Complementary Seasonally Biased Records of Holocene Paleoclimates of the Bear River Range, Utah and Idaho
Location
ECC 216
Event Website
http://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
4-3-2012 12:00 PM
End Date
4-3-2012 12:20 PM
Description
Knowledge of long-term hydroclimatic variability in the West provides important contextual information for modern water resource management and helps provide predictive insights as modern climate change alters hydrologic patterns. Unfortunately, many paleoclimate or paleohydrologic indicators are strongly biased toward conditions in one certain season. This potential disconnect between proxy indicator biases and actual seasonal climate patterns can diminish the the utility of paleoclimate records, or lead to false inferences. We present two independent records of paleoenvironmental conditions from essentially the same location in the Bear River Range to try to elucidate season-specific conditions through the Holocene. One record is a speleothem stable isotope record from Minnetonka Cave, and the other is a lacustrine pollen/charcoal record from Bloomington Canyon. Highlights of our findings are that the Early Holocene, while effectively dry for vegetative growth, saw larger than average snowpacks. Peak summer temperatures occurred from 11-9ka, but peak hydrologic drought did not occur until 7.5-6ka do to the offsetting effects of increased winter precipitation from 11-7.5ka. Both vegetative and hydrologic variability increased after 4ka, but especially after 2.5ka. The midieval climate anomaly was characterized by anomalously warm wet summers.
Complementary Seasonally Biased Records of Holocene Paleoclimates of the Bear River Range, Utah and Idaho
ECC 216
Knowledge of long-term hydroclimatic variability in the West provides important contextual information for modern water resource management and helps provide predictive insights as modern climate change alters hydrologic patterns. Unfortunately, many paleoclimate or paleohydrologic indicators are strongly biased toward conditions in one certain season. This potential disconnect between proxy indicator biases and actual seasonal climate patterns can diminish the the utility of paleoclimate records, or lead to false inferences. We present two independent records of paleoenvironmental conditions from essentially the same location in the Bear River Range to try to elucidate season-specific conditions through the Holocene. One record is a speleothem stable isotope record from Minnetonka Cave, and the other is a lacustrine pollen/charcoal record from Bloomington Canyon. Highlights of our findings are that the Early Holocene, while effectively dry for vegetative growth, saw larger than average snowpacks. Peak summer temperatures occurred from 11-9ka, but peak hydrologic drought did not occur until 7.5-6ka do to the offsetting effects of increased winter precipitation from 11-7.5ka. Both vegetative and hydrologic variability increased after 4ka, but especially after 2.5ka. The midieval climate anomaly was characterized by anomalously warm wet summers.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2012/AllAbstracts/3