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Loess is one of the most extensive surficial geologic deposits in midcontinental North America, particularly in the central Great Plains region of Nebraska. Last-glacial-age loess (Peoria Loess) reaches its greatest known thickness in the world in this area. New stratigraphic, geochronologic, mineralogic, and geochemical data yield information about the age and provenance of Peoria Loess, as well as evaluation of recent climate models. Sixteen new radiocarbon ages and recently acquired optically stimulated luminescence ages indicate that Peoria Loess deposition in Nebraska occurred between ca. 25,000 cal yr B.P. and ca. 13,000 cal yr B.P. After ca. 13,000 cal yr B.P. a period of pedogenesis began, represented by the dark, prominent Brady Soil. At some localities, further loess deposition was minimal. At other localities, sometime after ca. 11,000 cal yr B.P., there were additional episodes of loess deposition (Bignell Loess) intermittently throughout the Holocene. The spatial variability of particle size abundances in Peoria Loess shows a northwest-to-southeast fining in Nebraska, consistent with maps of previous workers that show a northwest-to-southeast thinning of loess. These observations indicate that paleowinds that deposited the loess were from the west or northwest and that the source or sources of Peoria Loess lay to the west or northwest. New mineralogical and geochemical data indicate that the most important sources of loess were likely Tertiary siltstones of the White River and Arikaree Groups, silt facies of Pliocene eolian sediments, and small contributions from Pierre Shale. It is likely that fine-grained silts were transported episodically through the Nebraska Sand Hills from Tertiary and Cretaceous bedrock sources to the north, in agreement with a model presented recently. The identification of Tertiary siltstones and silts as the primary sources of loess is consistent with isotopic data presented in a companion paper. Contributions of glaciogenic silt from the Platte and Missouri Rivers were limited to loess zones dose to the valleys of those drainages. An earlier computer-based model of global dust generation during the last glacial period did not identify the Great Plains of North America as a significant source of nonglaciogenic eolian silt. However, a refined version of this model does simulate this region as a significant nonglacial dust source during the last glacial period, in good agreement with the results presented here. Keywords: Peoria Loess, Nebraska, Great Plains, last glacial period, stratigraphy, geochemistry, provenance, paleoclimate.

Pb isotope compositions of detrital K-feldspars and U-Pb ages of detrital zircons are used as indicators for determining the sources of Peoria Loess deposited during the last glacial period (late Wisconsin, ca. 25-14 ka) in Nebraska and western Iowa. Our new data indicate that only loess adjacent to the Platte River has Pb isotopic characteristics suggesting derivation from this river. Most Peoria Loess in central Nebraska (up to 20 m thick) is non-glaciogenic, on the basis of Pb isotope ratios in K-feldspars and the presence of 34-Ma detrital zircons. These isotopic characteristics suggest derivation primarily from the Oligocene White River Group in southern South Dakota, western Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado. The occurrence of 10-25 Ma detrital zircons suggests additional minor contributions of silt from the Oligocene-Miocene Arikaree Group and Miocene Ogallala Group. Isotopic data from detrital K-feldspar and zircon grains from Peoria Loess deposits in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa suggest that the immediate source of this loess was alluvium of the Missouri River. We conclude that this silt probably is of glaciogenic origin, primarily derived from outwash from the western margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Identification of the White River Group as the main provenance of Peoria Loess of central Nebraska and the Missouri River valley as the immediate source of western Iowa Peoria Loess indicates that paleowind directions during the late Wisconsin were primarily from the northwest and west, in agreement with earlier studies of particle size and loess thickness variation. In addition, the results are in agreement with recent simulations of non-glaciogenic dust sources from linked climate-vegetation modeling, suggesting dry, windy, and minimally vegetated areas in parts of the Great Plains during the last glacial period. Keywords: loess, zircon, K-feldspar, U-Pb, Pb isotopes.

Isotopic analyses of three stalagmites from Cold Water Cave, northeast Iowa, United States, reveal nearly identical [[Delta].sup.13]C trends from ca. 7 to 2 ka. However, [[Delta].sup.18]O patterns differ by as much as 3[per thousand] from 5.7 to 3.2 ka. These disparate [[Delta].sup.18]O values reflect evaporative 18O enrichment in meteoric water prior to infiltration, suggesting that previously calculated temperatures based on a single Cold Water Cave stalagmite overestimated middle Holocene warming. The coincidence of elevated middle Holocene growth rates in the stalagmites with the lowest oxygen isotopic compositions indicates that the middle Holocene was marked by a predominance of cool-weather precipitation during a period of increased overall aridity.