Case Study: Eastern New Mexico University maps Blackwater Draw’s changing landscape with Golden Software’s Surfer

Visualizing and Mapping the Blackwater Draw Locality 1 With Surfer

Eastern New Mexico University graduate student Jasmine Kidwell needed a way to better understand the prehistoric landscape at Blackwater Draw Locality 1 and the climate conditions that affected Paleo-Indian occupants during the onset of the Younger Dryas. Using Golden Software’s Surfer, she aimed to map buried outlet-channel terrain with minimal disturbance to the archaeological site.

Golden Software’s Surfer was used to visualize subsurface stratigraphy from 36 core holes and create contour maps of the Clovis-, Folsom-, and Late Paleoindian-age landscapes. The models helped show that the channel likely became progressively drier over time rather than being blocked by sediment or other obstruction, supporting the hypothesis that Younger Dryas conditions reduced water flow at the site.

Eastern New Mexico University

Cody

Eastern New Mexico University