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Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Luminescence Geochronology of the Northeastern Mojave Desert

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Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Luminescence Geochronology of the Northeastern Mojave Desert ARTICLE IN PRESS Quaternary International 166 (2007) 61–78 Late Quaternary stratigraphy and luminescence geochronology of the northeastern Mojave Desert Shannon A. Mahana,Ã, David M. Millerb, Christopher M. Mengesc, James C. Younta aUnited States Geological Survey, Box 25046 MS 974, Denver, CO 80225, USA bUnited States Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA cUnited States Geological Survey, 520 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719-5035, USA Available online 8 January 2007 Abstract The chronology of the Holocene and late Pleistocene deposits of the northeastern Mojave Desert have been largely obtained using radiocarbon ages. Our study refines and extends this framework using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to date deposits from Valjean Valley, Silurian Lake Playa, Red Pass, and California Valley. Of particular interest are eolian fine silts incorporated in ground- water discharge (GWD) deposits bracketed at 185–140 and 20–50 ka. Alluvial fan deposits proved amenable for OSL by dating both eolian sand lenses and reworked eolian sand in a matrix of gravel that occurs within the fan stratigraphy. Lacustrine sand in spits and bars also yielded acceptable OSL ages. These OSL ages fill gaps in the geochronology of desert deposits, which can provide data relevant to understanding the responses of several depositional systems to regional changes in climate. This study identifies the most promising deposits for future luminescence dating and suggests that for several regions of the Mojave Desert, sediments from previously undated landforms can be more accurately placed within correct geologic map units. Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Previous chronologic studies in the northeastern Mojave Desert area include magneto-stratigraphic studies and Extracting paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental infor- tephrochronology of the upper Pliocene to middle Quatern- mation from terrestrial deposits is an important area of ary Tecopa beds (Hillhouse, 1987; Sarna-Wojcicki et al., Quaternary geologic research. It is desirable to establish 1987; Morrison, 1999; Cox and Hillhouse, 2003), and both the quality and availability of as many terrestrial, radiocarbon dating of Lake Mojave deposits and associated climatic, and environmental proxies as possible (Andrews, piedmont alluvial units (Reheis et al., 1989; Wells et al., 2003). 2006). Deserts provide challenges for dating deposits. In The Mojave Desert contains several Quaternary eolian the northeastern Mojave Desert, a substantial body of sand fields, some of which include large sand streams work detailing absolute age chronologies, much of it based (Lancaster, 1999; Lancaster and Tchakerian, 2003)(Fig. 1). on radiocarbon ages, exists for part of the area, such as the One of these areas, the Kelso dune field, has been studied lower Colorado River, Silver Lake, Kelso Valley, Pahrump extensively, and several sand ramps comprised of collu- Valley, Las Vegas Valley, and central Death Valley (Reheis vium and eolian sand have been dated using infrared- et al., 1989; Wells et al., 1990; Bull, 1991; McDonald and stimulated luminescence (IRSL) (Edwards, 1993; Clarke, McFadden, 1994; Menges et al., 2001; Lundstrom et al., 1994; Rendell et al., 1994; Wintle et al., 1994; Bedford, 2003; Machette et al., 2003; Page et al., 2005). Using 2003). Elsewhere in the Mojave, eolian deposits have been optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) will help build widely sampled and correlated using luminescence dating correlations between those solidly dated deposits and those (Wintle et al., 1994; Clarke et al., 1996; Rendell and that remain poorly or not dated. Sheffer, 1996; Clarke and Rendell, 1998), including dates for short-duration periods of eolian deposition adjacent to, ÃCorresponding author. and corresponding with, low levels of Lake Mojave E-mail address: [email protected] (S.A. Mahan). (Busacca et al., 2004). 1040-6182/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2006.12.010 ARTICLE IN PRESS 62 S.A. Mahan et al. / Quaternary International 166 (2007) 61–78 Pahrump Valley Resting Spri Shoshone Tecopa lake ng Range beds Mesquite Nopah Range Tecopa Valley California Valley Kingston Range Sperry Hills Hwy. 127 Mesquite Range AmargosaDumont River Dunes Death Valley Kingston Wash Shadow Valjean Valley Salt Creek Valley Avawatz Mts. Silurian Shadow Mts. Lake Silurian Hills Silurian Valley Silver Cima volca Lake N Red Pass I-15 Soda Mts. nic field Baker 051015202.5 Kilometers Fig. 1. The Landsat 6 image of the northeast Mojave Desert showing locations of the OSL sampling sites (stars) discussed in this paper and principal geographic features. Silver Lake is on the northern edge of pluvial Lake Mojave. Samples were collected for OSL from six sites in the Pass were found suitable for OSL dating techniques. The greater Silurian Valley area, as well as south and east of California Valley ground-water discharge (GWD) deposits Death Valley (Fig. 1, Table 1, Table 2). At the present time, were used as a test of several OSL parameters; these include this area is characterized by a bimodal wind system and a the utility of polymineral, fine-silt luminescence, and the long-term annual average precipitation of 137 mm/yr, with demonstration for the potential to date deposits at least as much of the moisture during October–April (Hereford old as 200 ka. Some deposits proved to be beyond the range et al., 2004). Within the collection area, lacustrine of OSL dating (Table 1). Fine-grained stream sediment, sediments from Silurian Lake playa, stream deposits from alluvial sediment that incorporates eolian sand, and GWD Salt Creek, and alluvial fans of Valjean Valley and Red that incorporates fine windblown silt all proved amenable ARTICLE IN PRESS S.A. Mahan et al. / Quaternary International 166 (2007) 61–78 63 Table 1 Feldspar IRSL and quartz OSL ages from the Mojave Desert study area Lab ID Field Dose rate Equivalent dose Age (yr) Dose rate Equivalent dose N Age (yr) Sample information ID, Moisture (Gy/ka) (Gy) (Gy/ka) (Gy) area and genesis (%) (71 s%) (71 s%) IRSLa (71 s%) (71 s%) Quartz OSLb Valjean Valley alluvial fan M99VJ-990 0.8 4.5370.11 20.770.53 45837288 Alluvial fan unit 20.670.52 45837291 M99VJ-991 0.1 4.7370.18 16.870.59 35847197 Alluvial fan unit 13.870.62 29187243 Kingston Wash M99VJ-992 0.4 5.3570.19 411272.91 420,87271334 Eolian sand in Qia2 alluvium 483.474.71 415,52271036 M99VJ-993 15c 4.9070.11 27776.91 51,68673957 Cemented sand in Qoa alluvium 28279.59 52,81973308 M99VJ-994 0.3 4.9070.11 183721.9 37,36272447 Eolian sand in Qia2 alluvium 187723.3 38,25472453 Salt Creek Wash M99VJ-989 2.4 6.4770.20 31.870.38 49127328 Sand just under debris flow M01OM-1843 0.3 6.2770.09 33.170.54 52837234 3.7870.06 18.870.42 42 (52) 49827161 Below M99VJ-989, sand Silurian Lake Playa M99VJ-987 1.3 6.1870.19 41.271.32 66647478 Northern bar 39.370.98 63477451 M99VJ-988 1.2 6.1970.19 5.8970.68 9257229 Southern bar M01OM-1844 0.1 6.3170.10 4.6370.37 7337119 4.2670.06 1.5270.26 32 (47) 3567121 Southern bar (duplicate) 6.0270.66 9537206 California Valley LCW-1a 20c 6.1370.25 4804760.3 4131,080728,574 Not suitable Qia deposit (upper) 4823774.1 4134,219713,468 LCW-1b 15c 4.9770.17 4722746.6 4145,233714,152 Not suitable Qia deposit (lower) 4663746.4 4133,467712,171 LCW-3a 20c 5.1670.12 11471.30 22,16771178 3.6870.08 72.472.43 31(36) 19,68271580 Upper GWD calcareous sand LCW-3b 15c 4.9270.07 Saturated 3.3670.05 Saturated Yellow sand LCW-3c 15c 6.0170.08 30979.03 51,51573338 4.0870.06 239711.3 44 (48) 58,65274049 Lower GWD calcareous sand M01OM-1842a 15c 4.4870.07 4440724.8 498,231711,509 top GWD gravelly silt 4607743.5 4153,368722,524 M01OM-1842b 15c 10.970.38 Disequilibrium in dose 6.3670.22 Lower sand Red Pass M01OM-1849a 1.2 5.3170.08 64.371.22 12,1127588 3.8870.06 44.870.67 46 (48) 11,5377234 Upper sand, Qya4 67.970.93 12,7887524 M01OM-1849b 1.4 4.8570.07 15071.70 30,89471108 3.8570.06 14272.55 31(40) 36,88171290 Lower sand, Qia2? 10471.87 21,4197986 aData from Daybreak Reader, fine-grained silt (4–11 mm). See Table 3 for specific parameters. bData from Riso Reader, fine-grained sand (90–105, 105–125, 125–150, 150–180 fractions). See Table 4 for specific parameters. N ¼ Number of replicated equivalent dose (De) estimates used to calculate the mean. Figures in parentheses indicate total number of measurements made including failed runs with unusable data. cAverage water content had to be assumed as the sample was indurated, collected as a solid block and required HCl treatment for disaggregation. ARTICLE IN PRESS 64 S.A. Mahan et al. / Quaternary International 166 (2007) 61–78 Table 2 Sample location data Sample No. UTM E (m) UTM N (m) Date Deposit Feature sampled M99VJ-990 579355 3938206 10/17/99 Qya3 Eolian sand lens M99VJ-991 580056 3929066 10/17/99 Qya3 Sand-rich alluvium M99VJ-992 586066 3942713 10/17/99 Qia2 Eolian sand lens M99VJ-993 585942 3942763 10/17/99 Qoa Eolian sand lens M99VJ-994 586756 3942774 10/17/99 Qia2? Eolian sand lens M99VJ-989 571220 3938243 10/17/99 Wash Sand bed M01OM-1843 571213 3938241 12/04/01 Wash Sand bed Mud block 571220 3938243 10/17/99 Active channel Mud-cracked block M99VJ-987 574130 3933553 10/17/99 Lake bar Playa bed M99VJ-988 576194 3930412 10/17/99 Lake bar Sand bed M01OM-1844 576202 3930409 12/04/01 Lake bar Sand bed LCW-1a 586095 3963330 12/03/01 4Qia2; pQia3 Ground-water enhanced sand- silt bed LCW-1b 586116 3963318 12/03/01 4Qia2; pQia3 Ground-water enhanced sand- silt bed LCW-3a 585881 3963746 12/03/01 GWD Sandy mud LCW-3b 585881 3963746 12/03/01 GWD Sand bed LCW-3c 585881 3963746 12/03/01 GWD Sandy mud M01OM-1842a 590542 3978404 12/04/01 Tertiary? Muddy sand M01OM-1842b 590542 3978404 12/04/01 Tertiary? Muddy sand M01SM-1849a 564267 3909254 12/05/01 Qia2 Sand bed M01SM-1849b 564267 3909254 12/05/01 Qia2 Sand bed Note: All UTM coordinates are from Zone 11 using NAD83 projection.
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