Carbonate Deposition, Pyramid Lake Subbasin, Nevada: 2
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- ubP lished Research US Geological Survey 1995 Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin Larry Benson U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected] Michaele Kashgarian Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory Meyer Rubin U.S. Geological Survey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Part of the Geology Commons, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons, Other Earth Sciences Commons, and the Other Environmental Sciences Commons Benson, Larry; Kashgarian, Michaele; and Rubin, Meyer, "Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin" (1995). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 1014. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/1014 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- ubP lished Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. PhJ.d @ ELSEVIER Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology 117 (1995) 1-30 Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin Larry Benson a, Michaele Kashgarian b, Meyer Rubin c a U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303, USA b Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-397, Livermore, CA 94550, USA c U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 971, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, 11122092, USA Received 2 August 1994; revised and accepted 11 October 1994 Abstract Most of the tufas in the Pyramid Lake subbasin were deposited within the last 35,000 yr, including most of the mound tufas that border the existing lake. Many of the older tufas (> 21,000 yr B.P.) contained in the mounds were formed in association with ground-water discharge. The radiocarbon (14C) ages of the older tufas represent maximum estimates of the time of their formation. Lake Lahontan experienced large and abrupt rises in level at ~ 22,000, 15,000, and 11,000 yr B.P. and three abrupt recessions in level at ~ 16,000, 13,600, and 10,000 yr B.P. The lake-level rises that were initiated at ~23,500 and 15,500 yr B.P. are believed to indicate the passage of the polar jet stream over the Lahontan basin. During expansion of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, the jet stream moved south across the basin, and during the contraction of the Ice Sheet, the jet stream moved north across the basin. The bulk of the carbonate contained in the mound tufas was deposited during the last major lake cycle (~23,500-12,000 yr B.P.), indicating that ground- and surface-water discharges increased at ~23,500 and decreased at ~ 12,000 yr B.P. A lake-level oscillation that occurred between 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P. is represented by a 2-cm thick layer of dense laminated tufa that occurs at and below 1180 m in the low-elevation tufa mounds and at 1205 m in the Winnemucca Lake subbasin. 1. Introduction secondary "modern" carbon. The first form of contamination occurs when old ground water 1.1. Previous work mixes with modern lake water to form a calcium carbonate precipitate; the second form of contami- Previous studies of the Lahontan lake-level nation occurs when modern carbon is added to a record primarily utililized the 14C ages and eleva- porous carbonate by a dissolution-reprecipitation tions of samples of dense tufa coatings located far process. The choice of only dense carbonates had from suspected sites of ground-water discharge one major shortcoming: i.e., dense tufa coatings (Benson, 1993 and references therein). This are not distributed over the entire elevational range procedure was implemented to avoid samples that previously occupied by Lake Lahontan. had incorporated radioactively "dead" carbon or The sequence of formation and elevational 0031-0182/95/$9.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI 0031-0182(94)00103-0 2 L. Benson et al/Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 117 (1995) 1-30 distribution of carbonates in the Pyramid Lake Pyramid Lake and Winnemucca Lake subbasins subbasin were discussed in part 1 of this series (Thompson et al., 1986; Benson et al., 1992). (Benson, 1994). The most complete sequences of tufas are found in mound-like carbonate deposits 1.2. Definitions and terms that border the shore of Pyramid Lake. The sequence of tufa formation displayed in these For the purposes of this paper, Lake Lahontan mounds is (from oldest to youngest): (1)a beach- refers to any body of water existing in the Pyramid rock containing carbonate-cemented volcanic cob- Lake subbasin prior to 10,000 yr B.P. Western bles, (2) broken and eroded old spheroids that Lahontan subbasins include the Pyramid Lake, contain thinolitic tufa and an outer rind of dense Winnemucca Dry Lake, Smoke Creek-Black Rock laminated tufa, (3) large cylindrical (tubular) tufas and Honey Lake subbasins (Fig. 1). A sill is the capped by (4) coatings of old dense tufas and lowest part of a divide that separates adjoining (5) several generations of old branching tufa subbasins; a sill functions as a spill point when the commonly associated with thin, platy tufas and lake in one subbasin spills to another subbasin. coatings of thinolitic tufa, (6) young spheroids that Change in effective wetness (AWeff) necessary to contain poorly oriented young thinolitic tufa in the achieve or exceed a sill elevation at steady state is center and several generations of radially oriented defined as: young thinolitic tufas near the outer edge, (7) a A Weu~Ap,l~o/Amst (1) transitional thinolite-to-branching tufa, (8) two or more layers of young branching tufa, (9) a 0.5-cm where Apaloo is the paleolake surface area and Ahist thick layer of fine-grained dolomite, (10) a 2-cm is the mean historical surface area (corrected for anthropogenic effects). This quantitative definition thick layer of young dense laminated tufa, (11 ) a of effective wetness is equivalent to the normaliza- 0.1-cm thick layer of encrusting tufa that was tion of paleo-lake surface areas introduced by covered by a beach deposit and (12) a 1.0-cm Benson and Paillet (1989). thick layer of porous encrusting tufa that coated Tufa varieties are classified as dense laminated, the beach deposit and the sides of tufa mounds thinolitic, branching, and porous encrustations. (See figs. 29 and 35 in Benson, 1994). Extensive tufa accumulations are divided into The purposes of this study are: (1) to determine the following forms: carbonate-cemented debris the time interval over which each variety of tufa (beachrock, cemented talus and cemented ter- was deposited, (2) to construct a more detailed races), girdles, mounds, reefs, sheets and pendant lake-level record for the Pyramid Lake subbasin sheets. Photographs showing examples of tufa for the past 30,000_+ yr, (3) to deduce the posi- variety and forms can be found in Benson (1994). tion of the southern branch of the polar jet The first occurrence of a tufa variety is termed oM stream from the lake-level reconstructions, and (4) and the second occurrence is termed young. to compare Lahontan and Bonneville lake-level Radiocarbon ages are specified as yr B.P. (years reconstructions. before present) and percent modern carbon is In order to accomplish these purposes, this study abbreviated as pmc. A sample that contains dead incorporates 221 14C ages of carbon bearing mate- carbon has a 14C:C ratio less than modern; e.g., rials from the Lahontan basin including: 115 pre- old ground water is said to contain dead carbon. viously unpublished 14C ages (including 74 AMS If the 14C activity of a sample is at the limit of x4C ages) of mound and other tufa complexes from detection, the sample is said to have an infinite age the Pyramid Lake subbasin, 4 previously unpub- (with respect to the method of detection). lished AMS 14C ages of roots associated with tufa mounds, 59 previously published 14C ages of dense 1.3. Methods tufas from the Lahontan basin (Benson, 1993 and references therein), and 43 previously pub- Sample elevations (accurate to within _+ 3 m) lished 14C ages of organic materials from the were obtained by hand leveling from known eleva- L. Benson et al/Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 117 (1995) 1 30 120" 119" I I X l18" 117" 116" t 115" SMOKE~EEK- / I SUBB~N\_ I ~ I \~I "// / / / i I /t ) \ I ,.. ~,~-'S~ HONEYLAKE / / i SUBBAS/N /'~ TS ,~ .~./ ~ //~ ~ .' / ~-~ ej J I te,Vn - )_,)/ ../" fl , [~/" "/~' I. / I I /I-~,F. SUBB~,SlN I )! i'~\ ! wc . /,,_, ; EXPLANATION Z OWATER CHEMISTRY SITES r , Imlay SUBBASlN - Tahoe Meadows SM 0 0 Woodfords ~>~ CARSON LA Gardnerville N Nixon • WALKER LAKE s Sutcliffe SUBBASIN r Tahoe City E EIko, Nevada Farad, California \.../ c Carson City, Nevada % w Wabuska, Nevada • TUFA SAMPLING SITES Ts Trego Hot Springs • ~ Astor Pass zN Zenobia wc Winnemucca Caves wo Winnem ucca Site Pc Pipeline Canyon ss S-S Core Site t~ I ~ EMERSONPASS SILL ~. X'~ [1207m) wA Wadsworth Amphitheater ASTOR PASSSILL~ ~ I • s~ Sand Mountain 11222m) ~ ~.1,1 " I Av Adrian Valley Pass /~/I I wp West of Pelican Point \~1~, I I ) I Border of Great Basin 2 ~. ~,oMUaLAKE SLOUGH SILL --- Border of Lake Lahontan Highstend ~'~ / (I 177m| j v -- -- Outline of Lake Russell Highstend ~1~ Perennial Lakes ('~ ~.