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Fluctuation in the Level of Pluvial Lake Lahontan During the Last 40,000 Years

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Fluctuation in the Level of Pluvial Lake Lahontan During the Last 40,000 Years See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223480686 Fluctuation in the level of pluvial Lake Lahontan during the last 40,000 years Article in Quaternary Research · May 1978 DOI: 10.1016/0033-5894(78)90035-2 CITATIONS READS 91 132 All content following this page was uploaded by Larry V. Benson on 29 May 2014. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. QUATERNARY RESEARCH 9,300-318 (1978) Fluctuation in the Level of Pluvial Lake Lahontan During the Last 40,000 Years LARRY V. BENSON Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California Received July 25, 1977 Samples of algal tufa, gastropods and calcite-cemented-<and were collected from the Walker and Pyramid Lake areas of the Lahontan Basin, Nevada.; X-ray diffraction petrographic and radiocarbon analyses show that massive forms o i %& such as the dendritic variety contain secondary carbon-bearing material and therefore yield unreliable radiocarbon dates. Dense coating of tufa (lithoid), however, gave radiocarbon ages in agreement with dates on coexisting aragonite gastropods. Radiocarbon data from the study were combined with previously dated noncarbonate materials [Born, S. M. (1972). “Lake Quatemary History, Deltaic Sedimentation, and Mudlump Formation at Pyramid Lake, Nevada,” Center for Water Resources, Desert Research Inst., Reno, Nevada] to give an internally consistent record of lake level fluctuations for the past 40,000 years. The main features of the Lahontan chronology are (1) extreme high stands (1330 m above sea level) 13,500 to 11,000 and 25,000 to 22,000 B.P., (2) a moderate high stand (1260 m above sea level) 20,000 to 15,000 B.P., (3) a low stand of unknown elevation 40,000 to 25,000 B.P., (4) an extremely low stand 9000 to 5OOO.EP?.and (5) an overall increas;;‘Ei%e%e~%&r and Pyramid Lakes du%g-the past 5000 years, until the late 19th century. Pore fluid data indicate that Walker Lake desiccated sometime during the period 9050 to 6400 B.P. Salts deposited as a result of this dessication are still undergoing dissolution causing a flux of chloride, carbon, and other solute Species from the sediments to the overlying lake water. Pore fluid data obtained from Pyramid Lake sediments do not indicate the presence of a concentrated brine at depth. This suggests that Pyramid Lake did not dry completely during this period although it may have been severely reduced in size. There has been considerable disagreement regarding the occurrence of extreme arid conditions (altithermal period) since 10.000 B.P. [Mehringer, P. J. (1977). “Models and Great Basin Prehistory.” Desert Research Inst. Pub. Reno, Nevada]. The data of this study suggest that such a climatic regime did occur in the western Great Basin during the period 9000 to 5000 B.P. INTRODUCTION radiocarbon chronology (Frye, Willman, Broecker and his co-workers (Broecker and Black, 1965). This is an alternative and OIT, 1958; Broecker and Walton, 1959; approach, but it assumes rather than proves Broecker and Kaufman, 1965) were the the synchroneity of continental glaciation first to attempt a determination of the abso- with Great Basin pluviation. lute chronology of pluvial Lakes Lahontan --.IThe .-present _ _ study has two objectives: and Bonneville. Their results suggested the development of criteria%%-_ _.“.- the-, s&ction that both lakes were relatively high at of tufa samples- that yield valid radiocarbon 17,000, 14,500, 12,000 and 9500 B.P. How- ages and the development of an -internally ever, Morrison (1965) showed that certain consistent absolute chronology of Lake of Broecker and Kaufman’s (1965) tufa Lahontan fluctuations. ~- dates were stratigraphically reversed. Con- sequently, Morrison and Frye (1965) re- THE LAHONTAN HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM jected the pluvial lake radiocarbon chronol- ogy and correlated the Lahontan and Bon- Three conditions must be met in the west- neville stratigraphies with the Midwestern ern Great Basin to enable the repeated 0033-5894/78/0093-0300$02.00/0 300 Copyright 0 1978 by the University of Washington. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. FLUCTUATIONS OF PLUVIAL LAKE LAHONTAN 301 FIG. 1. Map showing area1 extent of Lake Lahontan at its highest known level (-- 1330 m). Area1 extent of glaciers in Sierra Nevada was taken from Wahrhaftig and Birman (1965). Solid areas indicate existing lakes. formation and destruction of large fresh- of global climate have occurred during the water lake systems: past two million years. 1. Fluctuations of climate must occur 2. Fluctuations of global climatic param- during the time frame of interest. Several eters must induce correlative fluctuations studies (Emiliani, 1966; Broecker and Van in the water balance of the Great Basin. Donk, 1970; Imbrie and Kipp, 1971; Kukla, That is to say, there must be some mech- 1970; Shackleton and Opdyke, 1973) have anism whereby a global climatic signal is shown that repeated cyclical fluctuations locally expressed. The northern Sierra Nevada achieved a significant topographic TABLE 1 expression at least two million years ago NAMESAND ELEVATIONSOF SILLSCONNECTING (Bateman and Wahrhaftig, 1966) and pro- INDIVIDUAL BASINSTO LAKE vided such a mechanism, transforming LUHOTAN SYSTEM changes in storm frequency and cloud Sill cover into perturbations of the local hydro- elevation logic cycle. Sill name (m) Basin isolated 3. Finally, hydrographically closed basins must be present at the terminations of Adrian 1308 Walker (H) Chocolate 1268 Buena Vista (G) surface drainage networks to contain and Wadsworth 1248 Carson (F) record changes in the regional hydrologic Astor 1225 Honey Lake (I) budget. Such basins have existed in the Emerson 1207 Smoke Creek (C) Great Basin for several million years (Ek- Black Rock (D) Marble 1164 Winnemucca ren et al., 1968). It is therefore reasonable to assume that the western Great Basin has LARRY V. BENSON probably been the site of pluvial-inter- pluvial cycles for at least the past two million years. The area occupied by pluvial Lake La- hontan during a high stand incorporates nine individual basins separated by sills (Figs. 1 and 2). A sill is defined as the lowest point on the divide between adjoining ba- sins. Not until its level reaches 1308 m above sea level does pluvial Lake Lahontan become a continuous body of water (Figs. 1 and 2; Table 1). During a pluvial-interpluvial cycle, the water level in each basin changes as a func- tion of three variables: the geometry of basin, the rate of water influx, and the evap- oration rate. There are four sources of water influx: stream flow, flow across interbasin sills, interbasin groundwater flow, and precipita- tion. Basins such as Winnemucca and Smoke Creek (Fig. 1) are not fed by streams that drain high mountain ranges. Lakes in these basins will form largely through over- flow from adjoining basins; however, lakes such as Pyramid and Walker will initially rise in response to increased inflow from perennial streams (Figs. 1 and 2). Lake level response to a change in the influx of water is conditioned by the geom- etry of the basin. The relative volume of a basin and the manner in which volume changes with elevation will determine the rate of change of lake level given a con- stant rate of evaporation. For example, Pyramid Lake will rise at a much greater rate than Carson Lake with a given equiv- alent input (Fig. 1). Given the constraints discussed above, it follows that for increasing precipitation: 1. Lakes in each of the nine basins will initially rise at different rates. 2. Upon reaching sill level, a lake will maintain a steady-state elevation until the adjoining basin fills to the same level; then both lakes will rise together. 3. Only for stages above the highest inter- nal sill depth (Adrian sill at 1308 m) will pluvial Lake Lahontan function as a single FLUCTUATIONS OF PLUVIAL LAKE LAHONTAN 303 WALKERLAKE CORESB-F SOME GEOCHEMICAL CONSIDERATIONS .I- 2- Broecker and Kaufman (1965) have pointed out that there are two fundamental .3- assumptions in computing a radiocarbon 4- age from a measured 14C/12C ratio: that the S- 14C/‘*C ratio of the sample at the time of formation can be accurately estimated and [ 6- that the present 14C/12C ratio has changed E .7- only through radioactive decay. B 3t .a- I Initial 14C112C I-6 .9- zij LO- I In freshwater lakes, the rate of carbon i5 I.,- exchange across the air-water interface may be insufficient to offset the introduction iu) 1.2- :: of dead carbon (14C-free carbon) into the &j 1.3- system (Deevey et al., 1954; Broecker and 4 Walton, 1959). Today in the Walker and I ’ 4- !i Pyramid basins, dead carbon is introduced x l.c.-- into the lakes by dissolution of carbonate 1.6- minerals within lake sediments, ground- water discharge across the sediment-water 1.7- interface, and groundwater discharge into IL.93 the streams which feed the lakes. Both 1.9- lakes receive significant carbon via the latter mechanism. The upward diffusive flux of carbon across the sediment-water interface has been noted in Walker and FIG. 3. Concentration of HCO; + CO!- expressed as Pyramid Lakes (Figs. 3 and 4), while trans- total C in interstitial fluids from five gravity cores taken port of carbon by direct groundwater dis- from Walker Lake. Cores C (half-open circle), D (open charge is of potential importance only in circle), and F (half-open square) were taken from the deepest area of lake (Fig. 7). Increasing concentrations the Pyramid basin (geothermal discharge). with depth suggest that a carbonate phase precipitated Broecker and Walton (1959) calculated the during a previous desiccation is now undergoing exchange rate for Great Basin lakes and dissolution.
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