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Wet Conditions during the Last Glaciation in the Chihuahuan Desert, Alta Babicora Basin, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sarah Metcalfe ,
Alison Say ,
Stuart Black ,
Robert McCulloch  and
Sarah O'Hara
Sarah Metcalfe
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, United Kingdom
Alison Say
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, United Kingdom
Stuart Black
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AB, United Kingdom
Robert McCulloch
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, United Kingdom
Sarah O'Hara
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
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Abstract

A 467-cm core (B94/3) from the Alta Babicora basin in the Chihuahuan Desert, northern Mexico (29°N, 108°W), documents lake-level and climate changes over the past ca. 65,000 yr. Chronological control is provided by four accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates and five U-series dates on diatom silica. The core has been analyzed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, sediment chemistry and mineralogy, and pollen and diatom composition. The basin was occupied by a deep freshwater lake throughout the late Pleistocene which, based on shoreline evidence, was at least 19 m deeper than today. The lake shallowed after ca. 57,000 yr B.P. High variability typified the period between 54,600 and 38,000 yr B.P., probably with periodic desiccation and deflation. A deep-water lake was reestablished after 38,000 yr B.P. and persisted until ca. 29,000 yr B.P. Shallowing occurred through the last glacial maximum, although the lake was still deeper than at present. The Pleistocene–Holocene transition was marked by a distinctive change in the diatom flora. There is no diatom record for much of the Holocene, but other proxies indicate generally dry, stable catchment conditions. The Babicora record is more akin to those from the southwest United States than it is to Central America and northern South America. Wet conditions in the late Pleistocene are attributed to winter rainfall from midlatitudes in contrast to the modern, tropical, summer rainfall regime.

Keywords

late PleistoceneMexicoChihuahuan Desertdiatomspollen
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 91 - 101
Copyright
University of Washington

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