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Short-Duration Holocene Lakes in the Mojave River Drainage Basin, Southern California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Yehouda Enzel ,
William J. Brown ,
Roger Y. Anderson ,
Leslie D. McFadden  and
Stephen G. Wells
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
William J. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Roger Y. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Leslie D. McFadden
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Stephen G. Wells
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
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Abstract

Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and pedologic studies of beach ridge and lacustrine deposits indicate that up to five times during the Holocene, shallow lakes covered Silver Lake playa in southeastern California for periods of years to decades. The two youngest lacustrine events (at about 390 ± 90 yr B. P. and 3620 ± 70 yr B. P.) coincide with the early and late Neoglacial episodes of North America. Increasing evidence in recent years from other nonglaciated areas leads us to conclude that the effects of these climatic episodes were much more widespread than previously thought. The climate during these episodes was characterized by an increased frequency of winter storms in the southwestern United States, causing wetter conditions that affected diverse, hyperarid environments in the Mojave Desert and adjacent regions. We propose that this wide areal coverage was caused by large-scale, winter atmospheric circulation patterns, which are probably related to changes in sea-surface temperatures and oceanic circulation in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , July 1992 , pp. 60 - 73
Copyright
University of Washington

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