Fossils of Periastron reticulatum Unger emended. Beck recovered from the Erin Slate of the Talladega slate belt of Alabama establish that these rocks have a Mississippian (Kinderhookian-Tournaisian) age. The Talladega slate belt, the southwestern extension of the western Blue Ridge belt, was interpreted to have been affected by regional dynamothermal metamorphism and coeval deformation as a result of the Acadian orogeny. This fossil find indicates that metamorphism and deformation of the Talladega belt occurred after the Early Carboniferous (Alleghanian), requiring a reevaluation of tectonic interpretations of the southernmost Appalachians.

No abstract

Rates of poverty and economic inequality in rural Alabama are among the nation's highest and increasing agricultural productivity can provide a needed boost to these communities. The transition from rain-fed to irrigation-fed (RFtoIF) agriculture has significantly increased farm productivity and profitability elsewhere in the United States. Despite this potential to enhance stability and resilience in rural economies, irrigated cropland accounts for only 5% of Alabama's total cropland as numerous barriers remain to irrigation adoption. To encourage RFtoIF transition, it is imperative to identify the challenges faced by individual farmers at farm, community, and state levels. This study presents a multi-level mixed effects survival analysis to identify the physiographic, socioecological, and economic factors that influence the location and timing of irrigation adoption. We integrate spatiotemporal cropland and climatological data with field-verified locations of center-pivot irrigation systems, local physiographic characteristics, and parcel-level surface water access and average well depth. Access to surface water, costs to access groundwater, and soil characteristics were generally important influences in all regions, but regions were differentiated by the extent to which new irrigation was more responsive to social influences vs. precipitation and price trends. Our findings also highlighted the diversity of farming conditions across the state, which suggested that diverse policy tools are needed that acknowledge the varying motivations and constraints faced by Alabama's farmers.

No abstract