate tooth enamel from the Barstow Formation of southern California, which is geographically and temporally close to the Dove Spring Formation, and records a diverse and abundant paleofauna of medial Miocene age. Tooth enamel δ13C values were examined in seven ungulate genera including the hypsodont equids; Acritohippus sp. and Scaphohippus sp.; the camelids, Aepycamelus sp., Hesperocamelus sp., and Procamelus sp.; the antilocaprid, Merycodus sp.; and the proboscidean, Gomphotherium sp. More positive δ13C values observed within the equids, camelids, and antilocaprids are suggestive of C4 grasses being included in the diets of these taxa. The equids exhibited the most positive mean δ13C values, which indicate a higher component of dietary C4 grasses (up to 18%) when compared to the other sampled ungulate taxa. The tooth enamel isotope values presented in this study show the presence of C4 grasses as a significant component of ungulate diets millions of years before the RICE. The abundance of C4 plants earlier in the Miocene may imply a more significant role in the major ungulate diversification events than previously suspected. The few pre-RICE localities showing evidence of C4 abundance suggests that these grasslands were geographically restricted which limits, but may not exclude, the possibility that a world-wide mechanism controlled its spread.
Keywords: Barstow Formation; C4 grasses; Carbon isotopes; Equidae; Miocene; Ungulates

Style Wars in the Wilderness: The Colonial Forts at Crown Point - C. L. Fisher; P. R. Huey (The Archaeology of French and Indian War Forts, 2013)
There were two sequential posts erected at Lake Champlain’s narrows, a choke point that allowed control of the lake. British Crown Point was erected adjacent to the earlier French fort St. Frédéric. The location was an ideal point to project imperial power, attract allies, and hold the Lake Champlain Narrows. The 1979 excavations uncovered remains of the trench built in 1755 off the southwest corner of the Fort St. Frédéric. The French fort was built in 1734 as a material symbol of French presence and served to attract Indian allies. When the French evacuated the position, the British immediately built their own stone-bastioned fort on the site. Now in ruins, Crown Point was the advanced British post on Lake Champlain and the staging point for further advances into French controlled Canada.
Keywords: Archaeology; Crown Point; Fort St. Frederic; French and Indian War; frontier fortifications; Lake Champlain; New York

Modeling Freshwater Reservoir Offsets on Radiocarbon-Dated Charred Cooking Residues - J. P. Hart; Lovis, W. A.; Urquhart, G. R.; Reber, E. A. (American Antiquity, 2013)
Obtaining radiocarbon assays on objects of chronological interest is always preferable to obtaining assays on spatially associated charcoal. The development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) dating has expanded the number of objects that can be directly assayed because it requires only a few milligrams of material. Pottery can be directly assayed when charred cooking residues adhering to the interior walls are present. The accuracy of AMS ages derived from residues has been questioned in cases where cooking freshwater aquatic organisms may have introduced carbon from ancient carbon reservoirs into residues. Here we provide analytic protocols for examination of this phenomenon and the results of systematic modeling of age estimates on residues formed from fish and maize with varying percentages of dead carbon. We present a regional case study using a large series of AMS age estimates on residues from the Finger Lakes region of northeastern United States to demonstrate how the paleolimnological record and lipid analysis of residues can help to determine if dates on residues from a given region are likely to have been affected by the presence of ancient carbon. In the case of the Finger Lakes, there is no evidence that ancient carbon affected the age estimates.
Keywords: cooking residues; Freshwater Reservoir Effect; northeastern North America; radiocarbon dating

A New History of Maize-Bean-Squash Agriculture in the Northeast - J. P. Hart (Seeking Our Past: An Introduction to North American Archaeology second edition, 2013)
Keywords: common bean; cucurbit; Cucurbita pepo; maize; northeastern North America; Phaseolus vulgaris; Zea mays ssp. mays

Reevaluating What We Know About the Histories of Maize in Northeastern North America: A Review of Current Evidence - J. P. Hart; Lovis, W. A. (Journal of Archaeological Research, 2013)
The adoption of maize in northeastern North America is often seen as a catalyst for the development of settled village life. In this review we develop a theoretical framework centered on shifting-balance theory (SBT) and domesticated landscapes through which to understand the context for the adoption of maize agriculture in the Northeast. We review micro- and macrobotanical evidence and stable carbon isotope data from various sources to reevaluate maize histories and adoption trajectories. These data are coupled with contributions of subregionally significant predecessor plants, such as those constituting the Eastern Agricultural Complex, and wild rice. We find no evidence for rapid transitions to settled village life as a result of maize adoption. Maize was grown for centuries before settled village agricultural systems evolved. It was grown for a sufficiently long time that the potential for local selection leading to Northern Flint is a viable working hypothesis. We call for a refocusing of research questions and a systematic application of contemporary techniques as a means by which to strengthen future inferences based on comparative information sets.
Keywords: Agricultural evolution; Domesticated landscapes; paleoethnobotany; Shifting-balance theory; Zea mays ssp. mays

Middle Wisconsin glacial advance into the Appalachian Plateau, Sixmile Creek, Tompkins Co., NY - Karig, D. E.; Miller, N. G. (Quaternary Research, 2013)
Areal mapping of the middle Wisconsin varved clay site along Sixmile Creek near Ithaca, New York, has revealed a much more widespread and varied array of sediments than previously thought. Lacustrine clays, some varved, are interbedded with sands and gravels interpreted as sub-aqueous fan deposits, and both are overlain by a deformation till. Nine radiocarbon dates indicate a 34–37 14C ka BP age for the lacustrine sediment, with the deformation till less than a few thousand years younger. Beneath this sequence is a deposit dated at ± 42 14C ka BP. Both strata represent a tundra climate with a mean July temperature of about 10°C. The Sixmile Creek deformation till must correlate with the 35 14C ka BP till along the Genesee River, 125 km to the NW, and defines a Cherrytree stade glacial advance into the Appalachian Plateau, much further south than what has generally been accepted. Such an advance would require drainage from a proglacial lake in the western Ontario basin to flow westward instead of northeastward. The Sixmile strata suggest a colder than accepted middle Wisconsin stage. Recent data indicate that this stage is one of progressive cooling, with large climatic fluctuations.
Keywords: Deformation till; Middle Wisconsin; New York; Radiocarbon ages; Sub-aqueous fan; Varves

Contrasting Terrains of the Lake Michigan and Saginaw Lobes of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in Southern Michigan; - A. E. Kehew; A. L. Kozlowski; B. Bird; Esch, J. M. (Insights into the Michigan Basin Salt Deposits, Impact Structure, Youngest Basin Bedrock, Glacial Geomorphology, Dune Complexes and Coastal Bluff Stability, 2013)
Keywords: geology

On the Origin of Tunnel Valleys of the Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet; Michigan, USA - A. E. Kehew; Ewald, S. K.; Esch, J. M.; A. L. Kozlowski (Boreas, 2013)
Tunnel valleys are common throughout the terrain of the Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in southern Michigan. The set of valleys described in this paper is regularly spaced in a radial pattern behind the Kalamazoo Moraine, an ice-marginal position formed during retreat from the Last Glacial Maximum. These valleys are divided into proximal and distal groups lying north and south, respectively, of a major river valley that cross-cuts the tunnel valleys at right angles. Based on a series of rotasonic borings and core analysis, the proximal valleys are shallow, contain minimal sediment fill, and overlie fine-grained diamicton and glaciolacustrine sediment, whereas the distal valleys are deeply incised into the substrate and are partially filled with coarse sediment. The distal valleys terminate within a broad zone of high-relief, hummocky topography representing stagnation and collapse behind the Kalamazoo ice margin. The proximal valleys occur within a more subdued landscape located farther from the ice margin. Although some elements of existing genetic models are consistent with these valleys, none appears to be completely compatible with their stratigraphy and morphology. Initial incision of the valleys could have involved short-lived moderate- to high-discharge flows, followed by deposition during or after the events. The deep incision and thick, coarse sediment in distal valleys in the stagnant marginal zone probably involved supraglacial meltwater draining to the bed as the margin downwasted. Fining-upward eskers inset into the valleys were formed by flows of declining energy in small late-stage conduits.
Keywords: geology

Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use“Legalize Spiritual Discovery”: The Trials of Dr. Timothy Leary - Lander, Devin R. (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013)

Cambrian Evolutionary Radiation: Context, Correlation, and Chronostratigraphy--Overcoming Deficiencies of the First Appearance Datum (FAD) Concept - E. Landing; G. Geyer; Brasier, M. D.; Bowring, S. A. (Earth-Science Reviews, 2013)
Use of the first appearance datum (FAD) of a fossil to define a global chronostratigraphic unit's base can lead to intractable correlation and stability problems. FADs are diachronous—they reflect species' evolutionary history, dispersal, biofacies, preservation, collection, and taxonomy. The Cambrian Evolutionary Radiation is characterised by diachronous FADs, biofacies controls, and provincialism of taxa and ecological communities that confound a stable Lower Cambrian chronostratigraphy. Cambrian series and stage definitions require greater attention to assemblage zone successions and non-biostratigraphic, particularly carbon isotope, correlation techniques such as those that define the Ediacaran System base. A redefined, basal Cambrian Trichophycus pedum Assemblage Zone lies above the highest Ediacaran-type biotas (vendobionts, putative metazoans, and calcareous problematica such as Cloudina) and the basal Asteridium tornatum–Comasphaeridium velvetum Zone (acritarchs). This definition and the likely close correspondence of evolutionary origin and local FAD of T. pedum preserves the Fortune Head, Newfoundland, GSSP of the Cambrian base and allows the presence of sub-Cambrian, branched ichnofossils. The sub-Tommotian-equivalent base of Stage 2 (a suggested “Laolinian Stage”) should be defined by the I′/L4/ZHUCE δ13C positive peak, bracketed by the lower ranges of Watsonella crosbyi and Aldanella attleborensis (molluscs) and the Skiagia ornata–Fimbrioglomerella membranacea Zone (acritarchs). The W. crosbyi and A. attleborensis FADs cannot define a Stage 2 base as they are diachronous even in the Newfoundland “type” W. crosbyi Zone. The Series 2 base cannot be based on a species' FAD owing to the provincialism of skeletalised metazoans in the Terreneuvian–Series 2 boundary interval and global heterochrony of the oldest trilobites. A Series 2 and Stage 3 (a suggested “Lenaldanian Series” and “Zhurinskyan Stage,” new) GSSP base is proposed at the Siberian lower Atdabanian δ13C IV peak—which correlates into South China, Avalonia, and Morocco and assigns the oldest trilobites to the terminal Terreneuvian Series.
Keywords: FAD concept; Global correlation; Laolinian Stage; Lenaldanian Series; Lower Cambrian; Zhurinskyan Stage

First Middle Ordovician Ostracods from Western Avalonia: Paleogeographical and Paleoenvironmental Significance - E. Landing; Mohibullah, M.; Williams, M. (Journal of Paleontology, 2013)
Two new species of ostracods, Conchoprimitia cassidula n. sp. and Sorornanopsis avalonensis n. gen. n. sp., represent the first described Middle Ordovician ostracods from western Avalonia. They were recovered as phosphatized carapaces dissolved out of a late early Darriwilian (ca. 467 Ma) limestone boulder from the Triassic Lepreau Formation of New Brunswick, Canada. The ostracods form a low-diversity component of a higher energy, near-shore, shelf marine fauna dominated by the trilobites Neseuretus and Stapleyella and by the conodonts Drepanoistodus and Baltoniodus. The low diversity of this Avalonian ostracod fauna contrasts with more diverse (tens of species), coeval ostracod faunas from Laurentia and Baltica. The association of Darriwilian ostracods and trilobites from New Brunswick demonstrates continuing exchange of open marine, cool water biota between Avalonia, Baltica, and West and North Gondwana that began in the late early Cambrian.
Keywords: geology paleontology

Reconstructing the Avalonia Palaeocontinent in the Cambrian: A 519 Ma Caliche in South Wales and Transcontinental Middle Terreneuvian Sandstones - E. Landing; Westrop, S. R.; Bowring, S. A. (Geology Magazine, 2013)
An Early Cambrian caliche on the St Non's Formation (emended) is the base of the Caerfai Bay Formation (unit-term changed) at Caerfai Bay, South Wales. Subaerial exposure and the caliche mean the two formations were not genetically related units. The St Non's is an older sand sheet (likely tidalitic, not delta-related) referred to Avalonian depositional sequence (ADS) 2, and the Caerfai Bay is a shallow mud basin unit referred to ADS 4A. The similar Random Formation (upper ADS 2) in North American Avalonia has a basal age of c. 528 Ma and is unconformably overlain by red mudstones or sandstones in fault-bounded basins on the Avalonian inner platform. Coeval British sandstones (lower Hartshill, Wrekin, St Non's, Brand Hills?) are unconformably overlain by latest Terreneuvian (ADS 3) or Epoch 2 (ADS 4A) units. Dates of 519 Ma on Caerfai Bay ashes give an upper bracket on the late appearance of Avalonian trilobites and suggest an ADS 2–4A hiatus of several million years. Post-St Non's and post-Random basin reorganization led to abundant Caerfai Bay Formation volcanic ashes and sparse Brigus Formation ashes in Newfoundland. The broad extent of erosional sequence boundaries that bracket lithologically similar to identical units emphasize that ‘east’ and ‘west’ Avalonia formed one palaeocontinent. The inner platform in southern Britain was larger than the Midlands craton, a tectonically defined later Palaeozoic area unrelated to terminal Ediacaran – Early Palaeozoic depositional belts. The cool-water successions of Early Palaeozoic Avalonia were distant from coeval West Gondwanan carbonate platforms.
Keywords: Avalonia; caliche; Early Cambrian; sequence stratigraphy; South Wales

Cultural Resources Monitoring Report for MDS 7 and 8, Town of Mohawk, Montgomery County, New York - M. Lenardi (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey for Route 29 over Fish Creek, Town of Saratoga, Saratoga County, New York - M. Lenardi (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Site Examination for Various Sites, Route 40 over the Hoosick River, Village of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, New York - M. Lenardi; R. Dean (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Documentation of Canal Boat, Herkimer County, New York - M. Lenardi (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Architectural Report for the Five Rivers Environmental Center, Delmar, New York - M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

HAER for Rosendale Culvert, Town of Rosendale, Ulster County, New York - M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Kosciusko Bridge Improvement Project, Village of Brooklyn and Queens, Kings and Queens County, New York - M.S. LoRusso; V. A. Schmitt (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Level I HAER Recordation for Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing, Westchester and Rockland Counties, New York - M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Six New Rare Minerals from New York - M. V. Lupulescu; Bailey, D. G.; M. Hawkins; Rowe, R. (Mineral News, 2013)
Keywords: geology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey for Unanticipated discovery during Construction, Town of Tyrone, Schuyler County, New York - A. Lynch; L. J. Xinakes (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 0759.54, Iron Pier Pond Site, Hamlet of Northville, Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York - D. E. Mazeau; B. R. Dale (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Taxonomy and distribution of Grimmia (Bryophyta) in mountain regions of the Northeastern United States - Miller, N. G.; Hastings, R. I. (The Bryologist, 2013)
Summarized are results of field studies of small, cushion-forming species of Grimmia in high altitude mountain areas of New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and of associated research with herbarium specimens from these regions. We here report eight species. Grimmia anodon is added to the flora of the Northeast, and new records and clarifications are presented for G. donniana, G. incurva, G. longirostris, G. milleri, G. sessitana, and G. trichophylla. Collections of these species came from rock types of varying composition (calcareous to acidic), sometimes different vegetation, and varying altitudinal ranges. In spite of these advancements in knowledge, Grimmia of the northeastern United States remains incompletely understood, taxonomically and ecologically.

Mode of Action of Pseudomonas fluorescens Strain CL145A, A Lethal Control Agent of Dreissenid Mussels (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) - D. P. Molloy; D. A. Mayer; L. Giamberini; Gaylo, M. J. (Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2013)
Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A (Pf-CL145A) has demonstrated promise as an efficacious and selective agent for the control of macrofouling Dreissena spp. mussels. Herein, we report trials to investigate the mode of action of this biocontrol agent against Dreissena polymorpha, the zebra mussel. Exposure to dead Pf-CL145A cells achieved the same temporal pattern and percentage mussel mortality as did live cells, thereby excluding infection as the possible lethal mode of action. Histological analysis revealed pathologies consistent with the cause of death being intoxicating natural products associated with Pf-CL145A cells. Irrespective of whether the mussels were exposed to live or dead Pf-CL145A cells, examination of tissues from histological sections revealed that: (1) at the end of the 24-h treatment period there was massive hemocyte infiltration into the lumina of both the digestive gland and stomach; and (2) mussel deaths occurred following lysis and necrosis of the digestive gland and sloughing of stomach epithelium. These trials provide strong evidence that the lethal mode of action of Pf-CL145A is intoxication.
Keywords: Biological control; Biopesticide; Dreissena polymorpha; Hemocyte infiltration; Pseudomonas fluorescens; Zebra mussel

Non-target Trials with Pseudomonas fluorescens Strain CL145A, A Lethal Control Agent of Dreissenid Mussels (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae). - D. P. Molloy; D. A. Mayer; Gaylo, M. J.; Burlakova, L. E.; Karatayev, A. Y.; Presti, K. T.; Sawyko, P. M.; Morse, J. T.; Paul, E. A. (Management of Biological Invasions, 2013)
In an effort to develop an efficacious and environmentally safe method for managing zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), we initiated a research project investigating the potential use of bacteria and their natural metabolic products as biocontrol agents. This project resulted in the discovery of an environmental isolate lethal to dreissenid mussels, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A (Pf-CL145A). In previous published reports we have demonstrated that: 1) Pf-CL145A’s mode of action is intoxication (not infection); 2) natural product within ingested bacterial cells lyse digestive tract epithelial cells leading to dreissenid death; and 3) high dreissenid kill rates (>90%) are achievable following treatment with Pf-CL145A cells, irrespective of whether the bacterial cells are dead or alive. Investigating the environmental safety of Pf-CL145A was also a key element in our research efforts, and herein, we report the results of non-target trials demonstrating Pf-CL145A’s high specificity to dreissenids. These acute toxicity trials were typically single-dose, short-term (24-72 h) exposures to Pf-CL145A cells under aerated conditions at concentrations highly lethal to dreissenids (100 or 200 mg/L). These trials produced no evidence of mortality among the ciliate Colpidium colpoda, the cladoceran Daphnia magna, three fish species (Pimephales promelas, Salmo trutta, and Lepomis macrochirus), and seven bivalve species (Mytilus edulis, Pyganodon grandis, Pyganodon cataracta, Lasmigona compressa, Strophitus undulatus, Lampsilis radiata, and Elliptio complanata). Low mortality (3-27%) was recorded in the amphipod Hyalella azteca, but additional trials suggested that most, if not all, of the mortality could be attributed to some other unidentified factor (e.g., possibly particle load or a water quality issue) rather than Pf-CL145A’s dreissenid-killing natural product. In terms of potential environmental safety, the results of these invertebrate and vertebrate non-target trials are encouraging, but it would be unrealistic to think that dreissenids are the only aquatic organisms sensitive to Pf-CL145A’s dreissenid-killing natural product. Additional testing is needed to better define Pf-CL145A’s margin of safety by identifying the sensitivity of other susceptible organisms. The results of these non-target safety trials – in combination with equally promising mussel control efficacy data – have now led to Pf-CL145A’s commercialization under the product name Zequanox®, with dead cells as the product’s active ingredient. The commercial availability of only dead-cell Zequanox formulations will eliminate the risk of any possible non-target infection by Pf-CL145A, further reducing environmental concerns. During the non-target project reported herein, the limited quantities of Pf-CL145A cells that we were able to culture severely restricted the number and size of our trials. In contrast, the availability of Zequanox will now greatly expand the opportunities for non-target testing. The trials reported herein – exposing non-target organisms under aerated conditions to unformulated, laboratory-cultured cells – clearly point to Pf-CL145A’s potential for high host specificity, but non-target trials with Zequanox – using Pf-CL145A cells cultured, killed, and formulated using industrial-scale protocols – will be even more important as they will define the non-target safety limits of the actual commercial products under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Keywords: biocontrol; Dreissena polymorpha; Dreissena rostriformis bugensis; quagga mussel; Zebra mussel; Zequanox®

Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A A Biopesticide for the Control of Zebra and Quagga Mussels (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) - D. P. Molloy; D. A. Mayer; Gaylo, M. J.; Burlakova, L. E.; Karatayev, A. Y.; Presti, K. T.; Sawyko, P. M.; Morse, J. T.; Paul, A. T. (Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2013)
Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) are the “poster children” of high-impact aquatic invasive species. In an effort to develop an effective and environmentally acceptable method to control their fouling of raw-water conduits, we have investigated the potential use of bacteria and their natural metabolic products as selective biological control agents. An outcome of this effort was the discovery of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A – an environmental isolate that kills these dreissenid mussels by intoxication (i.e., not infection). In the present paper, we use molecular methods to reconfirm that CL145A is a strain of the species P. fluorescens, and provide a phylogenetic analysis of the strain in relation to other Pseudomonas spp. We also provide evidence that the natural product lethal to dreissenids is associated with the cell wall of P. fluorescens CL145A, is a heat-labile secondary metabolite, and has degradable toxicity within 24 h when applied to water. CL145A appears to be an unusual strain of P. fluorescens since it was the only one among the ten strains tested to cause high mussel mortality. Pipe trials conducted under once-through conditions indicated: (1) P. fluorescens CL145A cells were efficacious against both zebra and quagga mussels, with high mortalities achieved against both species, and (2) as long as the total quantity of bacterial cells applied during the entire treatment period was the same, similar mussel mortality could be achieved in treatments lasting 1.5–12.0 h, with longer treatment durations achieving lower mortalities. The efficacy data presented herein, in combination with prior demonstration of its low risk of non-target impact, indicate that P. fluorescens CL145A cells have significant promise as an effective and environmentally safe control agent against these invasive mussels.
Keywords: Biological control; Biopesticide; quagga mussel; Zebra mussel; Zequanox®

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for Route 9 Sidewalk Repair, Loudonville, New York - Moragne, S.; Ferguson, J.; A. Gore; M.S. LoRusso; C. B. Rieth (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report of the Million Dollar Beach Site, Town of Lake George, New York - Moragne, S.; B. R. Dale; A. Gore (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

The Daily Lifes of Immigrants - Orser, C. E. (Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration, vol. 4, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

The Politics of Periodization - Orser, C. E. (Reclaiming Archaeology: Beyond the Tropes of Modernity, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

Review of The Materiality of Freedom: Archaeologies of Postemancipation Life, edited by Jodi A. Barnes - Orser, C. E. (Journal of Southern History, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

An Introduction to Archaeological Drafting using AutoCAD Map 3D - Pellerin, J.; H. Brown (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resouces Data Recovery Plan for the Rexford Aqueduct Site, Rexford, Schenectady County, New York - M. Pickands (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resource Background Screening Report for PIN 1043.34.101/BIN 1005510, U.S. Routes 9 and 20 over Amtrak and Route 9J, City of Rensselaer, Rensselaer County, New York - M. Pickands (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey for PIN 1043.34.101, Route 9 over Route 9J and Amtrak, BIN 1005520, City of Rensselaer, Rensselaer County, New York - M. Pickands; V. A. Schmitt (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Overview of Historic Signage along Veterans Memorial Highway, Essex County, New York - M. Pickands; T. Thomas; V. A. Schmitt (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Predicted Range Shifts in North American Boreal Forest Birds and the Effect of Climate Change on Genetic Diversity in Blackpoll Warblers (Setophaga striata) - Ralston, J.; J. J. Kirchman (Conservation Genetics, 2013)
Keywords: Boreal forest birds; climate change; Conservation genetics; Microsatellites; Setophaga striata; Species distribution models

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Report for I-690, Town of Geddes, Onondaga County, New York - C. B. Rieth (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for OGS-43387, Construct Emergency Generator Building, No. 982, Great Meadow Correctional Facility, Route 22, Comstock, New York - C. B. Rieth (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1941.23.101, Route 4 over the Champlain Canal, Village of Whitehall, Washington County, New York - C. B. Rieth; Sobik, C.; M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Late Prehistoric Ceramic Technology in New York - C. B. Rieth (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Review of The Lost Radeau: America's Oldest Intact Warship - C. B. Rieth (Anthropology Review Database, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

Small Site Archaeology in Eastern New York - C. B. Rieth (Current Research Online, 2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Space, Time and the Middle Woodland 'Jack's Reef Horizon' in New York - C. B. Rieth (Archaeology of Eastern North America, 2013)
The Jack's Reef site became in the late 1950s the type site for the middle to late Point Peninsula occupation of New York. Jack's Reef Corner-notched and Pentagonal points were identified by Ritchie as being diagnostic artifacts of the Jack's Reef horizon. However, few studies have focused on the spatial and temporal use of Jack's Reef points in New York. This paper examines this issue by looking at the distribution of Jack's Reef Corner-notched and Pentagonal points across the state. Current research suggests that these points appear on sites dating from the first to the tenth century A.D., although the greatest number of points date to the period A.D. 600 to 900. Spatially, these points appear with both earlier and later points scattered across the state, with the greatest number of points found in the eastern and central parts of the state. Although Jack's Reef points are considered index artifacts of the Middle Woodland period, these points are not found on all sites. While several researchers have suggested that these points have their origin in the Intrusive Mound Culture of Ohio, sites in western New York show smaller numbers of these points than expected. If Jack's Reef points were related to the Intrusive Mound Culture of Ohio, we should expect to find these points to be prominent on sites in western New York and common on early sites prior to the disappearance of the Intrusive Mound Culture around A.D. 400. Instead, the later dates of use and prominence in central and eastern New York argue for a different point of origin.
Keywords: Archaeology; Jack's Reef; Middle Woodland; New York; northeastern North America

What Happens in the Lab? - C. B. Rieth (Dig! The Children's Magazine of Archaeology, 2013)
Keywords: anthropology

Bryophyte diversity on Adirondack alpine summits is maintained by dissemination and establishment of vegetative fragments and spores - Robinson, S. C.; N. G., Miller (The Bryologist, 2013)
Many alpine bryophytes rely primarily if not exclusively on gametophytic fragments for reproduction. The dispersal role of these fragments, however, has not been adequately addressed. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which fragments disperse on alpine summits and the reproductive viability of those fragments. Airborne diaspores were collected from early spring snow deposits in 2008, 2009, and 2010 from the summit of Mt. Marcy, and from summer propagule traps placed on the summits of Mt. Marcy and Algonquin Peak in 2009 and 2010. All fragments collected were identified to genus and/or species, when possible. To test for reproductive viability, fragments were grown in nutrient agar under ambient conditions for a period of 17 weeks. To detect the presence of spores, collected debris was surface sterilized and cultured on separate dishes containing nutrient agar. A total of 6130 gametophytic fragments, representing 26 species, were collected. Collections were dominated by individual leaves (65%) and leafy branch fragments (32%). Up to 20% of fragments collected were found to be viable, with the majority of growth originating from stem tissue. In contrast, spore production was found to be uncommon to rare. The results of this study provide evidence that Adirondack alpine bryophyte populations are maintained by the production and dissemination of gametophore fragments during both winter and summer months, with infrequent spore production events, perhaps episodically when weather conditions are most suitable. Data also suggest that vegetative propagules may travel longer distances on these summits than originally predicted.

Cultural Resources Survey for Route 370, Onondaga Lake Parkway, Village of Liverpool, Town of Salina, Onondaga County, New York - J. Ross (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Exposer les vestiges: du sacre a lhistorique - Schaming, M. A. (Memoire et Memorialisation Volume 1, 2013)
Keywords: history

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 7034.09.101, NY 345 and CR 35, Town of Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York - V. A. Schmitt (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

A Cytogeographic Survey of the Spiranthes romanzoffiana Cham. Complex and Its Taxonomic Implications - C. J. Sheviak (The Native Orchid Conference Journal, 2013)
Keywords: biology

Developmentally Variable Lip Color in Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb.: More than a Form? - C. J. Sheviak (The Native Orchid Conference Journal, 2013)
Keywords: biology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey for PIN 1043.44.101, Route 9 over the Schroon River, BIN 1005820, Town of North Hudson, Essex County, New York - Sobik, C.; M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Survey of Route 86/the West Branch of the Ausable River, Essex County, New York - Sobik, C.; M.S. LoRusso (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Daniel and Floyd Hungerford: Rocket Power, Interstellar Travel and Eternal Life - G. Stein (New York State Museum Record, 2013)
Keywords: history

Chronometric Hygiene of Radiocarbon Databases for Early Durable Cooking Vessel Technologies in Northeastern North America - Taché, K.; J. P. Hart (American Antiquity, 2013)
The earliest widespread pottery in northeastern North America is known as Vinette 1, a designation made by Ritchie and MacNeish (1949) over 60 years ago. While variation exists within this type (Taché 2005), external and internal cordmarked surfaces, thick walls, and large crushed-rock temper generally characterize this pottery. The history of this pottery, including its inception, geographical spread, temporal overlap with steatite vessels, and eventual replacement by other pottery technologies, is far from clear. In this article, we examine the existing database of radiocarbon assays associated with Vinette 1 pottery and steatite vessels, perform a chronometric hygiene of those age estimates, and introduce 21 new AMS assays on charred cooking residues adhering to Vinette 1 sherd interiors. The results suggest a much more temporally restricted history for Vinette 1 pottery technology and a long period of coexistence with steatite vessels. However, the small number of reliable age estimates available for both technologies prevents a detailed assessment of their respective histories.
Keywords: chronology building; early pottery; northeastern North America; radiocarbon dating

Historic Overview of Veterans Memorial Highway, Town of Wilmington, Essex County, New York - T. Thomas; M. Pickands; V. A. Schmitt; Williams, J. (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Screening Survey for PIN 3501.56.121, Little York Creek, Town of Homer, Cortland County, New York - T. Thomas (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Life Mode of In Situ Conularia in a Middle Devonian Epibole - van Iten, H.; V. P. Tollerton Jr.; C. A. Ver Straeten; Leme, J. DM; Simos, M. G.; Rodrigues, S. C. (Palaeontology, 2013)
Abstract:  Exceptionally abundant specimens of Conularia aff. desiderata Hall occur in multiple marine obrution deposits, in a single sixth-order parasequence composed of argillaceous and silty very fine sandstone, in the Otsego Member of the Mount Marion Formation (Middle Devonian, Givetian) in eastern New York State, USA. Associated fossils consist mostly of rhynchonelliform brachiopods but also include bivalve molluscs, orthoconic nautiloids, linguliform brachiopods and gastropods. Many of the brachiopods, bivalve molluscs and conulariids have been buried in situ. Conulariids buried in situ are oriented with their aperture facing obliquely upward and with their long axis inclined at up to 87 degree to bedding. Most specimens are solitary, but some occur in V-like pairs or in radial clusters consisting of three specimens, with the component specimens being about equally long or (less frequently) substantially different in length. The compacted apical end of Conularia buried in situ generally rests upon argillaceous sandstone. With one possible exception, none of the examined specimens terminates in a schott (apical wall), and internal schotts appear to be absent. The apical ends of specimens in V-like pairs and radial clusters show no direct evidence of interconnection of their periderms. The apical, middle or apertural region of some inclined specimens abuts or is in close lateral proximity to a recumbent conulariid or to one or more spiriferid brachiopods, some of which have been buried in their original life orientation. The azimuthal bearings of Conularia and nautiloid long axes and the directions in which conulariids open are nonrandom, with conulariids being preferentially aligned between 350 and 50 degree and with their apertural end facing north-east, and nautiloids being preferentially aligned between 30 and 70 degree. Otsego Member Conularia were erect or semi-erect, epifaunal or partially infaunal animals, the apical end of which rested upon very fine bottom sediment. The origin of V-like pairs and radial clusters remains enigmatic, but it is probable that production of schotts was not a regular feature of this animal’s life history. Finally, conulariids and associated fauna were occasionally smothered by distal storm deposits, under the influence of relatively weak bottom currents.
Keywords: conulariids; ecological epibole; life mode; Middle Devonian; Mount Marion Formation; obrution deposits

Bedrock Geology of the Altamont Quadrangle, Albany and Schenectady Counties, New York - C. A. Ver Straeten; Stander, E.; Engel, T. D. (Map & Chart Series 62, 2013)
Keywords: geology

Beneath It All: Bedrock Geology of the Catskill Mountains and Implications of its Weathering - C. A. Ver Straeten (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2013)
The Devonian-age bedrock of the Catskill Mountains has been the focus of many studies. This paper reviews the character and composition of the rocks of the Catskills, and examines weathering (rock decay) processes and their implications in the Catskills. Rocks of the Catskills and closest foothills consist of siliciclastic rocks (sandstones, mudrocks, conglomerates) with minimal, locally dispersed carbonate rocks. The former are dominated by quartz, metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments, and clay minerals. Other minor sediment components include cements, authigenic and heavy minerals, and fossil organic matter. Physical, chemical, and biological weathering of the Catskill bedrock since uplift of the Appalachian region, combined with glaciation, have dissected a plateau of nearly horizontally layered rocks into a series of ridges, valleys, and peaks. The varied weathering processes, in conjunction with many factors (natural and anthropogenic), fragment the rocks, forming sediment and releasing various elements and compounds. These may have positive, neutral, or negative implications for the region's soils, waters, ecology, and human usage. A new generation of studies and analyses of the Catskill bedrock is needed to help answer a broad set of questions and problems across various fields of interest.
Keywords: Catskill Mountains; geology; New York; weathering

Cultural Resources Screening Survey for Large Culvert Replacement and Rehabilitation, NY Route 98, Town of Great Valley, Franklinville, Cattaraugus County, New York - L. J. Xinakes (2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Screening Survey for Large Culvert Replacement and Rehabilitation, NY Route 98, Town of Great Valley, Franklinville, Cattaraugus County, New York - L. J. Xinakes (New York State Department of Transportation, 2013)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Kimberlitic Rocks of New York: The Dewitt 'Kimberlite' - Bailey, D.; M. V. Lupulescu (Field Trip Guidbook for the 84th Annual Meeting of the New York State Geological Association, 2012)
Keywords: geology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 8393.24.121, Route 376, Town of East Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York - H. Brown (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Spatial, Seasonal, and Diel Distribution Patterns of Hemimysis anomala in New York State's Finger Lakes - Brown, M. E.; R. S. Morse; O'Neill, K. (Journal of Great Lakes Research, 2012)
With this contribution, we report on the continued and rapid spread of Hemimysis anomala (Crustacea, Mysidae) to inland waters of New York State within the Laurentian Great Lakes watershed. In the spring and summer of 2010, we detected Hemimysis at multiple locations in Seneca Lake, spanning the lake's 61 km length, and in the Seneca-Cayuga Canal, 7 km downstream of the canal's source at Seneca Lake. We did not detect Hemimysis in any of the other ten Finger Lakes. The pattern of range expansion suggests jump dispersal to Seneca Lake, followed by passive dispersal in the Seneca-Cayuga Canal. This range expansion highlights the potential of this emerging invader to spread throughout the New York State Canal system that links the Great Lakes with the Hudson River watershed and a number of large inland lakes via the Erie Canal and its tributaries. During our nighttime sampling campaign on Seneca Lake, densities of Hemimysis exceeding 2500 ind./m3 were associated with littoral rocky structures, docks, and piers. At a reference site near the source of the Seneca-Cayuga Canal, we observed demographic shifts from an adult-dominated population in early spring to a juvenile-dominated population from late-spring to autumn. We also observed strong nocturnal behavior for all stages, with juveniles rising earlier than adults in the evening and remaining higher in the water column near dawn. These demographic and behavioral characteristics, combined with the extensive hydrogeographic network in the Great Lakes, contribute to the species rapid range expansion and the mechanism of its spread.
Keywords: Dispersal; Finger Lakes; Hemimysis anomala; Invasive species; Vertical migration

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 8327.38.101, Route 9D from Nelson Lane to Philip's Church Driveway, Village of Garrison, Town of Phillipstown, Putnam County, New York - Carioto, J.; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Road-cut Mineral Occurrences of St. Lawrence County, New York. Part 5: The Prehnite Occurrence on the Russell-Hermon Road - S. C. Chamberlain; Walter, M.; M. V. Lupulescu (Rocks & Minerals, 2012)
Keywords: geology

Higher-level Phylogeny of the Insect Order Hemiptera: Is Auchenorrhyncha Really Paraphyletic? - J. R. Cryan; J. M. Urban (Systematic Entomology, 2012)
The higher-level phylogeny of the order Hemiptera remains a contentious topic in insect systematics. The controversy is chiefly centered on the unresolved question of whether or not the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha (including the extant superfamilies Fulgoroidea, Membracoidea, Cicadoidea and Cercopoidea) is a monophyletic lineage. Presented here are the results of a multilocus molecular phylogenetic investigation of relationships among the major hemipteran lineages, designed specifically to address the question of Auchenorrhyncha monophyly in the context of broad taxonomic sampling across Hemiptera. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) were based on DNA nucleotide sequence data from seven gene regions (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, histone H3, histone 2A, wingless, cytochrome c oxidase I and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4) generated from 86 in-group exemplars representing all major lineages of Hemiptera (plus seven out-group taxa). All combined analyses of these data recover the monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha, and also support the monophyly of each of the following lineages: Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Heteropterodea, Heteroptera, Fulgoroidea, Cicadomorpha, Membracoidea, Cercopoidea and Cicadoidea. Also presented is a review of the major lines of morphological and molecular evidence for and against the monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha.
Keywords: Auchenorrhyncha; Hemiptera; Phylogenetics

Cultural Resources Archaeological Monitoring Report for Slope Failure Repair, Crown Point Historic Site, Town of Crown Point, Essex County, New York - B. R. Dale; A. Gore (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Data Recovery Memorandum for the N.A. White Pottery Site (NYSM # 12151), PIN 2134.41.414, City of Utica, Oneida County, New York - B. R. Dale (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report for PIN 0754.54, the J.E. Weir Site, Village of Jamesport, and the Pier Ave. South Site, Hamlet of Northville, Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York - B. R. Dale; D. E. Mazeau (New York State Museum, 2012)

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report of the J. G. Byars Site (NYSM# 11370), NY Route 22 over the Walloomsac River, Town of North Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York - N. L. Davis (New York State Museum Cultural Resource Survey Program Series, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology Cultural Resources

European Trade Goods at the Ripley Site: Implications for Interaction Networks and Chronology - P. B. Drooker (Northeast Anthropology, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 7004.06.121, Route 37B, Town of Massena, St. Lawrence County, New York - Dubuque, J.; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA - R. S. Feranec; A. L. Kozlowski (Radiocarbon, 2012)
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) about 25,000 yr ago, the area of what is now New York State (USA) was almost entirely covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS; Dyke et al. 2002). Subsequent habitation of this area after the melting of the LIS necessitates dispersal of fauna, and the timing of the dispersal of particular species may aid in the understanding of how the modern ecosystems of New York were assembled. Mastodons and mammoths represent the most abundant post-LGM Pleistocene megafauna recovered in New York. However, many of the specimens have not been dated. This paper presents a set of dates from bone and tooth dentine collagen of late Pleistocene mastodon (n = 7) and mammoth (n = 3) specimens housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA.
Keywords: Mammal; Megafauna; New York; Pleistocene; Rariocarbon dating

Exploring Till Bed Kinematics Using AMS Magnetic Fabrics and Pebble Fabrics: The Weedsport Drumlin Field, New York State, USA - Gentoso, M. J.; Evenson, E. B.; Kodama, K. P.; Iverson, N. R.; Alley, R. B.; Berti , C.; A. L. Kozlowski (Boreas, 2012)
Thick, relatively homogeneous basal tills exposed in the drumlins and flutes of the Weedsport drumlin and flute field in New York State exhibit anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and pebble fabrics that are consistently oriented parallel to the streamlined bedforms. The pebble fabrics and AMS fabrics are concordant. In this study, six drumlins and five flutes were sampled. Thermally induced, incremental reduction of isothermal remanent magnetization indicates that AMS is caused by primarily elongate maghaemite grains. The orientations of principal axes of maximum susceptibility (k1) are generally parallel to pebble long-axis orientations, and tend to plunge mildly up-glacier. Fabric directions are generally parallel to drumlin long-axis orientations, but deviate by 12°–23° from flute directions. Fabrics of the flutes are stronger and more unidirectional than those of the drumlins. These results support the use of AMS as a fast and objective method for characterizing fabrics in tills, and suggest hypotheses about basal processes linked to glacially streamlined landforms.
Keywords: Basal tills; Drumlins; glacial geology; Magnetic susceptibility; New York; till fabrics

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 7080.09.121, Route 970, Brownville, Jefferson County, New York - A. Gore (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

The Effects of Geographical Distances on Pottery Assemblage Similarities: A Case Study from Northern Iroquoia - J. P. Hart (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2012)
A basic premise of archaeology is that the more frequently two human populations interacted with one another the more similar was their material culture. A corollary of this is that the closer two human populations are to one another geographically, the more frequently they will interact. This corollary has been expressed in the archaeological study of northern Iroquoia since the 1950s on the basis of historical ethnic territories. The expectation has been that after ca. A.D. 1000 to 1300 there was more interaction between village populations within these historical territories than between village populations located in different historical territories. Here I test this corollary with pottery decoration data from 114 northern Iroquoian village sites dating from c. A.D. 1350 to 1640. Results indicate that geographic distance has little effect on pottery assemblage similarity.
Keywords: Northern Iroquoian; pottery decoration; Regression analysis; Social network analysis

Northern Iroquoian Ethnic Evolution: A Social Network Analysis - J. P. Hart; Engelbrecht, W. (Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2012)
Ethnicity is one kind of social relationship that archaeologists explore. The evolution of the northern Iroquoian ethnic landscape in New York, southern Ontario, and the St. Lawrence Valley has been of long-standing interest to archaeologists. Since MacNeish’s (1952) pottery typology study, the predominant model for this evolution has been cladistic. Collar decoration served as a means of signaling attributes of the potter and pottery users that mirrored other more visible signals. We use social network analysis to determine whether pottery collar decoration data best fit MacNiesh’s cladistic or an alternative rhizotic model. The results better fit the rhizotic model.
Keywords: Ethnogenesis; Northern Iroquoian ethnicity; Signaling theory; Social network analysis

The Potential of Bulk d13C on Encrusted Cooking Residues as Independent Evidence for Regional Maize Histories - J. P. Hart; Lovis, W. A.; Jeske, R. J.; Richards, J. D. (American Antiquity, 2012)
The histories of maize utilization in eastern North America have been substantially revised recently, primarily because of the analysis of charred cooking residues encrusted on pottery. A multifaceted research strategy of bulk δ13C assays coupled with accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon data and microbotanical evidence can yield coherent regional maize use histories. Bulk δ13C assay interpretation complications include (1) variations among vessels by site, (2) a potential for false negatives, and (3) a wide range of variation potentially present for any given time period. Regional histories using this approach can be quite variable without appropriate use of multiple lines of evidence.
Keywords: cooking residue analysis; crop history; maize; stable isotope analysis; Zea mays ssp. mays

Pottery Wall Thinning as a Consequence of Increased Maize Processing: A Case Study from Central New York - J. P. Hart (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2012)
The histories of maize in northeastern North America are not well understood at the subregional level. The complexity of formation processes for various lines of evidence for maize use requires the application of many analytical methods and techniques to produce data on subregional maize histories. The present analysis uses bulk δ13C values on directly dated charred encrusted cooking residues to provide the first direct correlation of water-based maize cooking to trends in pottery wall thinning. The results add to the growing body of evidence for the history of maize use in central New York.
Keywords: Bulk δ13C; Charred cooking residues; maize; Maize cooking; Pottery wall thickness; Zea mays ssp. mays

Why We Are What and Where We Are - J. P. Hart (Science, 2012)
Keywords: Homo sapiens; Human biogeography; Human dispersals; Human evolution

Cultural Resource Monitoring Report for PIN 2650.33.321, Route 10 at Erie Boulevard, Village of Canajoharie, Montgomery County, New York - S. Higgins; Moragne, S.; H. Brown (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Report for Route 9N, Village of Lake George, Warren County, New York - S. Higgins; M.S. LoRusso (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey of the Bronx River Parkway, Bronx Borough, New York - S. Higgins (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Quantifying Seed Dispersal Kernels from Truncated Seed-tracking Data - Hirsch, B. T.; Visser, M. D.; R. W. Kays; Jansen, P. A. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2012)
1. Seed dispersal is a key biological process that remains poorly documented because dispersing seeds are notoriously hard to track. While long-distance dispersal is thought to be particularly important, seed-tracking studies typically yield incomplete data sets that are biased against long-distance movements. 2. We evaluate an analytical procedure developed by Jansen, Bongers & Hemerik (2004) to infer the tail of a seed dispersal kernel from incomplete frequency distributions of dispersal distances obtained by tracking seeds. This ‘censored tail reconstruction’ (CTR) method treats dispersal distances as waiting times in a survival analysis and censors nonretrieved seeds according to how far they can reliably be tracked. We tested whether CTR can provide unbiased estimates of long-distance movements which typically cannot be tracked with traditional field methods. 3. We used a complete frequency distribution of primary seed dispersal distances of the palm Astrocaryum standleyanum, obtained with telemetric thread tags that allow tracking seeds regardless of the distance moved. We truncated and resampled the data set at various distances, fitted kernel functions on CTR estimates of dispersal distance and determined how well this function approximated the true dispersal kernel. 4.  Censored tail reconstruction with truncated data approximated the true dispersal kernel remarkably well but only when the best-fitting function (lognormal) was used. We were able to select the correct function and derive an accurate estimate of the seed dispersal kernel even after censoring 50–60% of the dispersal events. However, CTR results were substantially biased if 5% or more of seeds within the search radius were overlooked by field observers and erroneously censored. Similar results were obtained using additional simulated dispersal kernels. 5.  Our study suggests that the CTR method can accurately estimate the dispersal kernel from truncated seed-tracking data if the kernel is a simple decay function. This method will improve our understanding of the spatial patterns of seed movement and should replace the usual practice of omitting nonretrieved seeds from analyses in seed-tracking studies.
Keywords: Censored tail reconstruction; Kernel; Long-distance dispersal; Seed dispersal; Seed tracking; Thread tag

Glacial landsystems and dynamics of the Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, Michigan, USA - A. E. Kehew; Esch, J. M.; A. L. Kozlowski; Ewald, S. E. (Quaternary International, 2012)
The surficial terrain of the Saginaw Lobe in southern Michigan is divided into 4 landsystems, numbered sequentially from southwest to northeast, containing related assemblages of sediments and landforms, two of which appear to have a genetic relationship with the bedrock units over which they lie. Landsystem 1 consists of the Sturgis Moraine, a terminal/recessional moraine, and an adjacent drumlin field. The moraine is a high-relief ridge with hummocky topography and ice-walled lake plains at its crest, and thick, coarse outwash fans on its distal margin. The drumlin field extends up-glacier from the Sturgis Moraine across the subcrop of the Mississippian Coldwater Shale to the subcrop of the overlying Marshall Sandstone. The low permeability of the shale may have increased basal pore pressures into a range in which deformation of basal sediment into drumlins occurred. Landsystem 2 overlies the subcrop of the Marshall Sandstone. Stagnation of the lobe behind a discontinuous moraine in this area is indicated by high relief, collapse topography, composed of kames, eskers, and ice-walled lake plains. A system of tunnel valleys terminates and merges in this landsystem with large outwash fans and plains sloping away from the margin. High basal drainage into the sandstone may have facilitated stagnation across a broad area to form this landsystem. Landsystem 3 may have also developed during stagnation of the lobe, but it differs from landsystem 2 by its more subdued relief. It contains a network of evenly spaced, southwest-trending open tunnel valleys that contain discontinuous esker segments. Landsystem 4 consists of till plains and low recessional moraines formed as the Saginaw Lobe retreated downslope into Saginaw Bay of the Lake Huron Basin. Tunnel valleys are absent in this area.
Keywords: glacial geology

Focus on Nature XII: Natural History Illustration Exhibition - Kernan, P.; Naczi, R. (The New York State Education Department, 2012)
Keywords: biology

Phylogenetic Relationships of the Extinct Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) Inferred From DNA Sequence Data - J. J. Kirchman; Schirtzinger, E. E.; Wright, T. F. (The Auk, 2012)
Abstract We obtained the first DNA sequences from the extinct Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) and used these data to infer the phylogenetic relationships of this iconic North American parrot. We compared our sequences of the mitochondrial COI and ND2 genes obtained from multiple Carolina Parakeet museum specimens to homologous sequences from individuals representing 43 species in 28 genera of Neotropical parrots (Tribe Arini), and four species from more distantly related Old World species of the Order Psittaciformes. Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses place C. carolinensis on a long branch within a well-supported clade of parakeets that also includes Aratinga solstitialis, A. auricapillus, and Nandayus nenday. These species of Aratinga (but not N. nenday) closely resemble C. carolinensis in the presence of yellow and orange head plumage and blue feathers in the wings. Our data do not support a close relationship with the Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), with which the Carolina Parakeet shares fully feathered ceres, a putative adaptation for cold tolerance that appears to have evolved independently in both species. Given the high level of sequence divergence from all sampled species, we recommend continued recognition of the monotypic genus Conuropsis. Taxonomic revision of the highly polyphyletic genus Aratinga is needed.
Keywords: Arini; Carolina Parakeet; Conuropsis carolinensis; extinct species; historic DNA; Phylogenetics; systematics

Speciation of Flightless Rails on Islands: A Dna-Based Phylogeny of the Typical Rails of the Pacific - J. J. Kirchman (The Auk, 2012)
The living and extinct flightless rails of the Pacific are among the most species-rich examples of parallel evolution in vertebrates. The “typical” rails of this region comprise a diverse assemblage of long-billed species variously placed in the genera Rallus, Lewinia, Nesoclopeus, Gallirallus, Habropteryx, Tricholimnas, Aramidopsis, Amaurornis, Eulabeornis, and Habroptila. I present a phylogenetic hypothesis for this group based on Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of 12S, control region, and cytochrome-b data obtained from museum specimens (frozen tissues, toe pads from study skins, and bones from archaeological sites) of living and extinct species. All previously recognized genera are either monotypic or non-monophyletic, and I advocate lumping nearly all species into a broadly defined Gallirallus sensu lato. Volant species are not paraphyletic with respect to nearly all flightless species. Instead flightless species branch off in rapid succession from lineages leading to extant volant species. The nesting of the flightless species G. pendiculentus with G. philippensis suggests that the flightless condition may evolve prior to reproductive isolation. A locally calibrated relaxed molecular clock indicates that species from Oceania evolved only within the last 400,000 years, supporting the hypothesis that speciation proceeds rapidly in flightless rails. These results help resolve a long-standing taxonomic quagmire and have important implications for Pacific biogeography and the tempo and mode of speciation in island birds.
Keywords: Flightless birds; Gallirallus; Oceania; Parallel evolution; Rallidae; Speciation

League for Spiritual Discovery - Lander, D. R. (Virginia Commonwealth University’s World Religions & Spirituality Project, 2012)

Cephalopod Ancestry and Ecology of the Hyolith 'Allatheca' degeeri s.l. in the Cambrian Evolutionary Radiation - E. Landing; Kroger, B. (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2012)
Pyritized, elongate, conical conchs of “Allatheca” degeeri s.l. are common in dysoxic, dark gray mudstone intervals in the Early Cambrian (upper Terreneuvian–Series 2 boundary interval) Cuslett Formation at Keels, eastern Newfoundland. Wave-oriented, horizontal specimens are most abundant in this cool-water, high latitude, off-shore shelf facies of the Early Palaeozoic Avalon microcontinent. Based on conch morphology, shell microstructure, and the operculum, the species is an orthothecid hyolith. Comparison with the sizes of the early shells of planktic gastropods indicates a non-planktic life mode of “A.” degeeri s.l. hatchlings, although buoyancy calculations show that small juveniles with septate conchs to ca. 17 mm long could have been nektic/planktic. If smaller “A.” degeeri s.l. individuals had a non-benthic mode of life, they and pseudoconodonts were the oldest skeletalized pelagic/nektic animals in the Cambrian Evolutionary Radiation. Most “A.” degeeri s.l. conchs at Keels are horizontally embedded and show a bimodal, wave-determined orientation, but about 10% of the large conchs are vertically embedded with their aperture down. As larger shells were not neutrally buoyant, the vertical orientations of about 10% of the conchs suggests an infaunal, likely detritivore, life mode suggestive of a scaphopod. Available morphologic and taphonomic evidence suggests that the vertically embedded conchs are in situ remains of dead benthic animals that colonized the bottom in better oxygenated intervals. Based on the current knowledge of Early Palaeozoic hyolith and cephalopod larval and adult morphologies, existing hypotheses of a planktic origin of cephalopods from hyolith ancestors are evaluated, and no evidence for such an evolutionary relationship is concluded to exist.
Keywords: Autecology; Avalon; Cambrian; Cephalopoda; Cuslett Formation; Evolution; Newfoundland; Orthothecids

Correction: Proposal of the Four Global Series of the Cambrian - E. Landing (Bulletin of Geosciences, 2012)
Keywords: geology

Extended Abstract--The Great American Carbonate Bank in Eastern Laurentia: Its Births, Deaths, and Linkage to Paleooceanic Oxygenation (Early Cambrian) - E. Landing (The Great American Carbonate Bank: The Geology and Economic Resources of the Cambrian, 2012)
Keywords: geology

First Discovery of Early Palaeozoic Bathysiphon (Foraminifera) - Test Structure and Habitat of a 'Living Fossil' - E. Landing; Reyes, S. P.; Andreas, A. L.; Bowser, S. S. (Geological Magazine, 2012)
Keywords: Avalon; Bathysiphon; Cape Breton Island; Foraminifera; Lower Ordovician; Nova Scotia; stercomata; Tremadocian

The Great American Carbonate Bank in Eastern Laurentia: Its Births, Deaths, and Linkage to Paleooceanic Oxygenation (Early Cambrian - E. Landing (The Great American Carbonate Bank: The Geology and Economic Resources of the Cambrian, 2012)
The Cambrian–Ordovician carbonate platform units on the New York promontory of eastern Laurentia reflect the south tropical location of the area. The slow subsidence of the region through much of the Cambrian–Ordovician meant that strong eustatic rises and falls defined unconformity-bound carbonate formations. These depositional sequences aid in paleooceanographic reconstruction as they correlate with organic-rich dysoxic–anoxic mudstones on the Laurentian continental slope. Eustatic rise increased insolation as epeiric seas covered the platform and produced climate maximums with reduced deep-water circulation. The oldest carbonate platform unit (Forestdale Marble and equivalents, upper Lower Cambrian) overlies rift facies deposited with the Rodinia breakup and origin of the Iapetus Ocean and marks the transition to a passive margin. Drowning of the Forestdale platform occurred, and the overlying anoxic black mudstone (Moosalamoo Phyllite) abruptly shoals up into tidalite sandstone (Cheshire Formation). This depositional history records a decreased rate of sea level rise as the Cheshire Formation continued to onlap middle Proterozoic basement. Super-Cheshire Cambrian carbonate platform units in the northern Appalachian are mostly hydrothermally dolomitized, record eustatic highs (Dunham, Winooski, and Little Falls Formations), and correlate with black mudstone macroscale units on the slope (Browns Pond and Hatch Hill dysoxic–anoxic intervals). The latest Early Cambrian Hawke Bay regression ended carbonate platform deposition of the Dunham Formation, led to quartz arenite or red shaly dolostone offlap or shoaling deposits on the platform, and was coeval with oxic green mudstone on the continental slope (Hawke Bay oxic interval in Taconian allochthons). Subsequent Middle Cambrian eustatic rise is recorded by dolostone (Winooski and upper Stissing), but carbonate deposition was again suppressed as quartz sand swept toward the shelf margin (Danby Formation) coincident with cratonic transgression by the upper Potsdam Formation (uppermost Middle Cambrian–lower Upper Cambrian). Post-Potsdam deposition was carbonate dominated through the middle Late Ordovician and included the Beekmantown, Chazy, Black River, and Trenton Groups. The Cambrian-Ordovician boundary is an unconformity between platform carbonates (Little Falls and Tribes Hill Formations of the Beekmantown Group). The Lower Ordovician–lower Upper Ordovician is a series of unconformity-bound platform depositional sequences (Tribes Hill, Rochdale, Fort Cassin, and Providence Island Formations of the upper Sauk megasequence and Chazy Group of the lower Tippecanoe megasequence). The Ordovician depositional sequences coincide with eustatic highs and show a repeated depositional motif (lower transgressive sandstone, upper highstand carbonate). The Ordovician eustatic highs also correlate with thin (as much as 10 m [33 ft] thick) macroscale dysoxic–anoxic black mudstones on the slope. The black mudstones alternate with oxic greenish mudstones, locally with debris flows with giant carbonate blocks on the upper slope (Levis conglomerates), which indicate platform-margin caving during eustatic falls. Ordovician green mudstones are composed of mesoscale redox-carbonate mudstone cycles (Logan cycles) on the upper slope. A major development was the abrupt formation of the latest Early Cambrian–Early Ordovician Franklin Basin in northwestern Vermont. The dysoxic–anoxic Franklin Basin resulted from fault-driven foundering of part of the carbonate platform that overlay the failed arm of the Ediacaran triple junction. This faulting is coeval with the oldest (late Early Cambrian) onlap in the Ottawa-Bonnechere aulocogen. Late Ordovician collision with the Ammonusuc arc ended carbonate platform deposition in the New York promontory region, as sands and muds eroded from the Taconic orogen filled a fore-arc basin and extinguished carbonate deposition across eastern Laurentia.
Keywords: Cambrian–Ordovician; carbonate platform; eastern Laurentia; New York Promontory

Time-specific Black Mudstones and Global Hyperwarming on the Cambrian-Ordovician Slope and Shelf of the Laurentia Palaeocontinent - E. Landing (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2012)
The Early Paleozoic featured nine intervals of strong expansion of an upper slope, dysoxic/anoxic (d/a) water mass with eustatic rise or epeirogenic transgression. Strong expansion of this d/a water mass led to deposition of time-specific, macroscale alternations of dark grey-black mudstone within oxic, green to red mudstone on the middle–lower slope. This d/a facies even onlapped warm- (carbonate) and cool-water (siliciclastic) shelves. As in the Mesozoic, d/a muds were deposited in shallow water, perhaps tens of metres deep, with sea-level rise. These nine d/a macroscale alternations correspond to intervals of “global hyperwarming”—times of very intense greenhouse conditions that resulted from a feedback initiated by higher insolation and heat storage as shallow seas onlap tropical palaeocontinents. Warm epeiric seas heated the ocean, and thermal expansion accelerated eustatic rise. Ever more extensive epeiric seas heightened oceanic and global temperature as heat storage capacity increased. Deep ocean circulation intensity fell below that of a greenhouse interval and lead to d/a deposition low on the slope and on the platforms to provide the signature of global hyperwarming. Global hyperwarming differs from a hothouse interval as it does not require CO2 input from large igneous provinces to produce high temperatures and never shows deep-sea anoxia. Late Ordovician and Late Devonian black mudstones that cover much of Laurentia record epeirogenic transgressions that led to global hyperwarming, and suggest that cold water upwelling or plant terrestrialisation had nothing to do with epeiric sea anoxia. Global hyperwarming reduced oxygen solubility in these seas, and erosion of orogens produced muddy water that limited light penetration and promoted shallow-water anoxia. The global hyperwarming hypothesis means that relative eustatic and epeirogenic sea levels complement the effect of global pCO2 on climate, and sea level must also be regarded as a primary driver of Phanerozoic climate.
Keywords: Black shale; Cambrian; Global hyperwarming; Ocean oxygenation; Ordovician

Tribes Hill-Rochdale Formations in East Laurentia: Proxies for Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) Eustasy on a Tropical Passive Margin (New York and West Vermont) - E. Landing; Adrian, J. M.; Westrop, S. R.; Kroger, B. (Geological Magazine, 2012)
Slow subsidence and tectonic quiescence along the New York Promontory margin of Laurentia mean that the carbonate-dominated Tribes Hill and overlying Rochdale formations serve as proxies for the magnitude and timing of Tremadocian eustatic changes. Both formations are unconformity-bound, deepening–shoaling, depositional sequences that double in thickness from the craton into the parautochthonous, western Appalachian Mountains. A consistent, ‘layer cake’ succession of member-level units of the formations persists through this region. The Tribes Hill Formation (late early Tremadocian, late Skullrockian, late Fauna B–Rossodus manitouensis Chron) unconformably overlies the terminal Cambrian Little Falls Formation as the lowest Ordovician unit on the New York Promontory. It was deposited during the strong early Tremadocian, or Stonehenge, transgression that inundated Laurentia, brought dysoxic/anoxic (d/a) slope water onto the shelf and led to deposition of the Schaghticoke d/a interval (black mudstone and ‘ribbon limestone’) on the Laurentian continental slope. The uniform lithofacies succession of the Tribes Hill includes a lower sand-rich member; a middle, dark grey to black mudstone that records d/a in eastern exposures; and an upper, shoaling-up carbonate highstand facies. A widespread (12000+ km2) thrombolitic interval in the highstand carbonate suggests the New York Promontory was rimmed by thrombolites during deposition of the Tribes Hill. Offlap and erosion of the Tribes Hill was followed by the relatively feeble sea-level rise of the Rochdale transgression (new) in Laurentia, and deposition of the Rochdale Formation. The Rochdale transgression, correlated with the Kierograptus Drowning Interval in Baltica, marks a eustatic rise. The Rochdale Formation represents a short Early Ordovician interval (early late Tremadocian, middle–late Stairsian, Macerodus dianae Chron). It correlates with a depositional sequence that forms the middle Boat Harbour Formation in west Newfoundland and with the Rte 299 d/a interval on the east Laurentian slope. The Rochdale has a lower carbonate with abundant quartz silt (Comstock Member, new) and an upper, thrombolitic (Hawk Member, new) high-stand facies. Tribes Hill and Rochdale faunas are mollusc-rich, generally trilobite-poor, and have low diversity, Laurentian faunal province conodonts. Ulrichodina rutnika Landing n. sp. is rare in Rochdale conodont assemblages. Trilobites are also low in diversity, but locally form coquinas in the middle Tribes Hill. The poorly preserved Rochdale trilobites include the bathyurid Randaynia, at least two hystricurid species and Leiostegium.
Keywords: conodonts; eustasy; Laurentia; Lower Ordovician; New York; trilobites; Vermont

Rediscovery of Missing Specimens Once Held at Vassar College, Including the Holotype of Baudo Guan Penelope ortoni - LeCroy, M.; J. J. Kirchman; Horst, L. (Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 2012)
Keywords: biology

The Incomplete Celebration - J. A. Lemak (New York Archives Magazine, 2012)
Keywords: history

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report for PIN 1335.41, Route 40 over the Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York - M. Lenardi; R. Dean (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1089.72.101, 69 George Street, Village of Fort Ann, Washington County, New York - M.S. LoRusso (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 5809.48.101, Robert Moses Parkway, City of Niagara Falls, New York - M.S. LoRusso (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Paleoindian Occupations in the Hudson Valley, New York - J. C. Lothrop; J. A. Bradley (Late Pleistocene Archaeology and Ecology in the Far Northeast, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology

Mineralogy, Classification, and Tectonic Setting of the Granitic Pegmatites of New York State, USA - M. V. Lupulescu; J. R. Chiarenzelli; Bailey, D. G. (The Canadian Mineralogist, 2012)
Pegmatites in New York State are largely restricted to areas of exposed Precambrian basement rocks, including the Adirondack Mountains and the Hudson Highlands. In the Adirondacks, they were emplaced into rocks that were metamorphosed during the Grenville orogeny to either the upper amphibolite facies (Adirondack Lowlands) or the granulite facies (Adirondack Highlands). Their mineral assemblages range from simple to complex, with localized occurrences of: (a) Be-, Al-, and B-rich species such as beryl, chrysoberyl, sillimanite, dumortierite, and tourmaline-supergroup minerals, (b) rare-element- and rare-earth-element-bearing minerals such as columbite-(Fe), uranopolycrase, fergusonite-(Y), uraninite, xenotime-(Y), and monazite-(Ce), (c) Ca-, F-, and K-dominant amphiboles, (d) phosphates (fluorapatite, isokite, wagnerite), (e) sulfides (bismuthinite, molybdenite), and (f) tungstates (scheelite). The pegmatite bodies from southern New York State and from some of the southern Adirondack locations display mineralogical zoning, typically with a quartz-rich core. Post-emplacement metamorphic features are observed in pegmatites in the northwestern Adirondack Lowlands, but are negligible or obscured in most of those from the southern and eastern Adirondacks. On the basis of the metamorphic grade of the host rocks, all New York pegmatites belong to the Abyssal class, whereas on the basis of mineralogy and inferred tectonic setting, they show affiliations to the NYF and mixed NYF–LCT pegmatite families. Pegmatites in the Adirondack Lowlands are related to the calc-alkaline arc magmatism of the Antwerp–Rossie granite suite and yield U–Pb zircon crystallization ages that indicate intrusion during the late Shawinigan orogeny (~1195 Ma); currently there are no known pegmatites related to the Ottawan and Rigolet orogenies in the Lowlands. Pegmatites in the Highlands yield U–Pb zircon crystallization ages that correspond to: (a) emplacement during the late Elzevirian (~1222 Ma), and metamorphism during the late Shawinigan (~1178 Ma) orogenies; (b) emplacement during the early (1098 Ma) and mid to late Ottawan orogeny (~1062–1025 Ma); (c) intrusion during the early Rigolet orogeny (1009–1003 Ma), and finally, (d) intrusion related to a thermal pulse at 949 Ma, possibly associated with the Cathead Mountain leucocratic dike swarm (935 ± 9.2 Ma). Few, if any, granitic pegmatites were intruded between 1178 and 1098 Ma in the Adirondack Highlands. The main pegmatite bodies in the Adirondack Highlands occur in association with extensional A-type granites such as the Hawkeye and Lyon Mountain Granite suites. These rocks were emplaced in response to orogenic collapse following the Ottawan orogeny. At present, relatively little can be concluded about the tectonic setting of pegmatites in southern New York.
Keywords: geology

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report of PIN 9806.09.101, Route 30, Culvert C960051, Town of Fulton, Hamlet of Fultonham, Schoharie County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report of PIN 9806.09.101, Route 146, Town of Wright, Schoharie County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report of PIN 9806.09.101, Route 30, Culvert # C960050, Town of Fulton, Hamlet of Fultonham, Schoharie County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 9806.09.101, Route 28 over Knapp Brook, Town of Franklin, Delaware County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report of PIN 9806.09.101, Route 30, Town of Gilboa, Schoharie County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report of PIN 9806.09.101, Route 145, Town of Cobleskill, Schoharie County, New York - A. Lynch; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey of PIN 0759.54, Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York - D. E. Mazeau; B. R. Dale; H. Brown; Pellerin, J. (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Tree macrofossils of Younger Dryas age from Cohoes, New York State, USA - Miller, N. G.; Griggs, C. B. (Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2012)
Tree macrofossils dating from the middle to end (about 1000 years, ca. 12 600–11 600 cal years BP) of the Younger Dryas chronozone were found in an organic deposit on the southwest side of the Mohawk River, near its junction with the Hudson River in Cohoes, New York, USA. The fossils included substantial wood fragments, associated plant remains, and pollen, which indicate a forest of white spruce (Picea glauca), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and tamarack (Larix laricina). The presence of white, rather than black (P. mariana) or red (P. rubens) spruce in the Younger Dryas was probably due to a riparian-type environment, confirmed by its location and American beaver tooth marks on some of the wood fragments. The clusters of wood radiocarbon dates indicate periodic changes in erosion and deposition at the site. One possible but very short decline (temperature reversal?) may be indicated by tree-ring growth, but in general, the ring widths of the trees and their growth responses suggest variable but slowly improving conditions over time, possibly from warming temperatures, before the end of the Younger Dryas.

Analysis of Radiotelemetry Data - Millspaugh, J. J.; Gitzen, R. A.; Belant, L. L.; R. W. Kays; Keller, B. J.; Kesler, D. C.; Rota, C. T.; et al. (The Wildlife Techniques Manual: Volume 1 Research, 2012)
Keywords: biology

Wildlife Radiotelemetry and Remote Monitoring - Millspaugh, J. J.; Kesler, D. C.; Gitzen, R. A.; R. W. Kays; Schulz, J. H.; Rota, C. T.; Bodinof, C. M.; et al. (The Wildlife Techniques Manual: Volume 1 Research, 2012)
Keywords: biology

Haplosporidium raabei n. sp. (Haplosporidia): A Parasite of Zebra Mussels, Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) - D. P. Molloy; L. Giamberini; Stokes, N. A.; Burreson, E. M.; M. A. Ovcharenko (Parasitology, 2012)
Extensive connective tissue lysis is a common outcome of haplosporidian infection. Although such infections in marine invertebrates are well documented, they are relatively rarely observed in freshwater invertebrates. Herein, we report a field study using a comprehensive series of methodologies (histology, dissection, electron microscopy, gene sequence analysis, and molecular phylogenetics) to investigate the morphology, taxonomy, systematics, geographical distribution, pathogenicity, and seasonal and annual prevalence of a haplosporidian observed in zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha. Based on its genetic sequence, morphology, and host, we describe Haplosporidium raabei n. sp. from D. polymorpha – the first haplosporidian species from a freshwater bivalve. Haplosporidium raabei is rare as we observed it in histological sections in only 0·7% of the zebra mussels collected from 43 water bodies across 11 European countries and in none that were collected from 10 water bodies in the United States. In contrast to its low prevalences, disease intensities were quite high with 79·5% of infections advanced to sporogenesis.
Keywords: Dreissena polymorpha; Haplosporidia; Haplosporidium raabei n. sp.; phylogeny; small subunit ribosomal DNA

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 3287.20.101, Route 370 over the Seneca River, Town of Lysander, Onondaga County, New York - Moragne, S. (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

An Archaeological Perspective on the Irish Rural Interior - Orser, C. E. (Rural Ireland: The Inside Story, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology

An Archaeology of Eurocentrism - Orser, C. E. (American Antiquity, 2012)
The role of Europe and Europeans in the archaeology of post-1500 history has recently been critiqued. Some research has been pejoratively labeled Eurocentrism. This paper addresses the problems with adopting an emotional understanding of Eurocentrism and argues instead for its archaeological examination within the framework of an explicit multiscalar modern- world (historical) archaeology. An example comes from seventeenth-century Dutch settlements located in and around present-day Albany, New York.
Keywords: Archaeology; Eurocentrism; Historical archaeology; New York; Racism

Ballykilcline - Orser, C. E. (Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology history

Why the Guilded Age...and Why Now? - Orser, C. E. (International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2012)
Keywords: Historical archaeology

Continent-scale Genetic Structure in a Boreal Forest Migrant, the Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) - Ralston, J.; J. J. Kirchman (The Auk, 2012)
Abstract We describe the range-wide phylogeography of Blackpoll Warblers (Setophaga striata), a migratory passerine with a broad breeding range in North America's boreal forest that encompasses several possible biogeographic barriers but shows no phenotypic geographic variation. We used mitochondrial control-region sequences from 304 individuals in combination with ecological niche models and coalescent simulations to test alternative historical hypotheses about the number of Pleistocene refugial populations and divergences among modern populations. Population pairwise FST and spatial analyses of molecular variance suggested significant genetic structure among western, eastern, and Newfoundland populations, but no structure among sky-island populations at the southeastern periphery of the breeding range. Inferred gene flow fits a model of isolation-by-distance. Coalescent simulations rejected all multiple-refugia hypotheses in favor of a single refugium. Paleodistribution models and modern migratory pathways suggested that the refugium was located in southeastern North America. In contrast to previous studies that have invoked multiple Pleistocene refugia as the cause of genetic structure in North American bird species, our analyses suggest that geographic structure in Blackpoll Warblers results from isolation-by-distance rather than a history of sundered populations.
Keywords: Blackpoll Warbler; boreal forest; coalescent analysis; migratory birds; mitochondrial DNA; Pleistocene refugia; population genetics; Setophaga striata; statistical phylogeography

Cultural Resources Data Recovery Report of the Schoharie Creek II Site (NYSM # 10383): A Multi-Component Site in the Village of Central Bridge, Town of Schoharie, Schoharie County, New York - C. B. Rieth (New York State Museum Cultural Resource Survey Program Series, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology

Cultural Resources Screening Report for PIN 1335.18, Route 40 over the Hoosick River, Rensselaer County, New York - C. B. Rieth (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Historic Preservation Monitoring Report # 18 for the Lake Champlain Bridge Project, Crown Point, New York - C. B. Rieth (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Settlement and Subsistence at a Middle Woodland Camp in Eastern New York - C. B. Rieth (North American Archaeologist, 2012)
Archaeological excavations at the Schoharie Creek II site in Schoharie County, New York were conducted by the New York State Museum's Cultural Resource Survey Program as part of a federally funded bridge replacement project. Stratified deposits produced artifacts dating to the Middle Woodland Period (circa A.D. 100-A.D. 900). The data derived during this excavation provide insights into the settlement and land use practices of these prehistoric populations, and their interaction with other groups in eastern New York. This information is important to understanding the prehistory of the Schoharie Valley and eastern New York.
Keywords: Archaeology; Middle Woodland; New York; Settlement patterns

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 3441.06.121, Route 176 and County Route 7 Intersection Improvement Project, Town of Hannibal, Oswego County, New York - J. Ross (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Architectural Assessment of PIN 2004.08, Architectural Assessment of Remington Arms Facility, Town of Illion, Herkimer County, New York - V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

A New and Rare Spiranthes from the Sierra Nevada - C. J. Sheviak (The Native Orchid Conference Journal, 2012)
Keywords: biology

Outcrop Analog for Trenton-Black River Hydrothermal Dolomite Reservoirs, Mohawk Valley, New York - B. E. Slater; L. B. Smith Jr. (AAPG Bulletin, 2012)
Geochemical analysis and field relations of linear dolomite bodies occurring in outcrop in the Mohawk Valley of New York suggest that the area has undergone a significant fault-related hydrothermal alteration. The dolomite occurs in the Lower Ordovician Tribes Hill Formation, which is regionally a Lower Ordovician shaley limestone with patchy dolomitization. The outcrop has an en echelon fault, fracture, and fold pattern. A three-dimensional (3-D) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the quarry floor has helped to map out faults, fractures, anticlines, synclines, and the extent of dolomitization. Most of the dolomitization occurs in fault-bounded synclines or sags flanked by anticlines. The dolomite structures are highly localized, occurring around faults, and are absent away from the faults and fractures. Trenches cut across the outcrop help relate offset along faults to the overall geometry of the dolomitized bodies. Geochemical analysis, although helpful in characterizing the conditions of dolomitization, does not define its origin absolutely. This study uses fluid inclusions, stable isotopes, 3-D GPR, core analysis, and surficial observations, which all show a link between faulting, dolomitization, and other hydrothermal alteration. Although the outcrop is much too small and shallow to act as a producing gas field, it serves as a scaled analog for the Trenton–Black River hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs of eastern United States. It may therefore be studied to help petroleum geologists characterize existing gas plays and prospect future areas of exploration.
Keywords: Dolomites; Geochemistry; Hydrothermal alteration

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1043.54.101, Route 9 over Trout Brook, Town of Pottersville, Warren County, New York - Sobik, C.; M.S. LoRusso (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1043.44.101, U.S. Route 9 over the Schroon River, BIN 1005820, Town of North Hudson, Essex County, New York - D. Staley; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1223.16.101, Route 28N, Towns of Johnsburg and Chester, Warren County, New York - D. Staley; M.S. LoRusso (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1808.92.101, Route 443 Slope Failure Repairs, Town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York - D. Staley (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 7111.17.121, NYS Route 12E, Village of Chaumont, Town of Lyme, Jefferson County, New York - D. Staley; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Site Examination Report of the Deansboro Creamery Co. Site, Town of Marshall, Oneida County, New York - D. Staley (New York State Museum Cultural Resource Survey Program Series, 2012)
Keywords: anthropology Cultural Resources

Surprisingly Complex Community Discovered in the mid-Devonian Fossil Forest at Gilboa - Stein, W. E.; Berry, C. M.; L. VanAller Hernick; Mannolini, F. (Nature, 2012)
The origin of trees by the mid-Devonian epoch (398–385 million years ago) signals a major change in terrestrial ecosystems with potential long-term consequences including increased weathering, drop in atmospheric CO2, modified climate, changes in sedimentation patterns and mass extinction<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref1" id="ref-link-1" title=" Evolutionary and Environmental Approaches (eds Gensel, P. G. & Edwards, D.) 213-236 (Columbia Univ. Press, 2001)">1, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref2" id="ref-link-2" title="Davies, N. S. & Gibling, M. R. Paleozoic vegetation and the Siluro-Devonian rise of fluvial lateral accretion sets. Geology 38, 51-54 (2010)">2, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref3" id="ref-link-3" title=" Evolutionary and Environmental Approaches (eds Gensel, P. G. & Edwards, D.) 237-253 (Columbia Univ. Press, 2001)">3. However, little is known about the ecology of early forests or how changes in early terrestrial ecosystems influenced global processes. One of the most famous palaeontological records for this time is the ‘oldest fossil forest’ at Riverside Quarry, Gilboa, New York, USA, discovered in the 1920s<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref4" id="ref-link-4" title="Goldring, W. The Upper Devonian forest of seed ferns in eastern New York. NY State Mus. Bull. 251, 50-72 (1924)">4, 5. Hundreds of large Eospermatopteris sandstone casts, now thought to represent the bases of standing cladoxylopsid trees<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref6" id="ref-link-6" title="Stein, W. E., Mannolini, F., Hernick, L. V., Landing, E. & Berry, C. M. Giant cladoxylopsid trees resolve the enigma of the Earth/'s earliest forest stumps at Gilboa. Nature 446, 904-907 (2007)">6, were recovered from a horizon that was originally interpreted as a muddy swamp. After quarry operations ceased, relatively minor outcrops of similar fossils at nearby localities have provided limited opportunities to evaluate this pervasive view using modern methods<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref7" id="ref-link-7" title="Driese, S., Mora, C. I. & Elick, J. M. Morphology and taphonomy of root and stump casts of the earliest trees (Middle to Late Devonian), Pennsylvania and New York, U.S.A. Palaios 12, 524-537 (1997)">7, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref8" id="ref-link-8" title="Mintz, J. S., Driese, S. G. & White, J. D. Environmental and ecological variability of Middle Devonian (Givetian) forests in Appalachian Basin paleosols, New York, United States. Palaios 25, 85-96 (2010)">8. In 2010, removal of the quarry backfill enabled reappraisal of the palaeoecology of this important site. Here we describe a 1,200 m2 map showing numerous Eospermatopteris root systems in life position within a mixed-age stand of trees. Unexpectedly, large woody rhizomes with adventitious roots and aerial branch systems identified as aneurophytalean progymnosperms run between, and probably climb into, Eospermatopteris trees. We describe the overall habit for these surprisingly large aneurophytaleans, the earliest fossil group having wood produced by a bifacial vascular cambium. The site also provides evidence for arborescence within lycopsids, extending the North American range for trees in this ecologically critical group. The rooting horizon is a dark grey sandy mudstone showing limited root penetration. Although clearly belonging to a wetland coastal plain environment<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/nature10819.html#ref9" id="ref-link-9" title="Greb, S. F., DiMichele, W. A. & Gastaldo, R. A. Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 399, 1-40 (2006)">9, the forest was probably limited in duration and subject to periodic disturbance. These observations provide fundamental clarification of the palaeoecology of this mixed-group early forest, with important implications for interpreting coeval assemblage data worldwide.
Keywords: Earth sciences; Evolution; Palaeontology; Plant sciences

Mastodon herbivory in mid-latitude late-Pleistocene boreal forests of eastern North America - Teale, C. L.; Miller, N. G. (Quaternary Research, 2012)
Skeletal remains of the extinct American mastodon have often been found with deposits of short, decorticated twigs intermixed with plant fragments presumed to be gastrointestinal or fecal material. If such deposits are digesta, paleobotanical evidence may be used to analyze mastodon foraging strategy, with implications for assessing habitat selection, ecological roles, and response to environmental change. To identify components of mastodon diet in mid-latitude late-Pleistocene boreall forests of eastern North America, plant macrofossils and pollen from a molar socket (Hyde Park site, New York) were compared with dispersed deposits associated with skeletal remains (Hiscock and Chemung sites, New York). Similar macrofossil condition and twig morphology among samples, but difference from a modern boreal fen analog, confirmed the deposits were digesta. Comparison of twigs with material from other paleontological sites and modern elephants suggested dimensions generally indicative of digesta. Picea formed the bulk of each sample but Pinus may have been locally important. Wintertime browsing of Salix and Populus, and springtime consumption of Alnus, were indicated. Evidence for Cyperaceae, Gramineae, and Compositae was ambiguous. If conifers, broadleaf trees, shrubs, and herbs were necessary to fulfill dietary requirements, mastodons would have been nutritionally stressed by rapid late-Pleistocene decrease in vegetational diversity.
Keywords: Alnus; Chemung Site; Hiscock Site; Hyde Park mastodon; Mastodon herbivory; northeastern United States; Pleistocene megafaunal extinction; Taphonomy; Vegetation history; Younger Dryas chronozone

The Collapse of 'Chimney Rock'--The Cliffs in Action at Thatcher Park - C. A. Ver Straeten (Friends of Thacher and Thompsons Lake State Parks Newsletter, 2012)
Keywords: geology

Silicic Appalachian magmatism during the Ordovician and Devonian: Perspectives from the Foreland Basin, and the Hinterland - C. A. Ver Straeten; G.C. Baird; Karabinos, P.; Samson, S.; C. Brett (New York State Geological Association, Annual Meeting Guidebook, 2012)
Keywords: geology

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 3806.28.121, Culvert Replacement, Village of Mexico, Oswego County, New York - L. J. Xinakes; N. L. Davis; V. A. Schmitt (New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, 2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 3806.28.121, Culvert Replacement, Village of Mexico, Oswego County, New York - L. J. Xinakes; N. L. Davis; V. A. Schmitt (2012)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Surficial Geology of the Victory Quadrangle, New York - B. Bird; A. L. Kozlowski (Map & Chart Series, 2011)

Sequence Stratigraphy and a Revised Sea-level Curve for the Middle Devonian of Eastern North America - C. Brett; G.C. Baird; Bartholomew, A. J.; DeSantis, M. K.; C. A. Ver Straeten (Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2011)
The well-exposed Middle Devonian rocks of the Appalachian foreland basin (Onondaga Formation; Hamilton Group, Tully Formation, and the Genesee Group of New York State) preserve one of the most detailed records of high-order sea-level oscillation cycles for this time period in the world. Detailed examination of coeval units in distal areas of the Appalachian Basin, as well as portions of the Michigan and Illinois basins, has revealed that the pattern of high-order sea-level oscillations documented in the New York–Pennsylvania section can be positively identified in all areas of eastern North America where coeval units are preserved. The persistence of the pattern of high-order sea-level cycles across such a wide geographic area suggests that these cycles are allocyclic in nature with primary control on deposition being eustatic sea-level oscillation, as opposed to autocylic controls, such as sediment supply, which would be more local in their manifestation. There is strong evidence from studies of cyclicity and spectral analysis that these cycles are also related to Milankovitch orbital variations, with the short and long-term eccentricity cycles (100 kyr and 405 kyr) being the dominant oscillations in many settings. Relative sea-level oscillations of tens of meters are likely and raise considerable issues about the driving mechanism, given that the Middle Devonian appears to record a greenhouse phase of Phanerozoic history. These new correlations lend strong support to a revised high-resolution sea-level oscillation curve for the Middle Devonian for the eastern portion of North America. Recognized third-order sequences are: Eif-1 lower Onondaga Formation, Eif-2: upper Onondaga and Union Springs formations; Eif–Giv: Oatka Creek Formation; Giv-1: Skaneateles, Giv-2: Ludlowville, Giv-3: lower Moscow, Giv-4: upper Moscow–lower Tully, and Giv-5: middle Tully–Geneseo formations. Thus, in contrast with the widely cited eustatic curve of Johnson et al. (1985), which recognizes just one major transgressive–regressive (T–R) cycle in the early–mid Givetian (If) prior to the major late Givetian Taghanic unconformity (IIa, upper Tully–Geneseo Shale), we recognize four T–R cycles: If (restricted), Ig, Ih, and Ii. We surmise that third-order sequences record eustatic sea-level fluctuations of tens of meters with periodicities of 0.8–2 myr, while their medial-scale (fourth-order) subdivisions record lesser variations primarily of 405 kyr duration (long-term eccentricity). This high-resolution record of sea-level change provides strong evidence for high-order eustatic cycles with probable Milankovitch periodicities, despite the fact that no direct evidence for Middle Devonian glacial sediments has been found to date.
Keywords: Cyclostratigraphy; Eastern North America; eustasy; Middle Devonian; Sea-level; sequence stratigraphy

Technology on the Move: Recent and Forthcoming Innovations for Tracking Migratory Birds - Bridge, E.; Thorup, K.; Bowlin, M. S.; Chilson, P. B.; Diehl, R. H.; Fleron, R. W.; Hartl, P.; R. W. Kays; Kelly, J. F.; Robinson, W. D.; M. Wikelski (Bioscience, 2011)
Basic questions about the life histories of migratory birds have confounded scientists for generations, yet we are nearing an era of historic discovery as new tracking technologies make it possible to determine the timing and routes of an increasing number of bird migrations. Tracking small flying animals as they travel over continental-scale distances is a difficult logistical and engineering challenge. Although no tracking system works well with all species, improvements to traditional technologies, such as satellite tracking, along with innovations related to global positioning systems, cellular networks, solar geolocation, radar, and information technology are improving our understanding of when and where birds go during their annual cycles and informing numerous scientific disciplines, including evolutionary biology, population ecology, and global change. The recent developments described in this article will help us answer many long-standing questions about animal behavior and life histories.
Keywords: cellular tracking; geolocators; radar ornithology; satellite transmitter; tracking technology

Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 3076.16.101, Phase IA, Routes 5 and 20 over the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, Menard Memorial Bridge, Towns of Tyre and Montezuma, Seneca and Cayuga Counties, New York - H. Brown; M.S. LoRusso; Williams, J. (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for DEC-Howland Island, Howland Island Bridge Reconstruction, Towns of Conquest and Savannah, Cayuga and Wayne Counties, New York - H. Brown; Sobik, C. (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1120.52.101, Route 23 Slope Failure Repair, Red Falls, Town of Ashland, Greene County, New York - H. Brown; M.S. LoRusso (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 1383.38.101, Route 73 Slope Failure, Town of Keene and North Elba, Essex County, New York - H. Brown (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey Report for PIN 2931.54.121, Guy Park Entrance, Crossing of CSX, City of Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York - H. Brown; Williams, J.; M.S. LoRusso (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey and Site Examination Report for PIN 3804.47.121, ARRA/ADA Sidewalk Replacements, Route 49, Town of Constantia, Oswego County, New York - J. S. Cardinal; J. Ross; C. B. Rieth; Moragne, S. (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources

Differentiating Shawinigan and Ottawan Orogenesis in the Central Adirondacks - J. R. Chiarenzelli; Valentino, D.; M. V. Lupulescu; Thern, J.; Johnston , S. (Geosphere, 2011)
Keywords: geology

Tectonic Implications of the Discovery of a Shawinigan Ophiolite (Pyrites Complex) in the Adirondack Lowlands - J. R. Chiarenzelli; M. V. Lupulescu; Thern, E.; Cousens, B. (Geosphere, 2011)
Keywords: geology

Causes of Mortality in North American Populations of Large and Medium-sized Mammals - Collins, C.; R. W. Kays (Animal Conservation, 2011)
Keywords: biology

Phantom Lithics at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico - Dahlin, B.; Bastamow, M.; Beach, T.; Hruby, Z. X.; Hutson, S. R.; D. E. Mazeau (The Technology of Maya Civilization, 2011)
Keywords: anthropology

Cultural Resources Monitoring and Data Recovery Plan for Slope Failure Area, Crown Point Campground, Crown Point, New York - B. R. Dale; A. Gore (2011)
Keywords: Cultural Resources