Elevation‐dependent precipitation response to El <scp>Niño‐Southern</scp> oscillation revealed in headwater basins of the <scp>US</scp> central Rocky Mountains

Preece, Jonathon R.; Shinker, Jacqueline J.; Riebe, C. S.; Minckley, Thomas A.

doi:10.1002/joc.6790

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…The combined effects could have favored the unusually high δ 18 O carb at HL by positively shifting the isotope values of mean annual precipitation and HL's water. Alternatively, the reversed hydrologic response of Hidden Lake could indicate antiphased hydroclimate changes in the southern Rocky Mountains between high and low elevations, which is consistent with modern responses to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Preece et al, 2021). The active dune fields in east-central Wyoming, however, could confound a simple interpretation of the elevational and seasonally antiphased hydrologic changes, although their activity may depend on soil moisture derived from winter snow (Stokes and Gaylord, 1993).…”

Section: Evidence Of the 42 Ka Drought In The Southern Rocky Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Shuman

2022

Clim. Past

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Abstract. The use of the climatic anomaly known as the “4.2 ka event” as the stratigraphic division between the middle and late Holocene has prompted debate over its impact, geographic pattern, and significance. The anomaly has primarily been described as abrupt drying in the Northern Hemisphere at ca. 4 ka (ka, thousands of years before present), but evidence of the hydroclimate change is inconsistent among sites both globally and within North America. Climate records from the southern Rocky Mountains demonstrate the challenge with diagnosing the extent and severity of the anomaly. Dune-field chronologies and a pollen record in southeastern Wyoming reveal several centuries of low moisture at around 4.2 ka, and prominent low stands in lakes in Colorado suggest the drought was unique amid Holocene variability, but detailed carbonate oxygen isotope (δ18Ocarb) records from Colorado do not record drought at the same time. We find new evidence from δ18Ocarb in a small mountain lake in southeastern Wyoming of an abrupt reduction in effective moisture or snowpack from approximately 4.2–4 ka, which coincides in time with the other evidence of regional drying from the southern Rocky Mountains and the western Great Plains. We find that the δ18Ocarb in our record may reflect cool-season inputs into the lake, which do not appear to track the strong enrichment of heavy oxygen by evaporation during summer months today. The modern relationship differs from some widely applied conceptual models of lake–isotope systems and may indicate reduced winter precipitation rather than enhanced evaporation at ca. 4.2 ka. Inconsistencies among the North American records, particularly in δ18Ocarb trends, thus show that site-specific factors can prevent identification of the patterns of multi-century drought. However, the prominence of the drought at ca. 4 ka among a growing number of sites in the North American interior suggests it was a regionally substantial climate event amid other Holocene variability.

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Section: Evidence Of the 42 Ka Drought In The Southern Rocky Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Shuman

2022

Clim. Past

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“…Low winter snow can create favorable surface-energy conditions for strong summer convective precipitation (Zhu et al 2005). Alternatively, the reversed hydrologic response of Hidden Lake could indicate antiphased hydroclimate changes in the southern Rocky Mountains between high and low elevations, which is consistent with modern responses to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Preece et al, 2020). The active dune fields in east-central Wyoming, however, confound a simple interpretation of the elevational and seasonally antiphased hydrologic changes.…”

Section: Brunellementioning

confidence: 80%

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” drought in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Shuman

2021

Preprint

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Abstract. The use of the climatic anomaly known as the “4.2 ka event” as the stratigraphic division between the mid- and late Holocene has prompted debate over its impact, geographic pattern, and significance. The anomaly has primarily been described as abrupt drying, but evidence of hydroclimate change at ca. 4 ka is inconsistent among sites globally, and few sites in North America document a major drought. Climate records from the southern Rocky Mountains demonstrate the challenge with diagnosing the extent and severity of the anomaly. Dune-field chronologies and a pollen record in southeast Wyoming reveal several centuries of low moisture at around 4.2 ka and prominent low stands in lakes in Colorado suggest the drought was unique amid Holocene variability, but detailed carbonate oxygen isotope (δ18Ocarb) records from Colorado do not record it. We find new evidence from δ18Ocarb in a small mountain lake in southeast Wyoming of an abrupt reduction in effective moisture or snowpack from approximately 4.2–4 ka that coincides in time with the other evidence from the southern Rocky Mountains and the western Great Plains of regional drying at around 4.2 ka. We find that the δ18Ocarb in our record may reflect cool-season inputs into the lake, which do not appear to track the strong enrichment of heavy oxygen by evaporation during summer months today. The modern relationship differs from some widely applied conceptual models of lake-isotope systems and may indicate reduced winter precipitation rather than enhanced evaporation at ca. 4.2 ka. Inconsistencies among the North American records, particularly in δ18Ocarb trends, thus show that site-specific factors can prevent identification of the patterns of multi-century drought. However, the prominence of the drought at ca. 4 ka among a growing number of sites in the North American interior suggests it was a regionally substantial climate event amid other Holocene variability.

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“…These results differ from those of Praeg et al (2020), who studied the elevation gradient of pastures less than 2000 m and found that soil pH decreased with increasing elevation. The reason for this difference may be that atmospheric circulation influences precipitation so that it gradually increases with elevation at lower elevations (Yao et al, 2016;Li et al, 2017;Preece et al, 2021) and then shows a decreasing trend, probably due to the peculiarity of the study region which has a difference of about 2,700 m between high and low elevations. However, the regions above 3,800 m are mainly located in the northwest of Maqu County, where some literatures indicate that the region is vulnerable to climatic effects (Wu et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Influence Of Topography On Soil Water-saltmentioning

confidence: 93%

Spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water-salt and its topographic gradient effects on Alpine area over the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Zhang

Nian

Adingo

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Soil water–salt variations at different spatiotemporal scales and their influencing factors are essential for regional vegetation restoration and management. However, the study of soil water–salt of the alpine area has not taken into account the effect of topography, especially in the long time series. This work investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of water and salt in topsoil from 2000 to 2021, using regression analysis of on-site data and MODIS products. The heterogeneity and trends of soil water–salt in various topographic factors (elevation, slope, and aspect) were also explored by selecting the maximum area of each gradient factor as the constrained condition with the help of ArcGIS software. The results revealed that 1) the models applied to SWC (soil water content), EC (electrical conductivity), and pH utilizing vegetation indices were suitable for estimating the spatiotemporal variations of soil water–salt. 2) Soil water–salt exhibited local aggregation characteristics with an upward trend in SWC and a downward trend in EC and pH as a whole. 3) Mean annual SWC peaked at 3,400–3,800 m with increasing elevation and trended downward with increasing slope. The aspect of mean annual SWC was characterized by lower values in the southwest and south and higher values in the north, while the results for pH were reversed. The slope had a greater influence on EC than on SWC and pH. 4) The trend change of SWC, EC, and pH fluctuated at 2000–2,400 m and >4,600 m with a clear inflection point at 4°–8° and 20°–24°, respectively. In summary, the effects of topography responded to the distribution and trends of soil water–salt. The results have significant implications for implementing ecological improvements in regions with complicated topography and can serve as a reference for formulating future ecological policies.

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Elevation‐dependent precipitation response to El Niño‐Southern oscillation revealed in headwater basins of the US central Rocky Mountains

Cited by 10 publications

References 50 publications

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Expression of the “4.2 ka event” drought in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

Spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water-salt and its topographic gradient effects on Alpine area over the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

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