A desert responds to Pleistocene climate change: Saline lacustrine sediments, Death Valley, California, USA

Roberts, Sheila M.; Spencer, Ronald J.

doi:10.1201/9781003077862-37

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…During MIS 6, Searles Lake shoreline deposits (Smith, 2009) and chlorine transfer budget (Jannik et al., 1991) suggest a period of intensive overflow into Panamint Valley, which resulted in the formation of a > 300 m deep Lake Panamint which overspilled into Lake Manly in Death Valley (Jayko et al., 2008). This overspill resulted in Lake Manly being deeper during MIS 6 than MIS 2 (Forester et al., 2005; Roberts & Spencer, 1998). Further upstream, dates of lake highstands and outflows suggest that Mono Lake was possibly overspilling into the Owens River catchment during MIS 6 but not during MIS 2 (Reheis et al., 2002; Reheis pers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomarker and Pollen Evidence for Late Pleistocene Pluvials in the Mojave Desert

Peaple

Bhattacharya

Lowenstein

et al. 2022

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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The climate of the southwestern North America has experienced profound changes between wet and dry phases over the past 200 Kyr. To better constrain the timing, magnitude, and paleoenvironmental impacts of these changes in hydroclimate, we conducted a multiproxy biomarker study from samples collected from a new 77 m sediment core (SLAPP‐SRLS17) drilled in Searles Lake, California. Here, we use biomarkers and pollen to reconstruct vegetation, lake conditions, and climate. We find that δD values of long chain n‐alkanes are dominated by glacial to interglacial changes that match nearby Devils Hole calcite δ18O variability, suggesting both archives predominantly reflect precipitation isotopes. However, precipitation isotopes do not simply covary with evidence for wet‐dry changes in vegetation and lake conditions, indicating a partial disconnect between large scale atmospheric circulation tracked by precipitation isotopes and landscape moisture availability. Increased crenarchaeol production and decreased evidence for methane cycling reveal a 10 Kyr interval of a fresh, productive, and well‐mixed lake during Termination II, corroborating evidence for a paleolake highstand from shorelines and spillover deposits in downstream Panamint Basin and Death Valley during the end of the penultimate (Tahoe) glacial (140–130 ka). At the same time brGDGTs yield the lowest temperature estimates (mean months above freezing = 9°C ± 3°C) of the 200 Kyr record. These limnological conditions are not replicated elsewhere in the 200 Kyr record, suggesting that the Heinrich stadial 11 highstand was wetter than the last glacial maximum and Heinrich 1 (18–15 ka).

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomarker and Pollen Evidence for Late Pleistocene Pluvials in the Mojave Desert

Peaple

Bhattacharya

Lowenstein

et al. 2022

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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“…Observed (Klee et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2005) Observed (Crowley, 1993;Knott et al, 2018;Roberts & Spencer, 1998) Plausible (Das et al, 2020;Gasda et al, 2017) Plausible (Das et al, 2020;Gasda et al, 2017) Observed (Sutter et al, 2017) Observed (Rampe et al, 2022) Plausible (Bridges et al, 2015;Schwenzer et al, 2016;2020) Observed (Archer et al, 2020) Observed (Vaniman et al, 2014 Fe-oxides: Hematite…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating evaporative wet and dry cycles in Gale crater, Mars using thermochemical modeling techniques.

Turner

Schwenzer

Gasda

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The aim of this work is to understand the formation of primary evaporites—sulfates, borates, and chlorides—in Gale crater using thermochemical modeling to determine constraints on their formation. We test the hypothesis that primary evaporites required multiple wet-dry cycles to form, akin to how evaporite assemblages form on Earth. Starting with a basalt-equilibrated Mars fluid, Mars-relevant concentrations of B and Li were added, and then equilibrated with Gale lacustrine bedrock. We simulated cycles of evaporation followed by groundwater recharge/dilution to establish an approximate minimum number of wet-dry cycles required to form primary evaporites. We determine that a minimum of 250 wet-dry cycles may be required to start forming primary evaporites that consist of borates and Ca-sulfates. We estimate that ~14,250 annual cycles (~25.6 k Earth years) of wet and dry periods may form primary borates and Ca-sulfates in Gale crater. These primary evaporites could have been remobilized during secondary diagenesis to form the veins that the Curiosity rover observes in Gale crater. No LiCl salts form after 14,250 cycles modeled for the Gale-relevant scenario (approximately 106 cycles would be needed) which implies Li may be leftover in a groundwater brine after the time of the lake. No major deposits of borates are observed to date in Gale crater which also implies that B may be leftover in the subsequent groundwater brine that formed after evaporites were remobilized into Ca-sulfate veins.

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A desert responds to Pleistocene climate change: Saline lacustrine sediments, Death Valley, California, USA

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Biomarker and Pollen Evidence for Late Pleistocene Pluvials in the Mojave Desert

Biomarker and Pollen Evidence for Late Pleistocene Pluvials in the Mojave Desert

Simulating evaporative wet and dry cycles in Gale crater, Mars using thermochemical modeling techniques.

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