Geomorphology applied to flooding problems of closed-basin lakes … specifically Great Salt Lake, Utah

Atwood, Genevieve

doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-82012-9.50018-9

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This smaller variability in the crest elevation is probably the result of lower wave energy reaching the shore due to the smaller fetch area of the earlier lake. Previous studies in ancient (Adams & Wesnousky, 1998), as well as in modern lacustrine systems (Atwood, 1994) have identified similar ridge crest elevation variability. This further suggests that the height of the beach ridge crests above the sill‐water level is not constant (Orford et al ., 1991; Adams & Wesnousky, 1998).…”

Section: Beach Ridge Formationmentioning

confidence: 56%

Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49°S)

et al. 2004

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The results of a seismic stratigraphic analysis of a closed lake basin, Lago Cardiel, in southernmost South America are reported. Very few high‐resolution, continental records spanning the Late Quaternary have been obtained from this region. Seismic sequence stratigraphic analysis allows a reconstruction of lake level variations. Two major hiatuses of unknown age occurred during the early evolution of the basin with the deposition of an alluvial fan in a restricted area in the intervening time period. Following the development of a relatively shallow lake during the late Pleistocene and a short desiccation pulse around 11 220 14C yr BP, a transgression of over 135 m occurred at the beginning of the Holocene. The transgression was associated with the formation of beach ridges preserved in the lake stratigraphy on the floor of the modern Lago Cardiel at four different elevations. The preservation of largely unreworked beach ridges indicates a stepwise rise in the lake level. There is no seismic evidence of a major lowering of the lake below modern level during the entire Holocene. Deposition since the mid‐Holocene is marked by strong lateral differences in sediment accumulation with a depocentre slightly to the north of the basin midpoint and a pronounced mounded distribution. Seismic reflection geometries, as well as sedimentological characteristics indicate a lacustrine contourite drift covering an area of 80–100 km2. As Lago Cardiel is under the influence of westerly winds, these most likely drove lake circulation. The identification of drowned beach ridges and of contourite drifts illustrates that high‐resolution seismic stratigraphy is not only a powerful tool in reconstructing past lake level elevations for closed lake basins, but it can also provide information about the rate of lake level changes and the presence and strength of lake currents.

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Section: Beach Ridge Formationmentioning

confidence: 56%

Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49°S)

et al. 2004

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“…Exactly how long the water level must remain stable in order to construct a preservable shoreline at a certain elevation is unclear. However, it is worth noting that beach berms were built by the modern Great Salt Lake in Utah in response to just a few years of high water in the 1980s [26,27]. Thus, the Lake Clover beach berms do not necessarily imply stability of lake level over long (>>~10 1 year) time intervals.…”

Section: Model For Beach Ridge Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of Late Pleistocene Shorelines of Pluvial Lake Clover, Elko County, Nevada, USA

Munroe

2020

Quaternary

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Beach ridges constructed by pluvial Lake Clover in Elko County, Nevada during the Late Pleistocene were investigated with ground-penetrating radar (GPR). The primary objective was to document the internal architecture of these shorelines and to evaluate whether they were constructed during lake rise or fall. GPR data were collected with a ground-coupled 400-Mhz antenna and SIR-3000 controller. To constrain the morphology of the ridges, detailed topographic surveys were collected with a Topcon GTS-235W total station referenced to a second class 0 vertical survey point. GPR transects crossed the beach ridge built by Lake Clover at its highstand of 1725 m, along with seven other ridges down to the lowest beach at 1712 m. An average dielectric permittivity of 5.0, typical for dry sand and gravel, was calculated from GPR surveys in the vicinity of hand-excavations that encountered prominent stratigraphic discontinuities at known depths. Assuming this value, consistent radar signals were returned to a depth of ~3 m. Beach ridges are resolvable as ~90 to 150-cm thick stratified packages of gravelly sand overlying a prominent lakeward-dipping reflector, interpreted as the pre-lake land surface. Many ridges contain a package of sediment resembling a buried berm at their core, typically offset in a landward direction from the geomorphic crest of the beach ridge. Sequences of lakeward-dipping reflectors are resolvable beneath the beach face of all ridges. No evidence was observed to indicate that beach ridges were submerged by higher water levels after their formation. Instead, the GPR data are consistent with a model of sequential ridge formation during a monotonic lake regression.

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“…Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at the Great Salt Lake of Utah. After a series of wet winters in the early 1980s, the Great Salt Lake reached its historic highstand of 1283·8 m in 1986 and again in 1987 (Atwood, 1994). The lake reached a similar level in 1873, but the deposits of this earlier rise are generally distinguishable from the 1986–87 rise by their limited extent, clast staining and vegetation lines (Atwood, 1994).…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After a series of wet winters in the early 1980s, the Great Salt Lake reached its historic highstand of 1283·8 m in 1986 and again in 1987 (Atwood, 1994). The lake reached a similar level in 1873, but the deposits of this earlier rise are generally distinguishable from the 1986–87 rise by their limited extent, clast staining and vegetation lines (Atwood, 1994). The Great Salt Lake only occupied the 1980s high level for approximately 2 years but, during this brief period, prominent gravel ridges and coarse beach deposits were formed around the north, west and south sides of Antelope Island (Figs 2 and 3).…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3). The 1986–87 deposits are composed of coarse gravel, cobbles and boulders that extend up to 2 m above the still water level of 1283·8 m (Atwood, 1994). Although most of the 1986–87 beach deposits were probably reworked from older beach deposits dating from the late Pleistocene or Holocene, when the vast pluvial Lake Bonneville and subsequent minor lake cycles occupied the basin, there is little doubt that the clasts comprising the historic beach deposits were moved by waves propagating across the Great Salt Lake in 1986 and 1987.…”

Section: Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating palaeowind strength from beach deposits

Adams

2003

Sedimentology

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The geological record of past wind conditions is well expressed in the coarse gravel, cobble and boulder beach deposits of Quaternary palaeolakes in the Great Basin of the western USA and elsewhere. This paper describes a technique, using the particle-size distribution of beach deposits, to reconstruct palaeowind conditions when the lakes were present. The beach particle technique (BPT) is first developed using coarse beach deposits from the 1986-87 highstand of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, combined with instrumental wind records from the same time period. Next, the BPT is used to test the hypothesis that wind conditions were more severe than at present during the last highstand of Lake Lahontan (% 13 ka), which only lasted a decade or two at most. The largest 50 beach clasts were measured at nine beach sites located along the north, west and south sides of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, all of which formed in 1986-87. At these sites, the largest clast sizes range from 10 to 28 cm (b-axis), and fetch lengths range from 25 to 55 km. Nearshore wave height was calculated by assuming that the critical threshold velocity required to move the largest clasts represents a minimum estimate of the breaking wave velocity, which is controlled by wave height. Shoaling transformations are undertaken to estimate deep-water wave heights and, ultimately, wind velocity. Wind estimates for the nine sites, using the BPT, range from 6AE5 to 17AE4 m s )1 , which is in reasonable agreement with the instrumental record from Salt Lake City Airport. The same technique was applied to eight late Pleistocene beaches surrounding the Carson Sink sub-basin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada. Using the BPT, estimated winds for the eight sites range from 9AE7 to 27AE1 m s )1 . The strongest winds were calculated for a cobble/boulder beach with a fetch of 25 km. Instrumental wind records for the 1992-99 period indicate that wind events of 9-12 m s )1 are common and that the strongest significant wind event ( ‡ 9 m s )1 for ‡ 3 h) reached an average velocity of 15AE5 m s )1 . Based on this preliminary comparison, it appears that the late Pleistocene western Great Basin was a windier place than at present, at least for a brief time.

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Geomorphology applied to flooding problems of closed-basin lakes … specifically Great Salt Lake, Utah

Cited by 7 publications

References 7 publications

Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49°S)

Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49°S)

Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of Late Pleistocene Shorelines of Pluvial Lake Clover, Elko County, Nevada, USA

Estimating palaeowind strength from beach deposits

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