Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 2 June 2014 as doi:10.1130/B31014.1 Rise and fall of late Pleistocene pluvial lakes in response to reduced evaporation and precipitation: Evidence from Lake Surprise, California Daniel E. Ibarra1,†, Anne E. Egger2, Karrie L. Weaver1, Caroline R. Harris1, and Kate Maher1 1Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA 2Department of Geological Science, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington 98926, USA ABSTRACT ulations corroborate these fi ndings, simulat- using a new lacustrine paleoclimate record from ing an average precipitation increase of only Surprise Valley, California, we reconcile how Widespread late Pleistocene lake sys- 6.5% relative to modern, accompanied by a different factors, namely, the competing infl u- tems of the Basin and Range Province in- 28% decrease in total evaporation driven by ences of solar insolation and increased precipi- dicate substantially greater moisture avail- a 7 °C decrease in mean annual temperature. tation, infl uenced Pleistocene lakes in the Basin ability during glacial periods relative to LGM PMIP3 climate model simulations also and Range during the last deglaciation. Surprise modern times, but the climatic factors that suggest a seasonal decoupling of runoff and Valley was chosen because it is located in an drive changes in lake levels are poorly con- precipitation, with peak runoff shifting to important climatic transition between the more strained. To better constrain these climatic the late spring–early summer from the late arid Basin and Range Province and the wetter factors, we present a new lacustrine paleo- winter–early spring. Pacifi c Northwest. climate record and precipitation estimates Our coupled analyses suggest that moder- The geographic extent and temporal trends for Lake Surprise, a closed basin lake in ate lake levels during the LGM were a result of the latest Pleistocene lake levels suggest that northeastern California. We combine a de- of reduced evaporation driven by reduced orbital conditions and changes in atmospheric tailed analysis of lake hydrography and summer insolation and temperatures, not by circulation imposed wetter and/or cooler condi- constitutive relationships describing the increased precipitation. Reduced evapora- tions on the western United States. In the Basin water balance to determine the infl uence tion primed Basin and Range lake systems, and Range, the majority of lake highstands from of precipitation, evaporation, temperature, particularly smaller, isolated basins such as 31°N to 43°N occurred between 15 and 18 ka, and seasonal insolation on past lake levels. Surprise Valley, to respond rapidly to in- during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1, ca. 19–14.5 ka), At its maximum extent, during the last de- creased precipitation during late-Heinrich several thousand years after the Last Glacial glaciation, Lake Surprise covered 1366 km2 Stadial 1 (HS1). Post-LGM highstands were Maximum (LGM, ca. 26–19 ka; Benson et al., (36%) of the terminally draining Surprise potentially driven by increased rainfall dur- 1990; Adams and Wesnousky, 1998; García and Valley watershed. Using paired radiocarbon ing HS1 brought by latitudinally extensive Stokes, 2006; Munroe and Laabs, 2012; Lyle and 230Th-U analyses, we dated shoreline and strengthened midlatitude westerly storm et al., 2012). Prior to HS1, these lakes appear tufa deposits from wave-cut lake terraces in tracks, the effects of which are recorded in to have stood at moderate water levels during Surprise Valley, California, to determine the the region’s lacustrine and glacial records. much of the early marine oxygen isotope stage 2 hydrography of the most recent lake cycle. These results suggest that seasonal insolation (MIS 2, ca. 29–11 ka; e.g., Benson et al., 1995; This new lake hydrograph places the highest and reduced temperatures have been under- Wells et al., 2003; Bacon et al., 2006), and low lake level 176 m above the present-day playa investigated as long-term drivers of moisture to moderate levels through MIS 3 (ca. 57–29 at 15.19 ± 0.18 calibrated ka (14C age). This availability in the western United States. ka; e.g., Tackman, 1993; Phillips et al., 1994; signifi cantly postdates the Last Glacial Maxi- Reheis et al., 2012). The atmospheric mecha- mum (LGM), when Lake Surprise stood at INTRODUCTION nism driving these high lake levels is hypoth- only moderate levels, 65–99 m above modern esized to be midlatitude “dipping westerlies” playa, similar to nearby Lake Lahontan. The late Pleistocene landscape of the west- (Negrini, 2002), which reached as far south as To evaluate the climatic factors associated ern United States was characterized by vast Lake Elsinore, California (~34°N; Kirby et al., with lake-level changes, we use an oxygen iso- lake systems indicative of a hydrologic balance 2013) and Cave of the Bells, Arizona (~32°N; tope mass balance model combined with an dramatically different from the present (Fig. 1; Wagner et al., 2010). Despite evidence from late analysis of predictions from the Paleoclimate Mifflin and Wheat, 1979; Reheis, 1999a). Pleistocene lake records and other paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project 3 (PMIP3) However, uncertainty in the timing of major archives, the temporal correspondence between climate model ensemble. Our isotope mass hydrologic changes has made it diffi cult to (Munroe and Laabs, 2012) or robust latitudinal balance model predicts minimal precipitation connect the observational record to well-dated trends in (Lyle et al., 2012) lake highstands and increases of only 2%–18% during the LGM climatic events. In addition, the precise con- stillstands during HS1 remain enigmatic. Fur- relative to modern, compared to an ~75% nection between lake levels and climate factors thermore, the mechanisms (e.g., reduced tem- increase in precipitation during the 15.19 ka has proven challenging to establish, because the peratures and lake surface evaporation, and/or highstand. LGM PMIP3 climate model sim- relationships among the physical and hydro- increased rainfall) that produced moderate lake logic controls on measured variables and past levels during the LGM, before the deglacial †E-mail: [email protected]. climatic states are unresolved. In this study, highstands, are not well understood. Knowledge GSA Bulletin; Month/Month 2014; v. 1xx; no. X/X; p. 1–29; doi: 10.1130/B31014.1; 10 fi gures; 8 tables; Data Repository item 2014221. For permission to copy, contact [email protected] 1 © 2014 Geological Society of America Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 2 June 2014 as doi:10.1130/B31014.1 Ibarra et al. 125°0'W 122°30'W 120°0'W 117°30'W 115°0'W the Pacifi c Northwest and the Basin and Range. Climate models of the LGM predict a more arid Wallowa 5°0'N Pacifi c Northwest and a relatively wet central 4 Nevada (Kim et al., 2008; Laîné et al., 2009; LI Braconnot et al., 2012). Paleoclimate records FR MH from the north and west suggest reduced pre- cipitation and a mean annual temperature ~7 °C N lower during the LGM (Worona and Whitlock, CB °30' WR 1995; Bradbury et al., 2004). To the southeast, 2 AL 4 UKL Lake Lahontan stood at moderate levels during the LGM (Benson et al., 1995), prior to a brief SV CL WL deglacial highstand at ca. 15.8 ka (Adams and LF Wesnousky, 1998). A detailed analysis of the Ruby Mtns LB Glacial Records DV transition zone between these regions can help 'N °0 Pollen Record resolve the forcing mechanisms that could pro- 40 LL Late Pleistocene Lakes duce such disparate conditions. SL We use a “shore-based” approach (e.g., Red- Modern Lakes NV JL wine, 2003; García and Stokes, 2006; Kurth Extent of Major Glaciers RR LR CO CR et al., 2011; Munroe and Laabs, 2013) to quan- tify late Pleistocene lake levels in Surprise Val- 0 75 150 300 km 0'N ley, recorded in prominent wave-cut shorelines Tioga 37°3 along the steep valley walls (Egger and Miller, 2011; Irwin and Zimbelman, 2012). While Figure 1. Location map of late Pleistocene lakes (light blue), modern lakes (dark blue), lake sediment core studies can provide higher- and the extent of major Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) mountainous glaciation (gray) in resolution climate archives (e.g., Benson et al., the western United States (simplifi ed from Miffl in and Wheat, 1979; Reheis, 1999a; Ehlers 1990; Bischoff et al., 1997a, 1997b; Licciardi, et al., 2011). The black box delineates the extent of Figure 2A. Locations of additional paleo- 2001; Rosenbaum et al., 2012), records of climate archives compiled in Figure 10 and discussed within the text include glacier records shoreline ages document the history of lake (red triangles) and pollen records (red circle). Labeled lakes and pollen records are Alvord surface area, a measure of the balance of pre- Basin (AL), Carpenter Lake (CR), Chewaucan Basin (CB), Columbus Lake (CO), Diamond cipitation and evaporation for a given basin Valley (DV), Fort Rock (FR), Jakes Lake (JL), Lake Bonneville (LB), Lake Clover (CL), (Miffl in and Wheat, 1979; Benson and Paillet, Lake Franklin (LF), Lake Lahontan (LL), Lake Russell (LR), Lake Surprise (SV), Little 1989; Currey, 1990; Reheis, 1999b; Munroe Lake (LI), Mahleur Lake (MH), Newark Valley (NV), Railroad Lake (RR), Spring Lake and Laabs, 2013). We incorporated stable iso- (SL), Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Waring Lake (WL), and Lake Warner (WR). tope analysis into a simplifi ed hydrologic mass balance model based on lake surface area, which allows us to quantify the changes in of the spatial distribution of hydrologic shifts, ing insight into watershed-scale moisture avail- precipitation and evaporation during lake-level recorded by paleoclimate archives, is required ability driven by the climate system (Hostetler fl uctuations, and provides direct comparison to to resolve the underlying climatic drivers of pro- and Benson, 1994; Jones et al., 2007; Placzek climate model outputs.