This folder contains images and descriptive text from the NOAA Paleoclimatology Educational Slide Sets.
  
The images are presented in .jpg or .gif format, and also as .tiff scanner files of the original 35mm slides.
The .tiff format files have been compressed using pkzip, and the resulting compressed files are also 
available here, and have the file name extension .zip.  The accompanying text files describe each image, 
and collectively provide a description of some of the major proxy data types utilized in paleoclimatology, 
how the data are collected and analyzed, and summarize paleoclimate information which can be deduced 
from these proxy data.   


Packrat Middens: Vegetation and Climate Variability in the Southwestern United States

Scientific Authorship:
Julio L. Bentancourt, Robert S. Webb, Lisa M. Lixey, Thomas G. Andrews

Set Abstract: Plant-rich deposits called middens are found in caves and rock shelters in the arid 
southwestern United States. Middens are an amalgamation of plant and animal remains encased in crystallized 
packrat urine, and can be used to reconstruct past vegetation and climate in the immediate area of the midden 
deposit. By understanding past climate variability, scientists hope to understand the course of future changes 
in the earth's climate system. This slide set outlines past climate variability by reconstructing vegetation 
change in the southwestern US as preserved in Packrat Middens. The set contains a comprehensive text 
and accompanying color photos of middens, packrats, desert vegetation, and laboratory techniques.