Scientist, as a rule, like to talk about their research, and Dr. Kyle House and Dr. Eric McDonald of DRI's Quaternary Sciences Center are certainly no exceptions. Visiting with one of them is fascinating but talking to both of them together? Well, the words come quickly, like machine gun fire--rapid and intense. About all a reporter can do is take notes and ask questions later!

What brought these two researchers into such close interview proximity is a project looking at flooding on the rivers of western Nevada, particularly the Truckee. Part of a team that also includes DRI's Dr. Peter Wigand and Saxon Sharpe, their National Science Foundation-sponsored project aims to put the region's 1997 floods in long-term perspective. With clues taken from the layers of sediment arranged by time in the river's banks, this DRI team intends to reconstruct the flood history of the Truckee. "We're looking at a millennial time frame, from hundreds to thousands of years ago," says House, "which is actually very relevant to the present and to what may happen in the future."

The floods of 1997, as devastating as they were to some, have proven a helpful ally to the researchers. The sediments and deposits left by that deluge are helping them read and identify the buried evidence of much older floods. "Every big flood will leave some evidence in the stratigraphic or geomorphic record," says House. "We can use the 1997 flood deposits as an analog for identifying comparably large events evident in the landscape and in the sedimentary record."

McDonald, a soils expert, aids the work by identifying and analyzing buried soil layers. "Soil (as opposed to just sediments) is something of a benchmark," explains McDonald. "It represents a certain amount of stability, since soil takes time to form." And since stable soil can often be dated using various methods, a time frame for flooding events can be established.

So far, the results of the study seem to say "you ain't seen nothin' yet." "There is very clear evidence for large floods occurring on the Truckee, even larger than the one in 1997," says House. "There have been at least three large floods, probably more, in the last 4500 years or so."

Truckee River Flooding The Long - Term Record Initial results from Truckee River research conducted by House and McDonald indicate clear evidence of at least four large Truckee River floods within the last 5,700 years--all bigger than the January 1997 flood, which had a peak flow of 21,200 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the nearest gauge. The two youngest floods probably occurred in 1861-1862 and 1868 and were both at least 31,000 cfs. The oldest flood occurred between approximately 4,000 and 5,700 years before present, and the next oldest event occurred approximately 700 years before present.

With more work yet to be done, the researchers have already made impressive strides toward improving our knowledge of the river's past behavior beyond conventional records which go back only about 100 years. It was, after all, only a geological blip ago--about 10,000 years--that a massive lake called Lahontan covered much of the entire region. With this study as a start, House and McDonald eventually hope to unravel the entire post-Lahontan history of the Truckee. And, short of having a crystal ball, looking at what has happened in the past is often the best way of predicting what may happen in the future.

Of course, two researcher as energetic as House and McDonald have not limited themselves to only one project, even if it does involve reconstructing thousands of years. Indeed, House and McDonald each have a multitude of projects in the works. House, with a Ph.D. in Geosciences from the University of Arizona, focuses much of his attention on studies involving paleoflood hydrology. In this work, as in the Truckee project, House strives to reconstruct the history of large floods over time spans far in excess of conventional records. Knowing where and how to look, he is able to use the physical evidence preserved in the landscape.

His most extensive work has been a long-term study of the Verde River in central Arizona. Here, House is also investigating the influence of climate variability on long-term flooding trends. "Most big floods relate to a climate 'event'," explains House. "In the case of the Truckee=s flood last year, it was rain on snow and a series of passing wet storms." The Verde River project is also examining the links between such climate phenomena and flooding. "What we want is an understanding of the flood/climate linkages, relating paleoclimate variations found in pollen records, lake sediments, etc., to the flood history of the river." House has also begun a study investigating the role of climate on flooding in three distinct regions of the western United States: the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and the western Great Basin.

Ultimately, such studies may enable planners to better forecast flooding events, and House is excited about the potentially valuable applications of his research on watershed management. "It's why I focus on the mid-Holocene to the present--a period directly relevant to our present environment. I try very hard to demonstrate that these studies have economic and social relevance. We can improve safety and planning if we learn to understand the flood and climate history of an area."

While House is focused on floods and climate, McDonald spends much of his time studying dirt. With a doctorate in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of New Mexico, McDonald's scientific expertise in soil geomorphology and quaternary geology can answer some tough questions: How old is this landscape formation? How will climate change affect the stability of soils and vegetation? What role does soil play in the transport of potential contaminants? And m any others too varied to list.

Among his current projects, a number are centered at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where fifty years of weapons research and development have resulted in a wide range of environmental issues. McDonald is involved in studying the soil stratigraphy to determine the history and frequency of earthquakes around the laboratory, which sits within a tectonically, volcanically, and seismically active area. He is also sampling sediments from key canyons around Los Alamos as part of a large-scale project to determine the fate and transport of contaminants released during the laboratory=s history of weapons-related research.

In another part of the Southwest, McDonald has joined with researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for a study of the dynamics of soil, plants, and water in a desert environment. "We're teaming the plant ecologists with the soil guys for a whole picture of how plants survive in this type of environment. Take for example, one creosote stand that=s very active while a nearby stand is barely hanging on. We=re finding that the age of the soil can make the difference."

McDonald also dons another scientific cap as director of DRI's new Soil Characterization and Quaternary Pedology Laboratory. This state-of-the-art facility, operating since July of 1997, is running full tilt providing a wide range of physical and chemical analyses of soils and sediments. For the Truckee River study, for example, the lab has produced valuable information about particle sizes and the distribution of gravel, sand, silt, and clay.

Of course, like most things scientific, the laboratory is a work in progress. What McDonald sees as its greatest potential is the fact that the lab is designed to integrate its functions with other DRI labs in the Water Resources Center and the Biological Sciences Center. Ultimately, it will provide a perfect complement to existing analysis facilities and make the Institute even better at what it does. AIdeally we will eliminate overlaps, combine our talents, and refine our lab functions overall. Then we can concentrate on further perfecting each technique we perform.

Clearly, this kind of cooperation and interaction with fellow researchers is of the utmost importance to both House and McDonald--and one of the reasons they brought their careers to DRI. "People talk science in the hallways here," says House. These young researchers are intensely eager to share their work--both teach courses at the University of Nevada, Reno--and wholly convinced of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. "The days of the lone-wolf scientist are over," says McDonald, "and people at DRI definitely want to collaborate. It's very dynamic and exciting."

If DRI is dynamic and exciting it is due in no small part to scientists like House and McDonald, who themselves epitomize those qualities. One look at all that they do, and it is no wonder they have a lot to say.

Jackie Allen