Paleoproduction and environmental change at Mono Lake (eastern Sierra Nevada) during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

Bailee N. Hodelka; Michael M. McGlue; Susan Zimmerman; Guleed Ali; Irene Tunno

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109565

Paleoproduction and environmental change at Mono Lake (eastern Sierra Nevada) during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

Bailee N. Hodelka, Michael M. McGlue, Susan Zimmerman, Guleed Ali, Irene Tunno

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The late Quaternary limnological history of Mono Lake (~16.6–4.3 cal kyr BP), a hydrologically closed basin in the eastern Sierra Nevada (California), is inferred based on a multi-indicator analysis of a long (~10.8 m) composite sediment core constructed from overlapping deepwater piston cores. The composite core, dated by ¹⁴C and tephra correlation, shows variations in sedimentology, magnetic susceptibility, elemental geochemistry and stable isotopes through time, consistent with changes in aquatic productivity, hydroclimate, and volcanism. In the late Pleistocene, deepwater stratigraphy was influenced by high-amplitude water-level changes and runoff from a glaciated watershed. In contrast, Mono Lake's elevation was lower in the Early to Middle Holocene; low-amplitude water-level changes, wave reworking of the shoreline, and water-column stratification were important controls on facies during that time. The data suggest that the chief controls on organic facies development in Mono Lake – productivity, preservation, and dilution dynamics – are sensitive to climate changes that influence lake-level elevation, water chemistry, and the position of deltas. The study shows that deepwater sediments from certain locales in Mono Lake are well-preserved, continuous, and can be reliably dated with ¹⁴C applied to terrestrial materials. When paired with precisely dated paleoshoreline data, these sediments provide a high-resolution archive of deglacial and Holocene environmental information for the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Original language	English
Article number	109565
Journal	Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Volume	543
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109565
State	Published - Apr 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This research was supported by the US NSF (Award #1829093) and permitted by the Mono/Inyo National Forest. We are grateful to the staff at the National Lacustrine Core Facility for their support and curation of UWI-MONO15-1C/D. Support from S. Hemming, S. Colman, R. Niederreiter, M. Niederreiter, J. Backus, A. Conner, S. Azeem and J. Lucas was greatly appreciated. We are indebted to the Mono Lake Committee, especially B. Miller, for their assistance and enthusiasm. We thank our reviewers for their helpful comments. This is LLNL-JRNL-782377. This research was supported by the US NSF (Award # 1829093 ) and permitted by the Mono/Inyo National Forest . We are grateful to the staff at the National Lacustrine Core Facility for their support and curation of UWI-MONO15-1C/D. Support from S. Hemming, S. Colman, R. Niederreiter, M. Niederreiter, J. Backus, A. Conner, S. Azeem and J. Lucas was greatly appreciated. We are indebted to the Mono Lake Committee, especially B. Miller, for their assistance and enthusiasm. We thank our reviewers for their helpful comments. This is LLNL-JRNL-782377.

Funders	Funder number
Mono/Inyo National Forest	LLNL-JRNL-782377
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program
Directorate for Geosciences	1829093

Keywords

California
Lithostratigraphy
Paleolimnology
Paleoshorelines
Radiocarbon

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Oceanography
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Earth-Surface Processes
Paleontology

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10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109565

Cite this

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abstract = "The late Quaternary limnological history of Mono Lake (~16.6–4.3 cal kyr BP), a hydrologically closed basin in the eastern Sierra Nevada (California), is inferred based on a multi-indicator analysis of a long (~10.8 m) composite sediment core constructed from overlapping deepwater piston cores. The composite core, dated by 14C and tephra correlation, shows variations in sedimentology, magnetic susceptibility, elemental geochemistry and stable isotopes through time, consistent with changes in aquatic productivity, hydroclimate, and volcanism. In the late Pleistocene, deepwater stratigraphy was influenced by high-amplitude water-level changes and runoff from a glaciated watershed. In contrast, Mono Lake's elevation was lower in the Early to Middle Holocene; low-amplitude water-level changes, wave reworking of the shoreline, and water-column stratification were important controls on facies during that time. The data suggest that the chief controls on organic facies development in Mono Lake – productivity, preservation, and dilution dynamics – are sensitive to climate changes that influence lake-level elevation, water chemistry, and the position of deltas. The study shows that deepwater sediments from certain locales in Mono Lake are well-preserved, continuous, and can be reliably dated with 14C applied to terrestrial materials. When paired with precisely dated paleoshoreline data, these sediments provide a high-resolution archive of deglacial and Holocene environmental information for the eastern Sierra Nevada.",

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AB - The late Quaternary limnological history of Mono Lake (~16.6–4.3 cal kyr BP), a hydrologically closed basin in the eastern Sierra Nevada (California), is inferred based on a multi-indicator analysis of a long (~10.8 m) composite sediment core constructed from overlapping deepwater piston cores. The composite core, dated by 14C and tephra correlation, shows variations in sedimentology, magnetic susceptibility, elemental geochemistry and stable isotopes through time, consistent with changes in aquatic productivity, hydroclimate, and volcanism. In the late Pleistocene, deepwater stratigraphy was influenced by high-amplitude water-level changes and runoff from a glaciated watershed. In contrast, Mono Lake's elevation was lower in the Early to Middle Holocene; low-amplitude water-level changes, wave reworking of the shoreline, and water-column stratification were important controls on facies during that time. The data suggest that the chief controls on organic facies development in Mono Lake – productivity, preservation, and dilution dynamics – are sensitive to climate changes that influence lake-level elevation, water chemistry, and the position of deltas. The study shows that deepwater sediments from certain locales in Mono Lake are well-preserved, continuous, and can be reliably dated with 14C applied to terrestrial materials. When paired with precisely dated paleoshoreline data, these sediments provide a high-resolution archive of deglacial and Holocene environmental information for the eastern Sierra Nevada.

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Paleoproduction and environmental change at Mono Lake (eastern Sierra Nevada) during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

Abstract

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Keywords

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