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Mid-Holocene Hydrologic Model of the Shingobee Watershed, Minnesota

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sheryl K. Filby ,
Sharon M. Locke ,
Mark A. Person ,
Thomas C. Winter ,
Donald O. Rosenberry ,
John L. Nieber ,
William J. Gutowski  and
Emi Ito
Sheryl K. Filby
Affiliation:
Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455
Sharon M. Locke
Affiliation:
University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, 04104
Mark A. Person*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405
Thomas C. Winter
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, 80225
Donald O. Rosenberry
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, 80225
John L. Nieber
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55108
William J. Gutowski
Affiliation:
Department of Atmospheric and Geological Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011
Emi Ito
Affiliation:
Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455
*
1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

A hydrologic model of the Shingobee Watershed in north-central Minnesota was developed to reconstruct mid-Holocene paleo-lake levels for Williams Lake, a surface-water body located in the southern portion of the watershed. Hydrologic parameters for the model were first estimated in a calibration exercise using a 9-yr historical record (1990–1998) of climatic and hydrologic stresses. The model reproduced observed temporal and spatial trends in surface/groundwater levels across the watershed. Mid-Holocene aquifer and lake levels were then reconstructed using two paleoclimatic data sets: CCM1 atmospheric general circulation model output and pollen-transfer functions using sediment core data from Williams Lake.

Calculated paleo-lake levels based on pollen-derived paleoclimatic reconstructions indicated a 3.5-m drop in simulated lake levels and were in good agreement with the position of mid-Holocene beach sands observed in a Williams Lake sediment core transect. However, calculated paleolake levels based on CCM1 climate forcing produced only a 0.05-m drop in lake levels. We found that decreases in winter precipitation rather than temperature increases had the largest effect on simulated mid-Holocene lake levels. The study illustrates how watershed models can be used to critically evaluate paleoclimatic reconstructions by integrating geologic, climatic, limnologic, and hydrogeologic data sets.

Keywords

Groundwater waterpaleohydrologypollen transfer functionspaleolimnologyclimate change
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , November 2002 , pp. 246 - 254
Copyright
University of Washington

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