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n-Alkane evidence for the onset of wetter conditions in the Sierra Nevada, California (USA) at the mid-late Holocene transition, ~ 3.0 ka

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joseph H. Street ,
R. Scott Anderson ,
Robert J. Rosenbauer  and
Adina Paytan
Joseph H. Street*
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
R. Scott Anderson
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Robert J. Rosenbauer
Affiliation:
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA
Adina Paytan
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. Fax: + 1 831 459 4882. E-mail address:[email protected] (J.H. Street).
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Abstract

n-Alkane biomarker distributions in sediments from Swamp Lake (SL), in the central Sierra Nevada of California (USA), provide evidence for an increase in mean lake level ~ 3000 yr ago, in conjunction with widespread climatic change inferred from marine and continental records in the eastern North Pacific region. Length distributions of n-alkane chains in modern plants growing at SL were determined and compared to sedimentary distributions in a core spanning the last 13 ka. As a group, submerged and floating aquatic plants contained high proportions of short chain lengths (< nC25) compared to emergent, riparian and upland terrestrial species, for which chain lengths > nC27 were dominant. Changes in the sedimentary n-alkane distribution over time were driven by variable inputs from plant sources in response to changing lake level, sedimentation and plant community composition. A shift toward shorter chain lengths (nC21,nC23) occurred between 3.1 and 2.9 ka and is best explained by an increase in the abundance of aquatic plants and the availability of shallow-water habitat in response to rising lake level. The late Holocene expansion of SL following a dry mid-Holocene is consistent with previous evidence for increased effective moisture and the onset of wetter conditions in the Sierra Nevada between 4.0 and 3.0 ka.

Keywords

Sierra NevadaPaleoclimatePaleolimnologyPlant n-alkanesLake levelHolocene
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 79 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 14 - 23
Copyright
University of Washington

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