@kathspringer

USGS Research Geologist. Hangs out in the desert with rocks and gets them to tell me how past ecosystems responded to climate. Tweets my own!

Joined January 2012
  • Tweets1.4K
  • Following1.4K
  • Followers763
254Media
livescience.com/archaeology/…

Ancient Indigenous people in New Mexico lived through extreme climate change 23,000 years ago,...

Researchers have revealed the climate that some of the first people in North America experienced around 23,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum.

livescience.com
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Happy National Fossil Day!! @WhiteSandNps is featured! Here’s our latest contribution to the ancient footprints story just published in Science Advances science.org/doi/10.1126/scia… Open access-share widely!!

Humans experienced abrupt environmental changes at White Sands during the Last Glacial Maximum

Expanded excavations at White Sands National Park have unearthed 20 stratigraphic horizons containing in situ human footprints, megafaunal trackways, and linear features created by travois. Advances...

science.org
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Kathleen Springer retweeted
Dr Lucy Jones Center@DLJCSS1 Mar 2024
Dr. Lucy Jones, the Center’s founder, world-renowned seismologist, and public voice for earthquake science and safety, is @USATODAY's California Woman of the Year! vcstar.com/story/news/2024/0…

Seismologist Lucy Jones changed the way we prepare for earthquakes

A USA TODAY honoree, Lucy Jones changed the way we prepare for earthquakes.

vcstar.com
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science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…

Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands

New radiocarbon and luminescence ages confirm the antiquity of human footprints in White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

science.org
Jerry Lanchbury@JerryLanchbury8 Feb 2024
Replying to @ChrisStringer65
For the non expert, are there other strands of reliable data that conflict with the Ruppia seed data or are the Ruppia data now to be taken as the definitive date of the White Sands footprints?
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Kathleen Springer retweeted
USGS
@USGS18 Jan 2024
#DYK @WhiteSandsNps was established as a nat'l monument #OTD in 1933? It is known for the world's largest gypsum dunefield and human footprints discovered to be 21,000 to 23,000 years old. Read more about this amazing study: 👣ow.ly/g4h850Qs5sg #fossils #NM
Rippling sand dunes in White Sand Dunes National Park, New Mexico. @NatlParkService photo.

ALT Rippling sand dunes in White Sand Dunes National Park, New Mexico. @NatlParkService photo.

Several fossilized footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

ALT Several fossilized footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

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Our @WhiteSandsNPS ancient human footprints study is one of the runner-up @ScienceMagazine breakthroughs of 2023! science.org/content/article/…

Science’s 2023 Breakthrough of the Year: Weight loss drugs with a real shot at fighting obesity

Blockbuster medicines targeting GLP-1 hormone also improve heart health in a large trial, show promise for wider range of conditions

science.org
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#ClimateR_D in action!
USGS Climate@usgs_climate19 Oct 2023
#ICYMI: @USGS scientists & partners used new lines of evidence to confirm that human footprints 👣found in White Sands Nat’l Park show people lived in North America 21-23,000 yrs ago – much earlier than previously thought! ow.ly/ju7m50PXgmU #ClimateR_D
A four image collage. Top left: USGS research geologists in windbreakers peer into a hole to collect seeds embedded in an ancient human footprint. Top right: Multiple sets of ancient human footprints are shown going in different directions, which are highlighted by different-colored arrows. Bottom left, right: Closeup photographs of excavated human footprints.

ALT A four image collage. Top left: USGS research geologists in windbreakers peer into a hole to collect seeds embedded in an ancient human footprint. Top right: Multiple sets of ancient human footprints are shown going in different directions, which are highlighted by different-colored arrows. Bottom left, right: Closeup photographs of excavated human footprints.

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This is my favorite article that has come out on our @WhiteSandNps study! Thanks @DanRather! @USGS @usgs_climate steady.substack.com/p/ancien…
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It makes me super happy that our @ScienceMagazine @WhiteSandsNPS paper has rock pics and even on page one!
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Awwwww @DrLucyJones. Thank you! That means so much to me!!!😘
Dr. Lucy Jones
@DrLucyJones6 Oct 2023
Congrats Kathleen. This is the type of solid careful science that makes me proud to have been with the @USGS
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Kathleen Springer retweeted
Summer Praetorius@S_Praetorius6 Oct 2023
It was great to talk with @WeiPoints for this @nytimes piece on the new evidence that supports the 21,000-23,000 year age of the White Sands Footprints. Congratulations to @kathspringer and all the authors on their excellent work on this site! nytimes.com/2023/10/05/scien…

New Evidence That Ancient Footprints Push Back Human Arrival in North America (Published 2023)

Following up a on study in 2021 of tracks found in New Mexico, researchers used more methods to bolster the claim that the tracks are up to 23,000 years old.

nytimes.com
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Thanks @tommyhigham!
Tom Higham@tommyhigham6 Oct 2023
It was fun to talk about the White Sands footprints and the excellent AMS dating work in it. Congrats to @kathspringer Jeff Pigati and team on a super piece of work! livescience.com/archaeology/…

Debate settled? Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years old, study finds

Scientists have used several methods to show that human footprints found in White Sands National Park are around 23,000 years old.

livescience.com
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Kathleen Springer retweeted
Popular Science
@PopSci5 Oct 2023
Do the ancient human footprints at White Sands date back to the last ice age? trib.al/2vRb24w

Do the ancient human footprints at White Sands date back to the last ice age?

Ancient human footprints from White Sands National Park were previously dated to 21,000 to 23,000 years old, putting them in the last ice age. Now, new tests confirm that estimate.

popsci.com
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Kathleen Springer retweeted
USGS
@USGS5 Oct 2023
Big news: USGS scientists & partners have confirmed, with 2 new lines of evidence, that human footprints found in White Sands Nat'l Park show that people lived in North America 21-23,000 yrs ago—much earlier than previously thought! More here: ow.ly/9peJ50PTBGN Imgs: NPS
Human footprints at White Sands National Park. Image credit: NPS

ALT Human footprints at White Sands National Park. Image credit: NPS

USGS scientist Jeff Pigati examines the layers of sediment while collecting pollen to help establish the age of the footprints. Image credit: NPS

ALT USGS scientist Jeff Pigati examines the layers of sediment while collecting pollen to help establish the age of the footprints. Image credit: NPS

Scientists working in and near a trench at White Sands National Park, a sandy landscape with distant mountains in the background. Photo credit: NPS

ALT Scientists working in and near a trench at White Sands National Park, a sandy landscape with distant mountains in the background. Photo credit: NPS

USGS scientists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati work at the White Sands site, lying on the ground with their faces close to the ground. Photo credit: NPS

ALT USGS scientists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati work at the White Sands site, lying on the ground with their faces close to the ground. Photo credit: NPS

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The @ScienceMagazine Perspective piece on our work written by Bente Philippine. science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…

Dating the arrival of humans in the Americas

A debate about the age of ancient footprints continues

science.org
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Link to our @ScienceMagazine paper! science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…

Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands

New radiocarbon and luminescence ages confirm the antiquity of human footprints in White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

science.org
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The @washingtonpost article by Carolyn Johnson on our new White Sands footprints study. washingtonpost.com/science/2…

Ancient footprints upend timeline of humans’ arrival in North America

Dozens of fossilized human footprints in New Mexico have reignited a long-running debate about when people first arrived in the Americas.

washingtonpost.com
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Our @WhiteSandNps news stories are rolling in….check them out. I’ll try and post them all!
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science.org/content/article/…

New footprint dates bolster claim that humans lived in Americas during Ice Age

Finding could reopen debate on how and when humans arrived. But some researchers remain skeptical

science.org
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