Pluvial lakes were abundant in the southwestern United States during Pleistocene glaciations, particularly in the Great Basin. Many of these lakes occupied closed basins; therefore, fluctuations of their water surface elevations are valuable sources of paleoclimate information. Histories of the largest lakes are well constrained, whereas dozens of smaller lakes that were present in this region have received relatively little scientific attention. Given their dimensions, these smaller lakes were climatically sensitive and can offer important information about Quaternary climate variability. Here we present new ages for the highstands of three previously undated small lakes based on radiocarbon dating of gastropod shells recovered from beach ridges. These results are combined with other published and unpublished 14 C ages to yield an extensive compilation of highstand shoreline ages for lakes of all sizes throughout the southwestern US. The results indicate that although some lakes reached highstands during the Last Glacial Maximum, the strongest temporal correspondence is between highstands and Heinrich Event H1. These results are consistent with speleothem-based reconstructions of effective moisture in the southwestern US, which show increased precipitation during stadials of the last glacial cycle. Figure 1. (A) Map of pluvial lakes in the southwestern USA. Lake names are given along with highstand ages (median probability of the 2-sigma calibration range) in k cal a BP. Codes in parentheses refer to Fig. 3 and Tables 1-3. Analysis focused on highstands after 21k cal a BP; older highstands are listed without codes, and are not plotted in Fig. 3. Dates shown in purple fall during the latter part of the LGM, whereas dates shown in cyan fall during Heinrich Stadial 1. For clarity, only dated lakes are shown. The outline of the Great Basin is dashed. The Sierra Nevada (SN), San Bernadino (SB) and Wasatch Mountains (W) are labeled. (B) Schematic model of changes in the mean position of the Polar Jet Stream (PJS) and corresponding pluvial lake levels across the Great Basin for the Late LGM ($21-18k cal a BP) and HS-1 ($18-15k cal a BP).

Cosmogenic surface-exposure 10 Be dating of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) moraines indicates that glaciers in the southwestern Uinta Mountains remained at their maximum positions until ca. 16.8 ؎ 0.7 ka, ϳ2 k.y. after glaciers in the neighboring Wind River Range and Colorado Rockies began to retreat. The timing of the local LGM in the southwestern Uintas overlaps with both the hydrologic maximum of Lake Bonneville and preliminary estimates of the local LGM in the western Wasatch Mountains. This broad synchroneity indicates that Lake Bonneville and glaciers in northern Utah were responding to similar climate forcing. Furthermore, equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) for reconstructed LGM alpine glaciers increase with distance from the Lake Bonneville shoreline, rising from ϳ2600 m to ϳ3200 m over the 120 km length of the glaciated Uintas. This pronounced ELA gradient suggests that the magnitude of the latest Pleistocene glacial advance in the western Uintas was due, at least in part, to enhanced precipitation derived from Lake Bonneville; thus, the lake acted as a local amplifier of regional climate forcing. This relationship underscores the sensitivity of alpine glaciers to moisture availability during the latest Pleistocene, and further demonstrates the importance of local moisture sources on glacier mass balance.

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Nineteen former valley glaciers were reconstructed for their Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) extents in the northern Uinta Mountains, Utah, U.S.A. Mean equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) calculated by four methods (accumulation–area ratio, toe–headwall altitude ratio, lateral moraines and cirque floors) range from 3050 to 3300 m a.s.l. Modern mean summer temperatures (Ts) at the ELAs range from 8.7° to 11.2°C, while modern winter precipitation (P) ranges from 354 to 590 mm snow water equivalent (SWE). Based on the difference in elevation of mean ELAs across the range, LGM P values must have ranged from 940 to 3040 mm SWE, assuming the modern summer lapse rate was the same during the LGM. A Ts depression of 5.5°C is required for these precipitation values to plot in the range of modern ELA values. The reconstructed increase in P at the western end of the range is 10 times the modern increase, reflecting the influence of pluvial Lake Bonneville. Assuming ELA depression (ΔELA) resulted from this P increase and a uniform 5.5°C Ts decrease, the regional LGM ΔELA was approximately 900 m.

Three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar (3D GPR) was used to investigate the subsurface structure of ice-wedge polygons and other features of the frozen active layer and near-surface permafrost near Barrow, Alaska. Surveys were conducted at three sites located on landscapes of different geomorphic age. At each site, sediment cores were collected and characterised to aid interpretation of GPR data. At two sites, 3D GPR was able to delineate subsurface ice-wedge networks with high fidelity. Threedimensional GPR data also revealed a fundamental difference in ice-wedge morphology between these two sites that is consistent with differences in landscape age. At a third site, the combination of two-dimensional and 3D GPR revealed the location of an active frost boil with ataxitic cryostructure. When supplemented by analysis of soil cores, 3D GPR offers considerable potential for imaging, interpreting and 3D mapping of near-surface soil and ice structures in permafrost environments.

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Mapping at a scale of 1:5000 identified 395 rock glaciers in the Uinta Mountains, Utah. The majority of these have areas<20 ha, although the largest covers 97 ha. Rock glaciers have a mean elevation of 3285 m above sea level (range of 2820 to 3744 m above sea level) and exhibit a preference for northerly aspects. Sixty (15%) have a tongue-shaped morphology, whereas 335 (85%) are lobate features protruding from talus along valley walls. Tongue-shaped rock glaciers are found at significantly higher elevations and receive considerably less direct solar radiation each year than lobate rock glaciers. Winter ground temperatures atop representative rock glaciers drop to between −3°C and −5°C. This result, combined with ~0°C water discharging in the summer and water ages >1 year, suggests that at least some of these landforms contain buried ice. Late summer water discharge from two rock glaciers exhibits higher pH and significantly elevated concentrations of some ions compared with lake water, consistent with ablation of internal ice after melting of winter snowpack is complete. Although the amount of water discharging from individual rock glaciers may be small, the aggregate discharge from all rock glaciers and talus could constitute a significant component of streamflow in late summer and fall.

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