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Summary

This data set describes Holocene multidecadal and multicentennial
droughts affecting Northern California and Nevada.

The data consists of proxy drought data from lakes in the Great Basin
region of western North America, including Magnetic Susceptibility,
d18O, d13C, Total Organic and Inorganic Carbon, and sediment porosity
data from Pyramid Lake, ... Nevada and Owens Lake, California.

[ABSTRACT]
Continuous, high-resolution d18O records from cored sediments of
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, indicate that oscillations in the hydrologic
balance occurred, on average, about every 150 years (yr) during the
past 7630 calendar years (calyr). The records are not stationary;
during the past 2740yr, drought durations ranged from 20 to 100yr and
intervals between droughts ranged from 80 to 230yr. Comparison of
tree-ring-based reconstructions of climate change for the past 1200yr
from the Sierra Nevada and the El Malpais region of northwest New
Mexico indicates that severe droughts associated with Anasazi
withdrawal from Chaco Canyon at 820calyrBP (calendar years before
present) and final abandonment of Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the
Kayenta area at 650calyrBP may have impacted much of the western
United States. During the middle Holocene (informally defined in this
paper as extending from 8000 to 3000calyrBP), magnetic susceptibility
values of sediments deposited in Pyramid Lake's deep basin were much
larger than late-Holocene (3000-0calyrBP) values, indicating the
presence of a shallow lake. In addition, the mean d18O value of CaCO3
precipitated between 6500 and 3430calyrBP was 1.6 less than the mean
value of CaCO3 precipitated after 2740calyrBP. Numerical calculations
indicate that the shift in the d18O baseline probably resulted from a
transition to a wetter (>30%) and cooler (3-5??C) climate. The
existence of a relatively dry and warm middle-Holocene climate in the
Truckee River-Pyramid Lake system is generally consistent with
archeological, sedimentological, chemical, physical, and biological
records from various sites within the Great Basin of the western
United States. Two high-resolution Holocene-climate records are now
available from the Pyramid and Owens lake basins which suggest that
the Holocene was characterized by five climatic intervals. TIC and
d18O records from Owens Lake indicate that the first interval in the
early Holocene (11,600-10,000calyrBP) was characterized by a drying
trend that was interrupted by a brief (200yr) wet oscillation centered
at 10,300calyrBP. This was followed by a second early-Holocene
interval (10,000-8000calyrBP) during which relatively wet conditions
prevailed. During the early part of the middle Holocene
(8000-6500calyrBP), high-amplitude oscillations in TIC in Owens Lake
and d18O in Pyramid Lake indicate the presence of shallow lakes in
both basins. During the latter part of the middle Holocene
(6500-3800calyrBP), drought conditions dominated, Owens Lake
desiccated, and Lake Tahoe ceased spilling to the Truckee River,
causing Pyramid Lake to decline. At the beginning of the late Holocene
(~3000calyrBP), Lake Tahoe rose to its sill level and Pyramid Lake
increased in volume.

Geographic Coverage Spatial coordinates   

N: 37.29

S: 31.05

E: -108.76

W: -125.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: L. Benson, M. Kashgarian, R. Rye, S. Lund, F. Paillet, J. Smoot, C. Kester, S. Mensing, D. Meko and S. Lindstrom Dataset Title: Holocene Multidecadal and Multicentennial Droughts Affecting Northern California and Nevada Dataset Release Date: August 2002 Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO Dataset Publisher: IGBP PAGES/World Data Center Paleoclimatology Issue Identification: IGBP PAGES/WDC Paleoclimatology Contribution #2002-053 Online Resource: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/benson2002/benson2002.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 0000-01-01

Paleo Temporal Coverage

Paleo Start Date: 11,600 ybp Paleo Stop Date: 0 ybp Chrono Unit: PHANEROZOIC  >  CENOZOIC  >  QUATERNARY  >  HOLOCENE

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > CALIFORNIA CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > NEVADA

Data Resolution

Temporal Resolution: annual

Science Keywords

PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > LAKE LEVELS PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > SEDIMENTS ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION > PRECIPITATION ANOMALIES ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION > PRECIPITATION AMOUNT ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA > DROUGHT PALEOCLIMATE > PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS > DROUGHT/PRECIPITATION RECONSTRUCTION

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION OCEANS

Platform

GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS

Instrument

SEDIMENT CORERS

Project

IGBP > International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme PAGES > Past Global Changes, IGBP

Access Constraints
None

Use Constraints
None

Ancillary Keywords

climate change climate variability hydrologic reconstructions oxygen isotopes sediment cores calcium carbonate CACO3 Pyramid Lake Owens Lake

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

NOAA/NCDC

Data Center

World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, Boulder Data Center URL: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ Dataset ID: Data Contribution Series # 2002-053 Data Center Personnel Name: WDC/PALEOCLIMATOLOGY, BOULDER Phone: +1 (303) 497-6160 Fax: +1 (303) 497-6513 Email: paleo at noaa.gov Contact Address: World Data Center for Paleoclimatology NOAA/NCDC Code E/GCx3 325 Broadway City: Boulder Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80303 Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: online ftp, www Distribution Format: ascii Fees: none

Personnel

LARRY BENSON Role: INVESTIGATOR Email: lbenson at usgs.gov Contact Address: U.S. Geological Survey 3215 Marine Street City: Boulder Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80303 Country: USA MICHAELE KASHGARIAN Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory PO Box 808 City: Livermore Province or State: CA Postal Code: 94550 Country: USA ROBERT RYE Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: U.S. Geological Survey MS 963, Denver Federal Center City: Lakewood Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80225 Country: USA STEVE LUND Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: Department of Earth Sciences University of Southern California City: Los Angeles Province or State: CA Postal Code: 90089 Country: USA FRED PAILLET Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: U.S. Geological Survey MS 403, Denver Federal Center City: Lakewood Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80225 Country: USA JOSEPH SMOOT Role: INVESTIGATOR Email: jpsmoot at usgs.gov Contact Address: U.S. Geological Survey MS 955, City: RESTON Province or State: VA Postal Code: 22092 Country: USA CYNTHIA KESTER Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: U.S. Geological Survey MS 963, Denver Federal Center City: Lakewood Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80225 Country: USA SCOTT MENSING Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: Department of Geography University of Nevada City: Reno Province or State: NV Postal Code: 89557 Country: USA DAVE M. MEKO Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research University of Arizona City: Tucson Province or State: AZ Postal Code: 85721 Country: USA SUSAN LINDSTROM Role: INVESTIGATOR Contact Address: Box 324 City: Truckee Province or State: CA Postal Code: 95734 Country: USA

Related URL

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION Description: Additional data documentation

Publications/References
Larry Benson, Michaele Kashgarian, Robert Rye, Steve Lund, Fred
Paillet, Joseph Smoot, Cynthia Kester, Scott Mensing, Dave Meko and
Susan Lindstrom, 2002, Holocene multidecadal and multicentennial
droughts affecting Northern California and Nevada. Quaternary Science
Reviews, Vol. 21 (4-6) (February 2002) pp. 659-682.

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2003-04-11 Last DIF Revision Date: 2005-06-17

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