Late Pleistocene Glaciations in the Northwestern Sierra Nevada, California

Pleistocene fluvial landforms and riparian ecosystems in central California responded to climate changes in the Sierra Nevada, yet the glacial history of the western Sierra remains largely unknown. Three glacial stages in the northwestern Sierra Nevada are documented by field mapping and cosmogenic radionuclide surface-exposure (CRSE) ages. Two CRSE ages of erratic boulders on an isolated till above Bear Valley provide a limiting minimum age of 76,400±3800 ¹⁰Be yr. Another boulder age provides a limiting minimum age of 48,800±3200 ¹⁰Be yr for a broad-crested moraine ridge within Bear Valley. Three CRSE ages producing an average age of 18,600±1180 yr were drawn from two boulders near a sharp-crested bouldery lateral moraine that represents an extensive Tioga glaciation in Bear Valley. Nine CRSE ages from striated bedrock along a steep valley transect average 14,100±1500 yr and suggest rapid late-glacial ice retreat from lower Fordyce Canyon with no subsequent extensive glaciations. These ages are generally consistent with glacial and pluvial records in east-central California and Nevada.     

Late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake highstands in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA

Shoreline geomorphology, shoreline stratigraphy, and radiocarbon dates of organic material incorporated in constructional beach ridges record large lakes during the late Pleistocene and late Holocene in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA. During the late Holocene, a transgression began at or after 3595 ± 35 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and continued, perhaps in pulses, through 2635 ± 40 ¹⁴C yr B.P., resulting in a lake as high as 1199 m. During the latest Pleistocene and overlapping with the earliest part of the Younger Dryas interval, a lake stood at approximately 1212 m at 10,820 ± 35 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and a geomorphically and stratigraphically distinct suite of constructional shorelines associated with this lake can be traced to 1230 m. These two lake highstands correspond to periods of elevated regional wetness in the western Basin and Range that are not clearly represented in existing northern Sierra Nevada climate proxy records.     

Late Pleistocene highstand and recession of a small, high-altitude pluvial lake, Jakes Valley, central Great Basin, USA

Models of factors controlling late Pleistocene pluvial lake-level fluctuations in the Great Basin are evaluated by dating lake levels in Jakes Valley. “Jakes Lake” rose to a highstand at 13,870 ± 50 ¹⁴C Yr B.P., receded to a stillstand at 12,440 ± 50 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and receded steadily to desiccation thereafter. The Jakes Lake highstand is roughly coincident with highstands of lakes Bonneville, Lahontan and Russell. The rise to highstand and recession of Jakes Lake were most likely controlled by a storm track steered by the polar jet stream. The final stillstand of Jakes Lake helps constrain timing of northward retreat of the polar jet stream during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.     

Chemical evolution of shallow playa groundwater in response to post-pluvial isostatic rebound, Honey Lake Basin, California–Nevada, USA

The 1,750-km² endorheic Honey Lake basin (California–Nevada, USA) was part of the 22,000-km² Pleistocene Lake Lahontan pluvial lake system which existed between 5,000 and 40,000 years BP. The basin consists of two subbasins separated by a low elevation divide. Groundwater in the western subbasin has a maximum total dissolved solids (TDS) content of only ～1,300 mg/L; however eastern subbasin groundwater has a maximum TDS of ～46,000 mg/L. This TDS distribution is unexpected because 94% of surface water TDS loading is to the western subbasin. In situ reactions and upwelling thermal groundwater contributing to groundwater chemistry were modeled using NETPATH. The TDS difference between the subbasins is attributed to post-Lake Lahontan isostatic rebound about 13,000 years ago. Prior to rebound the subbasins did not exist and the low point of the basin was in the eastern area where hydraulic isolation from the larger Lake Lahontan and frequent desiccation of the basin surface water resulted in evaporite mineral deposition in accumulating sediments. After rebound, the terminal sink for most surface water shifted to the western subbasin. Although most closed basins have not been impacted by isostatic rebound, results of this investigation demonstrate how tectonic evolution can impact the distribution of soluble minerals accumulating in shallow basins.     

黄河源区第四纪地质研究的新进展

通过对黄河源区的钻孔、自然露头的研究, 建立了黄河源区的第四纪地层层序。第四纪地层可划分为下更新统、中更新统、上更新统和全新统。下更新统为河湖相沉积; 中更新统主要有湖积物、冰碛物和冰水沉积物; 上更新统主要有湖积物、冰碛物、冰水沉积物、洪积物和河流沉积物; 全新统主要由河流沉积物、洪积物和湖积物构成。黄河源区的冰期可划分为3期, 即末次冰期、倒数第二次冰期、倒数第三次冰期, 末次冰期又可分为2个冰阶。黄河源区的湖泊演化可划分为早更新世、中更新世和晚更新世—全新世3个阶段: 早更新世的湖泊范围小; 中更新世的湖泊范围明显扩大, 在位置上也较早更新世的湖泊南移; 晚更新世的湖泊经历了两次的扩张—收缩变化, 到了全新世, 除现今还发育的几个湖泊外, 大多数地区的湖水已退出, 基本上转变为河流环境。在晚更新世末期到全新世初期, 封闭黄河源区的多石峡被切开, 湖水外泄, 现今的黄河形成了, 同时发生了袭夺长江水系的水流。     

Temporal correspondence between pluvial lake highstands in the southwestern US and Heinrich Event 1

Pluvial lakes were abundant in the southwestern United States during Pleistocene glaciations, particularly in the Great Basin. Many of these lakes occupied closed basins; therefore, fluctuations of their water surface elevations are valuable sources of paleoclimate information. Histories of the largest lakes are well constrained, whereas dozens of smaller lakes that were present in this region have received relatively little scientific attention. Given their dimensions, these smaller lakes were climatically sensitive and can offer important information about Quaternary climate variability. Here we present new ages for the highstands of three previously undated small lakes based on radiocarbon dating of gastropod shells recovered from beach ridges. These results are combined with other published and unpublished ¹⁴C ages to yield an extensive compilation of highstand shoreline ages for lakes of all sizes throughout the southwestern US. The results indicate that although some lakes reached highstands during the Last Glacial Maximum, the strongest temporal correspondence is between highstands and Heinrich Event H1. These results are consistent with speleothem‐based reconstructions of effective moisture in the southwestern US, which show increased precipitation during stadials of the last glacial cycle. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronology of latest Pleistocene mountain glaciation in the western Wasatch Mountains, Utah, U.S.A.

Understanding the timing of mountain glacier and paleolake expansion and retraction in the Great Basin region of the western United States has important implications for regional-scale climate change during the last Pleistocene glaciation. The relative timing of mountain glacier maxima and the well-studied Lake Bonneville highstand has been unclear, however, owing to poor chronological limits on glacial deposits. Here, this problem is addressed by applying terrestrial cosmogenic ¹⁰Be exposure dating to a classic set of terminal moraines in Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons in the western Wasatch Mountains. The exposure ages indicate that the main phase of deglaciation began at 15.7 ± 1.3 ka in both canyons. This update to the glacial chronology of the western Wasatch Mountains can be reconciled with previous stratigraphic observations of glacial and paleolake deposits in this area, and indicates that the start of deglaciation occurred during or at the end of the Lake Bonneville hydrologic maximum. The glacial chronology reported here is consistent with the growing body of data suggesting that mountain glaciers in the western U.S. began retreating as many as 4 ka after the start of northern hemisphere deglaciation (at ca. 19 ka).     

Glacial history of southernmost South America

In southernmost South America, an incomplete radiometrically dated glacial chronology has been obtained by KAr dating for the interval 3.5-1 MY ago, and a more detailed chronology by C-14 dating for the last 25,000 years, with some older minimal ages. The first major glaciation was about 3.5 MY ago during the middle Pliocene. Little is yet known about glacial fluctuations during the interval 3.5-2.1 MY ago. Between 2.1 and 1 MY ago many glaciations occurred, probably including the greatest of late Cenozoic time which took place after 1.2 MY and, according to inconclusive evidence, before 1 MY ago. The Patagonian Gravel in its type area is mid-Pliocene to early Pleistocene glacial outwash that accumulated from the first to the greatest glaciations. During the late Pleistocene several glaciations occurred, but only the most recent has been radiometrically dated. During the last glaciation the glaciers were most extensive before 56,000 BP. Successively smaller advances that culminated about 19,500 BP and, probably, about 13,000 BP were separated by an interstade when glaciers shrank by more than half. The glaciers receded rapidly after 13,000 BP and were within their present borders by 11,000 BP; they remained so during the European Younger Dryas Stade 11,000-10,000 BP. Neoglacial regional readvances culminated 4600-4200 BP, probably 2700-2000 BP, and during the last three centuries; most glaciers reached their Neoglacial maxima during the first episode. Between readvances, the glaciers shrank within their present borders.     

Correlation of late Quaternary tephra layers in a long pluvial sequence near Summer Lake,Oregon

Near Summer Lake in southern Oregon, 54 tephra beds of late Quaternary age are exposed in pluvial lake sediments of Lake Chewaucan. Seven of the tephra beds near the top can be correlated with tephra deposits younger than 117,000 yr at Mount St. Helens, Washington, at Crater Lake, Oregon, and in northwestern Nevada in the deposits of pluvial Lake Lahontan. However, most of the section at Summer Lake lies below the correlated units, and contains 39 tephra beds older than 117,000 yr.Major-element chemistry of tephra glasses was determined by electron microprobe analysis; petrography supports the correlations made from chemical evidence. Compositions correlated range from 70 to 76% SiO₂; the least silicic Summer Lake glass contained 57%.Extrapolation of depositional rate suggests that most of the sediments at Summer Lake are younger than about 335,000 yr, but older lake beds containing tephra layers occur at one place. The long lacustrine record suggests that Lake Chewaucan persisted through the last interpluvial stage, and that the lake may have dried up at the end of the Pleistocene due to diversion of the Chewaucan River by relict shore features.     

Deglacial paleoclimate in the southwestern United States: an abrupt 18.6 ka cold event and evidence for a North Atlantic forcing of Termination I

We present a new U-series dated speleothem record (PC-1) from the Great Basin that documents deglacial climate variability between ca 20.1 and 15.6 ka. Our data show an abrupt 18.6 ka cold event preceding Heinrich event 1 that is consistent with expansion of the Laurentide Ice sheet during the ‘binge’ phase of ice growth. This event coincided with dessication of pluvial Lake Mojave suggesting cold and dry conditions in the southern Great Basin at this time. PC-1 δ¹⁸O values before and during Heinrich event 1 are similar, but an increase in stalagmite growth rates suggests wetter conditions that coincided with deposition of spring deposits in southern Nevada. The time interval of our record is consistent with the timing of pluvial conditions in the Great Basin as evident from a comparison to regional wetness proxies. Our new speleothem record, recovered from the recharge area for Devils Hole, does not show a δ¹⁸O increase coincident with the abrupt increase in Devils Hole δ¹⁸O at c. 18 ka, challenging the view that the Great Basin experienced an early Termination I. This hypothesis is supported by two other southwest speleothem records that demonstrate deglaciation was synchronous with forcing from the North Atlantic Ocean. We suggest that Devils Hole speleothem δ¹⁸O values may partly reflect source water changes in the regional aquifer. Further, Devils Hole δ¹³C minima coincide with peak global glacial conditions and weak Asian monsoon periods, suggesting that they constrain better the timing of pluvial conditions in the Great Basin.     

Evidence of temperature depression and hydrological variations in the eastern Sierra Nevada during the Younger Dryas stade

Sediment records from two lakes in the east-central Sierra Nevada, California, provide evidence of cooling and hydrological shifts during the Younger Dryas stade (YD; ~ 12,900-11,500 cal yr BP). A chironomid transfer function suggests that lake-water temperatures were depressed by 2°C to 4°C relative to maximum temperatures during the preceding Bølling-Allerød interstade (BA; ~ 14,500-12,900 cal yr BP). Diatom and stable isotope records suggest dry conditions during the latter part of the BA interstade and development of relatively moist conditions during the initiation of the YD stade, with a reversion to drier conditions later in the YD. These paleohydrological inferences correlate with similar timed changes detected in the adjacent Great Basin. Vegetation response during the YD stade includes the development of more open and xeric vegetation toward the end of the YD. The new records support linkages between the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and widespread YD cooling in western North America, but they also suggest complex hydrological influences. Shifting hydrological conditions and relatively muted vegetation changes may explain the previous lack of evidence for the YD stade in the Sierra Nevada and the discordance in some paleohydrological and glacial records of the YD stade from the western United States.     

Calibrating Late Quaternary terrestrial climate signals: radiometrically dated pollen evidence from the southern Sierra Nevada,USA

We constructed a radiometrically calibrated proxy record of Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate change exceeding 230,000 yr duration, using pollen profiles from two cores taken through age-equivalent dry lakes—one core having greater age control (via ²³⁰Th alpha mass-spectrometry) and the other having greater stratigraphic completeness. The better dated of these two serial pollen records (Searles Lake) served as a reference section for improving the effective radiometric age control in a nearby and more complete pollen record (Owens Lake) because they: (1) are situated ∼90 km apart in the same drainage system (on, and immediately leeward of, the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada), and (2) preserved strikingly similar pollen profiles and concordant sequences of sedimentological changes. Pollen assemblages from both lakes are well preserved and diverse, and document serial changes in Late Pleistocene and Holocene plant zone distribution and composition in the westernmost Great Basin; they consist of taxa now inhabiting montane forest, woodland, steppe, and desert-scrub environments. The studied core intervals are interpreted here to be the terrestrial equivalent of marine δ¹⁸O stages 1 through 9; these pollen profiles now appear to be among the best radiometrically dated Late Pleistocene records of terrestrial climate change known.     

Estimating palaeowind strength from beach deposits

Abstract The geological record of past wind conditions is well expressed in the coarse gravel, cobble and boulder beach deposits of Quaternary palaeolakes in the Great Basin of the western USA and elsewhere. This paper describes a technique, using the particle‐size distribution of beach deposits, to reconstruct palaeowind conditions when the lakes were present. The beach particle technique (BPT) is first developed using coarse beach deposits from the 1986–87 highstand of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, combined with instrumental wind records from the same time period. Next, the BPT is used to test the hypothesis that wind conditions were more severe than at present during the last highstand of Lake Lahontan (≈ 13 ka), which only lasted a decade or two at most. The largest 50 beach clasts were measured at nine beach sites located along the north, west and south sides of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, all of which formed in 1986–87. At these sites, the largest clast sizes range from 10 to 28 cm (b‐axis), and fetch lengths range from 25 to 55 km. Nearshore wave height was calculated by assuming that the critical threshold velocity required to move the largest clasts represents a minimum estimate of the breaking wave velocity, which is controlled by wave height. Shoaling transformations are undertaken to estimate deep‐water wave heights and, ultimately, wind velocity. Wind estimates for the nine sites, using the BPT, range from 6·5 to 17·4 m s^?1, which is in reasonable agreement with the instrumental record from Salt Lake City Airport. The same technique was applied to eight late Pleistocene beaches surrounding the Carson Sink sub‐basin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada. Using the BPT, estimated winds for the eight sites range from 9·7 to 27·1 m s^?1. The strongest winds were calculated for a cobble/boulder beach with a fetch of 25 km. Instrumental wind records for the 1992–99 period indicate that wind events of 9–12 m s^?1 are common and that the strongest significant wind event (≥ 9 m s^?1 for ≥ 3 h) reached an average velocity of 15·5 m s^?1. Based on this preliminary comparison, it appears that the late Pleistocene western Great Basin was a windier place than at present, at least for a brief time.     

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene lake‐level fluctuations in the Lahontan Basin,Nevada: Implications for the distribution of archaeological sites

The Great Basin of the western U.S. contains a rich record of Late Pleistocene and Holocene lake‐level fluctuations as well as an extensive record of human occupation during the same time frame. We compare spatial‐temporal relationships between these records in the Lahontan basin to consider whether lake‐level fluctuations across the Pleistocene‐Holocene transition controlled distribution of archaeological sites. We use the reasonably well‐dated archaeological record from caves and rockshelters as well as results from new pedestrian surveys to investigate this problem. Although lake levels probably reached maximum elevations of about 1230–1235 m in the different subbasins of Lahontan during the Younger Dryas (YD) period, the duration that the lakes occupied the highest levels was brief. Paleoindian and Early Archaic archaeological sites are concentrated on somewhat lower and slightly younger shorelines (_1220–1225 m) that also date from the Younger Dryas period. This study suggests that Paleoindians often concentrated their activities adjacent to large lakes and wetland resources soon after they first entered the Great Basin. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Chronology of glaciations in the Sierra Nevada,California, from 10Be surface exposure dating

We use ¹⁰Be surface exposure dating to construct a high-resolution chronology of glacial fluctuations in the Sierra Nevada, California. Most previous studies focused on individual glaciated valleys, whereas our study compares chronologies developed throughout the range to identify regional patterns in the timing of glacier response to major climate changes. Sites throughout the range indicate Last Glacial Maximum retreat at 18.8 ± 1.9 ka (2σ) that suggests rather consistent changes in atmospheric variables, e.g., temperature and precipitation, throughout the range. The penultimate glacial retreat occurred at ca 145 ka. Our data suggest that the Sierra Nevada landscape is dominated by glacial features deposited during marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 and MIS 6. Deposits of previously recognized glaciations between circa 25 and 140 ka, e.g., MIS 4, Tenaya, early Tahoe, cannot be unequivocally identified. The timing of Sierra Nevada glacial retreat correlates well with other regional paleoclimate proxies in the Sierra Nevada, but differs significantly from paleoclimate proxies in other regions. Our dating results indicate that the onset of LGM retreat occurred several thousand years earlier in the Sierra Nevada than some glacial records in the western US.     

Slip rate variations on faults in the Basin-and-Range Province caused by regression of Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan

Late Pleistocene regression of two large pluvial lakes—Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan—caused considerable lithospheric rebound in the Basin-and-Range Province, USA. Here, we use finite-element models to show how lake growth and regression affect the temporal and spatial slip evolution on faults near the former lakes. Our results show that fluctuations in the volume of Lake Bonneville caused along-strike slip variations on the Wasatch normal fault, with a pronounced slip rate increase on its northern and central parts during lake regression. The response of normal and strike-slip faults near the ring-shaped Lake Lahontan depends on their location within the rebound area. Faults located in the centre of rebound show a slip rate increase during lake regression, whereas strike-slip faults at the periphery decelerate. All slip rate variations are caused by differential stress changes owing to changing lake levels, regardless of the individual fault response.     

Latest Pleistocene glacial chronology of the Uinta Mountains: support for moisture-driven asynchrony of the last deglaciation

Recent estimates of the timing of the last glaciation in the southern and western Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah suggest that the start of ice retreat and the climate-driven regression of pluvial Lake Bonneville both occurred at approximately 16 cal. ka. To further explore the possible climatic relationship of Uinta Mountain glaciers and the lake, and to add to the glacial chronology of the Rocky Mountains, we assembled a range-wide chronology of latest Pleistocene terminal moraines based on seventy-four cosmogenic ¹⁰Be surface-exposure ages from seven glacial valleys. New cosmogenic-exposure ages from moraines in three northern and eastern valleys of the Uinta Mountains indicate that glaciers in these parts of the range began retreating at 22–20 ka, whereas previously reported cosmogenic-exposure ages from four southern and western valleys indicate that ice retreat began there between 18 and 16.5 ka. This spatial asynchrony in the start of the last deglaciation was accompanied by a 400-m east-to-west decline in glacier equilibrium-line altitudes across the Uinta Mountains. When considered together, these two lines of evidence support the hypothesis that Lake Bonneville influenced the mass balance of glaciers in southern and western valleys of the range, but had a lesser impact on glaciers located farther east. Regional-scale variability in the timing of latest Pleistocene deglaciation in the Rocky Mountains may also reflect changing precipitation patterns, thereby highlighting the importance of precipitation controls on the mass balance of Pleistocene mountain glaciers.     

Level of Lake Lahontan during deposition of the Trego Hot Springs tephra about 23,400 years ago

The Trego Hot Springs tephra bed is a silicic tephra about 23,400 yr old, found at several localities in pluvial lake sediments in northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and northeastern California. It has been characterized petrographically, by the major and minor element chemistry of its glass, and by its stratigraphic position with respect to other tephra layers. At a newly described locality on Squaw Creek, northwest of Gerlach, Nevada, at the north end of the Smoke Creek Desert, Trego Hot Springs tephra has been found in sediments of the Sehoo and Indian Lakes formations. The depositional environments of these sediments show that when the tephra fell, pluvial Lake Lahontan stood between 1256 and 1260 m, and that immediately thereafter the lake rose to at least 1275 m. These data corroborate earlier findings by Benson (Quaternary Research9, 300–318) from radiometric dating of calcareous tufa. However, the Lake Lahontan area has been affected by isostatic subsidence and rebound in response to changing water loads, so that caution is required in the use of lakeshore elevations in correlation.     

Quaternary of Chile: The state of research

The aim of this paper is to present a summary of current knowledge about Quaternary climatic changes, sea level fluctuations, tectonic deformation, and volcanic activity in Chile. In the Andean highlands of the hyperarid desert, glaciers and lakes fluctuated repeatedly. Evidence of pluvial periods is not well documented in the marginal desert. On the contrary, pronounced climatic changes are recorded in semiarid Chile. In central Chile two or three major glacial advances have been identified, but they remained confined within the high Cordillera. In the longitudinal valley of the Lake Region geomorphic remnants of four glaciations have been described; ¹⁴C dates are available for the last glaciation. The glacial history of the Fjord Region is still obscure. Whether Pleistocene climatic changes in the northern and southern part of Chile were synchronous or not is a problem which requires further investigation. Sea level fluctuations along the Chilean coast are in part ascribed to glacio-eustatic effects. They left striking sets of step-like marine terraces in northern and central Chile. From a paleontologic point of view the Pleistocene corresponds to a pronounced move toward isolation and endemic development of the marine fauna. The Quaternary tectonic tendency seems to be toward extension and not compression expected as sea-floor spreading compensation. Normal faults limiting uplifted, downwarped, and tilted blocks are common. Folds are rarely found. Northern Chile is characterized by an imposing chain of about 600 stratovolcanoes. They rest on Tertiary ignimbrites which cover the altiplano. Quartz-bearing latite-andesites are predominant. Present volcanic activity is sporadic and weak. South of a conspicuous gap between 27 and 33°S, Quaternary volcanism reappears in the high Cordillera, and many volcanoes have erupted violently within historic times. Rocks are fundamentally andesite or basaltic andesite. Poorly sorted ashes including pumice clasts in the Central Valley south of Santiago are interpreted as volcanic mudflows of late Pleistocene age.     

Geoarchaeology and late glacial landscapes in the western lake superior region,Central North America

The transition from full glacial to interglacial conditions along the southern margin of the Laurentide ice sheet resulted in dramatic changes in landscapes and biotic habitats. Strata and landforms resulting from the Wisconsin Episode of glaciation in the area directly west of Lake Superior indicate a context for late Pleistocene biota (including human populations) connected to ice margins, proglacial lakes, and postglacial drainage systems. Late Glacial landscape features that have the potential for revealing the presence of Paleoindian artifacts include abandoned shorelines of proglacial lakes in the Superior and Agassiz basins and interior drainages on deglaciated terrains. The linkage between Late Pleistocene human populations and Rancholabrean fauna has yet to be demonstrated in the western Lake Superior region, although isolated remains of mammoth ( Mammuthus) have been documented, as well as fluted points assigned to Clovis, Folsom, and Holcombe‐like artifact forms. Agate Basin and Hell Gap (Plano‐type) artifacts also imply the presence of human groups in Late Glacial landscapes associated with the Agassiz and Superior basins. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.