Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T03:46:21.023Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence for a Cold, Dry Full-Glacial Climate in the American Southwest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

G. Robert Brakenridge
G. Robert Brakenridge*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analysis of the evidence concerning full-glacial (27,000–13,000 yr BP) time in the American Southwest has resulted in a reinterpretation of the past climate. After correction for previous errors, which include the use of (1) the July 0°C isotherm as an indicator of modern snowline and (2) relict cirques at the head of heavily glaciated valleys as indicators of past snowline, orographic snowline is estimated to have been about 1000 m lower. This, combined with similar depression estimates for timberline and for cryogenic deposits, results in an annual cooling estimate of 7–8°C. The cooler temperatures caused deposition of coarse “bouldery” alluvial-fan sediments by streams draining areas at high elevations, as well as hill-slope stability, soil development, and subsurface weathering in the lower desert ranges. Reliability of paleoclimatic inferences from water budgets of the extinct paleolakes is questioned on the basis that they exclude groundwater effects. However, recalculation of two water budgets following traditional methods indicates that lowered evaporation rates accompanying a 7–8°C annual cooling would have sufficed to maintain these lakes. Similarly, increased soil moisture would have allowed coniferous woodland to grow ∼700 m lower into the deserts, the maximum recorded by Pleistocene pack rat middens. Therefore, no significant increase in annual precipitation is inferred for full-glacial times.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 1978 , pp. 22 - 40
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersson, J.G., 1906. Solifluction, a component of subaerial denudation. Journal of Geology. 14, 41 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antevs, E., 1952. Cenozoic climates of the Great Basin. Geologische Rundschau. 40, 94 108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antevs, E., 1954. Climate of New Mexico during the last glacial-pluvial. Journal of Geology. 62, 182 191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bachuber, F.W., 1976. Occurrence and significance of foraminifera in a pluvial sequence. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 9, No. 5 565 566.Google Scholar
Barry, R.G., Andrews, J.T., Mahaffy, M.A., 1975. Continental ice sheets: Conditions for growth. Science. 190, 979 981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barsch, D., Updike, R.G., 1971. Periglaziale formung am Kendrick Peak in Nord-Arizona wahrend der lefzten Kaltzeit. Geologica Helvetica. 26, 99 114.Google Scholar
Baulig, H., 1957. Peneplains and pediplains. Geological Society of American Bulletin. 68, 913 930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benedict, J.B., 1976. Frost creep and gelifluction features: A review. Quaternary Research. 6, 55 76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billings, W.D., Mooney, H.A., 1968. The ecology of arctic and alpine plants. Biological Review. 43, 481 529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birkeland, P.W., Crandell, D.R., Richmond, G.M., 1971. Status of correlation of Quaternary stratigraphic units in the western conterminous United States. Quaternary Research. 1, 208 227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackwelder, E., 1934. Supplementary notes on Pleistocene glaciation in the Great Basin. Washington Academy of Science Journal. 24, 217 222.Google Scholar
Blagbrough, J.W., 1971. Large nivation hollows in the Chuska Mountains, Northeast Arizona. Plateau. 44, 52 59.Google Scholar
Blagbrough, J.W., 1976. Rock glaciers in the Capitan Mountains, southcentral New Mexico. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 8, No. 5 570.Google Scholar
Blagbrough, J.W., Farkas, S.E., 1968. Rock glaciers in the San Mateo Mountains, south-central New mexico. American Journal of Science. 266, 812 823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broecker, W.S., Orr, P.C., 1958. Radiocarbon chronology of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 69, 1009 1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
1976. CLIMAP Project Members. The surface of the ice-age earth. Science. 191, 1131 1137.Google Scholar
Cronin, J.G., 1964 A Summary of the Occurrence and Development of Groundwater in the Southern High Plains of Texas. U. S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper, 1963.Google Scholar
Curtis, J.D., Lynch, D.W., 1957 Silvics of Ponderosa Pine.. Intermountain Forest and Range Experimental Station Miscellaneous Publication 12.Google Scholar
Daubenmire, R.F., 1956. Climate as a determinant of vegetative distribution is eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Ecological Monographs. 26, 131 154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donn, W.L., Ewing, M., 1966. A theory of ice ages III. Science. 152, 1706 1712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flint, R.F., 1971 Glacial and Quaternary Geology. Wiley, New York. Google Scholar
Fritts, H.C., Smith, D.G., Cardis, C.A., Budelsky, C.H., 1965. Tree-ring characteristics along a vegetation gradient in Northern Arizona. Ecology. 46, 393 401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galloway, R.W., 1970. The full-glacial climate in the southwestern United States. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 60, 245 256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, H.L., 1975. Growth of Engelman Spruce (Picea Engelmanii) unaffected by increased snowpack. Arctic and Alpine Research. 6, 29 36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafsten, 74., 1961. Pleistocene development of vegetation and climate in the southern High Plains as evidenced by pollen analysis. Wendorf, F., Paleoecology of the Llano Estacado. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, N. Mex, 59 91.Google Scholar
Hare, F.K., 1977. Late Pleistocene and Holocene climates: Some persistent problems. Quaternary Research. 6, 507 518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastings, J.R., Turner, R.M., 1965 The Changing Mile.. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Ariz. Google Scholar
Haynes, C.75., 1973. Pleistocene and Recent stratigraphy. Wendorf, F., Hester, J., Late Pleistocene environments of the Southern High Plains. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. Google Scholar
Ives, J.D., 1974. Permafrost. Ives, J.D., Barry, R.G., Arctic and Alpine Environments. Methuen, London. Google Scholar
Jacob, A.M., 1969 Pleistocene Niche Glaciers and Proto-Cirques: Cataract Creek Valley, Tobacco Root Mountains, Montana.. 103 114 Geological Society of America Special Paper 123.Google Scholar
Johnson, P.L., Billings, W.D., 1962. The alpine vegetation of the Beartooth Plateau in relation to cryopedogenic processes and patterns. Ecological Monographs. 32, 105 135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, C.S., 1974 Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance.. Harper and Row, New York. Google Scholar
La Marche, 76.C., 1973. Holocene climatic variations inferred from treeline fluctuations in the White Mountains, California. Quaternary Research. 13, 632 660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langbein, W.B., 1949. Others Annual Runoff in the United States. U. S. Geological Survey Circular 52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, L.B., 1951. The Pleistocene climate in New Mexico. American Journal of Science. 249, 152 168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorenzo, J.L., 1969. Minor periglacial phenomena among the high volcanoes of Mexico. Péwé, J.L., The Periglacial Environment. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovejoy, E.M.P., 1972. Wisconsin boulder flow and its geological implications, Franklin Mountains, El Paso County, Texas. Geological Society of American Bulletin. 83, 3501 3508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, C.H., 1964 Arizona's Natural Environment. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Ariz. Google Scholar
Lustig, L.K., 1966. The geomorphic and paleoclimatic significance of alluvial deposits in southern Arizona—A discussion. Journal of Geology. 74, 95 102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malde, H.E., 1964. Patterned ground in the western Snake River Plain, Idaho, and its possible coldclimate origin. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 75, 191 208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P.D., Mehringer, P.J., 1965. Pleistocene pollen analysis and biogeography of the southwest. Wright, H.E., Frey, D.G., The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J, 433 452.Google Scholar
Meier, M.F., 1961 Distribution and Variations of Glaciers in the United States Exclusive of Alaska. International Association for Scientific Hydrology, Toronto, 1960, Publication 514.Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J., Ferguson, C.W., 1969 Pluvial Occurrence of Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) in a Mohave Desert Mountain Range. University of Arizona, 1 16 Department of Geochronology Interim Research Report 14.Google Scholar
Melton, M.A., 1961. Multiple Pleistocene glaciation of the White Mountains, Apache County, Arizona. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 72, 1279 1282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melton, M.A., 1965. The geomorphic and paleoclimatic significance of alluvial deposits in southern Arizona. Journal of Geology. 72, 1 38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melton, M.A., 1966. The geomorphic and paleoclimatic significance of alluvial deposits in southern Arizona—A reply. Journal of Geology. 73, 102 106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merril, R.K., Péwé, J.L., éwé, 1972. Late Quaternary glacial chronology of the White Mountains, eastcentral Arizona. Journal of Geology. 80, 493 501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R.S., La Marche, 77.C., Lloyd, R.M., 1966. Alpine vegetation and active frost features of Pellisier flats, White Mountains, California. American Midland Naturalist. 68, 257 273.Google Scholar
Morrison, R.B., 1965. Quaternary geology of the Great Basin. Wright, H.E., Frey, D.G., The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J, 265 286.Google Scholar
Mysels, K.J., 1959. On evaporation from windswept surfaces. Science. 129, 38 39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Atlas of the USA (1970. ). U. S. Geological Survey, , Washington, D. C. .Google Scholar
Otto, B.R., 1976. Description of glacier in the Lost River Range, Idaho. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 8, No. 5 616.Google Scholar
Phillips, A.M., Van Devender, T.R., 1974. Pleistocene packrat middens from the lower Grand Canyon of Arizona. Journal, Arizona Academy of Science. 9, 117 119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Péwé, T.L., éwé, 1969 The Periglacial Environment. McGill-Queens University Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Péwé, T.L., Updike, R.G., 1976 San Francisco Peaks: A Guidebook to the Geology. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Ariz. Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., 1975. Equilibrium-line altitudes of late Quaternary glaciers in the southern Alps, New Zealand. Quaternary Research. 5, 27 47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pyrch, J.B., 1973. Stone Stripes in North Central Oregon. M.S. Thesis. Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C., 1965. Pleistocene climate of the Llano Estacado. Journal of Geology. 74, 181 189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, C.C., 1966a. Pluvial lake basins of west Texas. Journal of Geology. 74, 269 291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, C.C., 1966b. Pleistocene climate of the Llano Estacado II. Journal of Geology. 74, 642 647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, C.C., 1968 Introduction to Paleolimnology. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C., 1973. The full-glacial climate of the southern High Plains, west Texas. Journal of Geology. 81, 693 704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richmond, G.M., 1962 Quaternary Geology of the La Sal Mountains, Utah.. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 324.Google Scholar
Richmond, G.M., 1963 Correlation of Some Glacial Deposits in New Mexico. 121 125 U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 450-E.Google Scholar
Richmond, G.M., 1965. Glaciation of the Rocky Mountains. Wright, H.E., Frey, D.G., The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J, 217 230.Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., 1975. Permafrost profiles in the continental divide region of Alberta and British Columbia. Arctic and Alpine Research. 7, 93 95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A.P., 1975. Altitudinal seed ecotypes in the Venezuelan Andes. American Midland Naturalist. 94, 247 250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, C.T., Langbein, W.B., 1962. The Pleistocene lake in Spring Valley, Nevada, and its climatic implications. Journal of Geophysical Research. 67, 2385 2394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Updike, R.G., Péwé, T.L., éwé, 1974. Glacial and peri-glacial deposits in the San Francisco Mountain area, northern Arizona. Karlstrom, T.M.78., Swann, G.A., Eastwood, R.L., Geology of Northern Arizona With Notes on Archeology and Paleoclimate, Part II, Area Studies and Field Guides. Guidebook for Geological Society of America Meeting. Rocky Mountain Section.Google Scholar
Updike, R.G., Péwé, T.L., 1976 2nd ed. San Francisco Peaks—A Guidebook to the Geology. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Ariz. Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R., 1973. Late Pleistocene Plants and Animals of the Sonoran Desert: A Survey of Ancient Packrat Middens in Southwestern Arizona. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R., 1976. The biota of the hot deserts of North America during the last glaciation: The packrat midden record. American Quaternary Association Abstracts of the Fourth Biennial Meeting. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R., 1977. Holocene woodlands in the southwestern deserts. Science. 198, 189 192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Devender, T.R., King, J.E., 1971. Late Pleistocene vegetational records in western Arizona. Journal, Arizona Academy of Science. 6, 240 244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Devender, T.R., Spaulding, W.G., Phillips, A.M., 1978. Lake Pleistocene plant communities in the Guadalupe Mountains, Culberson County, Texas. Genoways, H.H., Baker, R.J., Biological Investigations in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. National Park Service, Washington, D. C, in press.Google Scholar
Washburn, A.L., 1975 Periglacial Processes and Environments. Edward Arnold, London. Google Scholar
Wells, P.79., 1966. Late Pleistocene vegetation and degree of pluvial climatic change in the Chihuahuan Desert. Science. 153, 970 975.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wells, P.80., 1976. Macrofossil analysis of wood rat (Neotoma) middens as a key to the Quaternary vegetational history of arid America. Quaternary Research. 6, 223 248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, P.81., Berger, R., 1967. Late Pleistocene history of coniferous woodland in the Mohave Desert: A record of juniper woodlands. Science. 143, 1171 1174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, P.82., Jorgensen, C.D., 1964. Pleistocene woodrat middens and climatic change in the Mohave Desert—A record of Juniper Woodlands. Science. 143, 1171 1174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittaker, R.H., 1975 2nd ed. Communities and Ecosystems. Macmillan, New York. Google Scholar
Wright, H.E., Bent, A.M., Hansen, B.S., Maher, L.J., 1973. Present and past vegetation of the Chuska Mountains, northwestern New Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 84, 1155 1179.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar