Holocene Fluctuations of a Meromictic Lake in Southern British Columbia

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Lowe ◽  
John D. Green ◽  
Tom G. Northcote ◽  
Ken J. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Saline Lake ◽  
Basal Layer ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Laminated Sediments ◽  
Lake Depth ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Northwestern North America ◽  
High Lake Levels

Holocene deposits of Mahoney Lake, a meromictic saline lake located in a closed basin in the semi-arid Okanagan Valley, contain evidence of frequent and marked changes in lake depth (up to >12 m/10014C yr) probably caused by short-term changes in effective precipitation. We studied a 5.45-m-long core comprising a basal layer of inorganic mud overlain by a succession of layers of calcareous laminated and nonlaminated organic mud, marl, and sand. We used Mazama tephra to adjust nine radiocarbon ages for the hardwater effect. Meromixis developed ca. 900014C yr B.P., and the lake has been episodically meromictic for about half the time since. Because of close linkages between sediments and depositional environments in meromictic and saline lakes, we infer that laminated sediments indicate meromictic conditions and high lake levels (>ca. 12 m water depth), whereas thick marl layers and nonlaminated sediments indicate nonmeromictic conditions and thus low lake levels (<ca. 8 m depth). Many of the inferred short-term climatic changes have not been identified in previous studies in northwestern North America, perhaps because of insensitive climatic proxies, inadequate temporal resolution, or discounting of anomalous findings.

scholarly journals Glacial and lake fluctuations in the area of the west Kunlun mountains during the last 45 000 years

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Chaohai ◽  
Li Shijie ◽  
Shi Yafeng
Keyword(s):  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun ◽  
High Lake Levels ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

There appear to have been several important glacial advances on the southern slope of the west Kunlun mountains, Tibetan Plateau, since 45 000 a BP. Based on the record of alternating till and lacustrine sediments and 14C determinations, these advances are dated to 23 000–16 000, 8500–8000, and 4000–2500 a BP, and to the 16th–19th century AD, with regional variations occurring during each of the advances. The glaciation of 23 000–16 000 a BP is equivalent to the last glacial maximum (LGM) and its scope and scale were much larger than any of the others. Lake changes are a response to both tectonic uplift of the plateau and global climatic change. With regard to the latter, both changes in precipitation and changes in the extent of glaciation can affect lake levels. High lake levels occurred during interstadial conditions between 40 000 and 30 000 a BP, when the area experienced a relatively warm and humid climate, and during the LGM, between 21 000 and 15 000 a BP. During the Holocene, lakes have been shrinking gradually, coincident with the dry climate of this period of time.

Solar Influences on Holocene Climatic Changes Illustrated by Correlations between Past Lake-Level Fluctuations and the Atmospheric 14C Record

1993 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Magny
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Climatic Oscillations ◽  
Lake Level Fluctuations ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Dipole Magnetic Field ◽  
Climate Evolution

AbstractChronological correlations established at different time scales among the lake-level fluctuations in the Jura and French Subalpine ranges, glacier movements in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, and the atmospheric 14C record during the last 7 millennia show coincidences between lake-level rises, glacier advances, and high 14C production and vice versa. These correspondences suggest that the short-term 14C variations may be an empirical indicator of Holocene palaeoclimates and argue for possible origins of Holocene climatic oscillations: (1) The varying solar activity refers to secular climatic oscillations and to major climatic deteriorations showing a ca. 2300-yr periodicity. (2) A question is raised about a relationship between the earth's magnetic field and climate. First, the weak-strength periods of the earth's dipole magnetic field (between 3800 and ca. 2500 B.C.) coincide with higher climate variability, and vice versa. Second, the ca. 2300-yr periods revealed by the 14C record and also by the major climatic deteriorations re. corded in Jurassian lakes (ca. 1500 A.D., ca. 800 B.C., and ca. 3500 B.C.) coincide with the ca. 2300-yr periods revealed by the earth's nondipole geomagnetic field. The present warming induced by anthropogenic factors should be intensified during the next few centuries by natural factors of climate evolution.

scholarly journals Glacial and lake fluctuations in the area of the west Kunlun mountains during the last 45 000 years

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Chaohai ◽  
Li Shijie ◽  
Shi Yafeng
Keyword(s):  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun ◽  
High Lake Levels ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

There appear to have been several important glacial advances on the southern slope of the west Kunlun mountains, Tibetan Plateau, since 45 000 a BP. Based on the record of alternating till and lacustrine sediments and 14C determinations, these advances are dated to 23 000–16 000, 8500–8000, and 4000–2500 a BP, and to the 16th–19th century AD, with regional variations occurring during each of the advances. The glaciation of 23 000–16 000 a BP is equivalent to the last glacial maximum (LGM) and its scope and scale were much larger than any of the others.Lake changes are a response to both tectonic uplift of the plateau and global climatic change. With regard to the latter, both changes in precipitation and changes in the extent of glaciation can affect lake levels. High lake levels occurred during interstadial conditions between 40 000 and 30 000 a BP, when the area experienced a relatively warm and humid climate, and during the LGM, between 21 000 and 15 000 a BP. During the Holocene, lakes have been shrinking gradually, coincident with the dry climate of this period of time.

Global Maps of Lake-Level Fluctuations since 30,000 yr B.P.

1979 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Alayne Street ◽  
A. T. Grove
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Literature Survey ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Lake Level Fluctuations ◽  
Average Abundance ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
High Lake Levels ◽  
Precipitation And Temperature

This paper presents selected world maps of lake-level fluctuations since 30,000 yr B.P. These are based on a literature survey of 141 lake basins with radiocarbon-dated chronologies. The resulting patterns are subcontinental in scale and show orderly variations in space and time. They reflect substantial changes in continental precipitation, evaporation, and runoff, which are due to glacial/interglacial fluctuations in the atmospheric and oceanic circulations. In the tropics, high lake levels are essentially an interglacial or interstadial phenomenon, although there are important exceptions. Since extensive lakes during the Holocene corresponded with relatively high sea-surface temperatures, and therefore presumably with high evaporation rates on land, they are interpreted as the result of higher precipitation. Tropical aridity culminated in most areas at, or just after, the glacial maximum, although the present day is also characterized by a below-average abundance of surface water. In extratropical regions the mapped patterns are more complex. They vary markedly with latitude and proximity to major ice sheets. In these areas, evidence is at present insufficient to evaluate the relative contributions of precipitation and temperature to the observed lake-level record.

scholarly journals Two distinct decadal and centennial cyclicities forced marine upwelling intensity and precipitation during the late Early Miocene in Central Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1223-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Auer ◽  
W. E. Piller ◽  
M. Harzhauser
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Laminated Sediments ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
North Alpine Foreland Basin ◽  
Upwelling Intensity

Abstract. Within a 5.5 m-thick succession of Upper Burdigalian (Karpatian) sediments in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB; Austria), dated to CNP-zone NN4, a high-resolution section was logged continuously. 100 samples were taken with a resolution of ~10 mm per layer and analysed using an integrated multi-proxy approach. Earlier analyses of geochemistry and calcareous nannoplankton assemblages hint at small-scale, short-term variations in palaeoenvironmental conditions, such as water-column stratification, primary productivity, organic matter flux, bottom-water oxygenation, freshwater influx and changes in relative sea-level. The results indicate a highly dynamic shallow marine setting that was subject to high frequency environmental changes on a decadal to centennial scale. Time-series analyses on nine different proxy-datasets using REDFIT-analysis and Wavelet spectra were applied to resolve a possible cyclic nature of these variations. Analyses revealed that different proxies for precipitation, upwelling intensity, and over all productivity likely were controlled by different cyclicities. A best-fit adjustment of the likely sedimentation rates within the high-resolution section resulted in periodicities fitting well with the Lower (~65 yr) and Upper (~113 yr) Gleissberg cycle as well as the Suess/de Vries cycle (~211 yr). The section covers a timespan of ~1190 yr based on the correlation with solar cycles, which resulted in an estimated sedimentation rate of 575 mm kyr−1. For the first time, short-term climate variability on a decadal to centennial scale is resolved in Lower Miocene shallow marine laminated sediments in a land-based section. The results hint at a close relationship between climate variability and solar forcing during the Late Burdigalian. Moreover, accepting that these cyclicities are indeed of solar origin, this would indicate that precipitation was driven by the two Gleissberg cycles, while upwelling was driven by the Suess cycle. Furthermore, proxies for primary productivity were influenced by both cycles, although the Suess cycle exerts dominant control, reflecting a stronger influence of upwelling on primary productivity.

scholarly journals Two distinct decadal and centennial cyclicities forced marine upwelling intensity and precipitation during the late Early Miocene in central Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Auer ◽  
W. E. Piller ◽  
M. Harzhauser
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Laminated Sediments ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
North Alpine Foreland Basin ◽  
Upwelling Intensity

Abstract. Within a 5.5 m thick succession of Upper Burdigalian (Karpatian) sediments in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB; Austria), dated to CNP-zone NN4, a high-resolution section was logged continuously. One hundred samples were taken with a resolution of ~10 mm (approximating ~17 years) per layer and analyzed using an integrated multi-proxy approach. Earlier analyses of geochemistry and calcareous nannoplankton assemblages hint at small-scale, short-term variations in paleoenvironmental conditions, such as water-column stratification, primary productivity, organic matter flux, bottom-water oxygenation, freshwater influx, and changes in relative sea level. The results indicate a highly dynamic shallow marine setting that was subject to high-frequency environmental changes on a decadal to centennial scale. Time-series analyses on nine different proxy data sets using REDFIT analysis and wavelet spectra were applied to resolve a possible cyclic nature of these variations. Analyses revealed that different proxies for precipitation, upwelling intensity, and overall productivity were likely controlled by different cyclicities. A best-fit adjustment of the likely sedimentation rates within the high-resolution section resulted in periodicities fitting well with the Lower (~65 years) and Upper (~113 years) Gleissberg cycle as well as the Suess/de Vries cycle (~211 years). The section covers a time span of ~1190 years based on the correlation with solar cycles, which resulted in an estimated sedimentation rate of 575 mm kyr−1. For the first time, short-term climate variability on a decadal to centennial scale is resolved in Lower Miocene shallow marine laminated sediments in a land-based section. The results hint at a close relationship between climate variability and solar forcing during the Late Burdigalian. Moreover, accepting that these cyclicities are indeed of solar origin, this would indicate that precipitation was driven by the two Gleissberg cycles, while upwelling was driven by the Suess cycle. Furthermore, proxies for primary productivity were influenced by both cycles, although the Suess cycle exerts dominant control, reflecting a stronger influence of upwelling on primary productivity.

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