Abstracts of Papers Presented

ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS PRESENTED (1992 APCG Meeting, Bellingham, WA) TIMOTHY BEACH, University of Georgia, and NICHOLAS DUNNING, University of Cincinnati Slope Management and Soil Erosion in the Ancient Maya Lowlands of Guatemala This paper discusses the first findings on soil erosion and slope management from the Petexbatun Regional Archaeology Project in the Pasion region of central Guatemala.The Projectstudiedhillslope erosion,terracing,andlakesedimentation in different sites to understand soil erosion rates and soil conservation efforts. Archaeological and physical evidence from these sites provide a record that spans from Pre-Mayatomodem times.Soilerosionwas slow (geologic)before the advent ofMayaagriculture,acceleratedrapidly duringtheMayaperiod,decreasedafterthe Maya “Collapse,” and is increasing again with the réintroduction of agriculture in the last two decades. In some areas evidence for intensive ancient Maya hillslope management corresponds with evidence for lower soil erosion rates. Recent colonists, however, have deforested and cultivated these lands with little or no knowledge about soil conservation. As a result, some soils have eroded down to bedrock in the last two decades. CAROLINE BERGHOUT, Oregon State University, Corvallis A Morphometric Comparison of Cirques Along the Feather-Yuba Divide, Northern Sierra Nevada, California The Sierra Nevada north of Truckee was not as extensively glaciated as the range to the south. This perhaps explains the fact that the central and southern portions of the Sierra Nevada have been the subject ofnumerous studies focusing primarily on glacialdeposits andchronology. This study addresses glacialerosion inPlumas and Sierra counties in the northern Sierra Nevada. A morphometric comparison of the cirques in the study region consisted ofexamining the variables oflength and width of cirque floor, headwall height, floor elevation, plan closure, orientation, length/ height ratio and elongation (length/width). Orientation is not a significant variable in the study area. Elevation is an important factor in cirque morphometry with the largest and best-developed cirques occurring in the mid- and lower elevations. Lower length/height ratios and elongation values for the Feather River side of the divide indicatethosecirques arebetterdeveloped.Thefactthatthesecirquesexhibit good development indicates the region was undoubtedly subjected to glaciation several times. 174 Abstracts 175 PATRICK H. BUCKLEY, Western Washington University, Bellingham Investigation of Spatial Parameters in Multiregional Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Models Multiregional dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling repre­ sents an area of growing interest for geographers. However, inclusion of spatial factors have proven to be problematic in this technique for two reasons. First, few large-scale data sets have specifically included spatial measures. Second, the relative price technique, used in base case calibration, hampers direct comparison between similar parameters estimated dynamically across time. In this study the firstproblemisovercomeby utilizing datacollectedforJapan,themostcomprehen­ sive national database available with spatial measures. The second problem is then investigated in a scenario format by comparing alternate techniques of parameter estimation across time. It is important that the strengths and weaknesses of these methodsbeunderstoodbefore itispossibletoutilizeCGEmodelsasdynamicpolicy tools for application at the multiregional level. PATRICIA CARO, Nassau Community College, Garden City, and CHRISTIAN G. PATTON, Hunter College High School, New York City Snowfall Trends in New York State Many New Yorkers believe that snowfall has decreased recently. To test this impression,annual snowfallforBuffalo,Albany,andNewYorkCity,as wellas5-,10and50 -yearrunningmeanswereexaminedbyharmonicanalysis.Theannualtotalsfor NewYorkCityrevealarecentdecreasebutnolong-termtrend.Butthe 5-yearrunning means do show adefinite pattern, indicatingboth 15-and 11-yearcycles, and 10-year running means point to a 23-year cycle. All these cycles indicate that recent low snowfall is notpartofa long-termdecrease. Albany’s snowfall exhibits a singlecycle coveringtheentireperiodofrecord.The 10-yearrunningmeanscorrelatewellwiththe first harmonic whose minimum is close to 1991. Buffalo’s snowfall has two major trends.A significantincrease in snowfallresultedfrom several abnormallyhighyears in the 1970s, followed by a recent decrease. PATRICIA CARO, Nassau Community College, Garden City, and CLYDE P. PATTON, University of Oregon, Eugene The Decline of a Regional Dialect in Western Europe Around 1492,theAlsatiandialectwasaleading formofwrittenGerman.As anearly printing center, Strasbourg published the first vernacular Bible, the first medical treatise,naturalhistory manuals ofrenown,and Sebastian Brant’s masterpiece,The ShipofFools.Atfirst,bothpublishersandwritersusedthelocaldialectandAlsatian might well have become the German koine. But soon the expanded capabilities of the printingpress andtheconsuming interest in the Protestant Reformation (andthe Catholic Counter-reformation) demandedabroader, more standardizedreadership. With the publication of Luther’s Bible, a new model for the standard language 176 APCG YEARBOOK • VOLUME 55...