Water-Earth Dynamics, Challenge 1: A Texas Panhandle Whodunit

Multiple Perspectives

• Web Sites
• Articles
• Maps
• Videos/Visualizations

Explore the following resources to find information that will help you answer the “Generate Ideas” questions and increase your knowledge about the topic.

Web Sites

• The U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School Web site offers information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, and maps.
• The Llano Estacado is a region in the southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle.  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, provides a description of the geography, geology, hydrogeology, human settlement, and history of the Llano Estacado.
• Palo Duro Canyon in the Panhandle of Texas (USA) was downcut by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.  It is an excellent example of the erosive power of water.  The Wikipedia article on Palo Duro Canyon gives an overview of the geologic history and the history of human habitation.
• Texas Archaeology — Texas Beyond History, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, The University of Texas at Austin.  The interactive map on the UT Austin Texas Beyond History Web site shows the distribution of archaeological sites, including Paleoindian settlements on the Llano Estacado, with links to virtual exhibits such as the Lubbock Lake Landmark where Paleoindians once hunted large game. 

Articles

• Shepard Krech’s article in the Encyclopedia of Earth entitled Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die-off discusses the arrival of Paleoindians in North America.  It also considers the role that climate may have had in contributing to the extinctions of Pleistocene animals, an occurrence often attributed to Paleoindian hunting.

Maps

• The Texas Water Development Board has maps that show the distribution of water resources throughout the state that can be downloaded.  The maps show surface water and groundwater features for the Palo Duro Canyon area (Randall, Armstrong, Swisher, and Briscoe counties).  You can also access NASA Earth Observatory Maps, and The University of Texas Map Library.

Videos / Visualizations

• The Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.

Now that you are more knowledgeable about how water shapes the landscape in general and the Llano Estacado in particular, it is time to share your ideas with the class.