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Late
Quaternary deposits (clastic sediments, geochemical precipitates, and
biochemical residues < 0.9 million years old) occur as lithofacies
in sediment-landform associations, within alpine, montane, piedmont,
lowland, and basin-floor landsystems. Late Quaternary deposits are versatile
resources: mineral commodities, construction sites, water-bearing materials,
agricultural land, open space, and geoantiquities. Geoantiquities record
stages in the development of local natural landscapes, serving as community
archives of pre-urban environmental history. Managed wisely, selected
geoantiquities can pay dividends in basic science, applied science,
community education, community esthetics, and community ethics, now
and perpetually. More typically, rapid urbanization decimates (by removal,
burial, mutilation, and contamination) outstanding geoantiquities.
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