Late Holocene Climates of North-Central Texas

Recent investigations at a multicomponent archaeological site (41DL270) along Denton Creek in Denton and Dallas Counties, Texas, yielded a series of mussel shell features which were sampled for isotopic variation in oxygen and carbon. Oxygen values showed a marked trend which may indicate that δ18O can be used as a reliable paleoclimatic indicator in small riverine drainage systems such as Denton Creek. The δ13C values exhibited high variability and were more difficult to interpret meaningfully, but are clearly related to the oxygen values. The paleoclimatic patterns inferred from the isotope variation support several recent interpretations of Late Holocene climatic change in the north-central Texas region which suggest a possible cooler and/or wetter period between 1500 and 2500 years ago, framed by warmer/drier periods before and after.