History of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA: since the Termination of Lake Bonneville

Oviatt, Charles G.; Atwood, Genevieve; Thompson, Robert S.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-66576-0_8

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although hypersaline lakes are distributed over large geographical areas, and although they are sensitive recorders of climate and environmental conditions, they are rarely the subject of palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment studies due to their low carbon productivity and their limited sediment constituents suitable for chronology (e.g. Williams & Liebhold, 2002; Jones & Deocampo, 2003; Oviatt et al ., 2005, 2015, 2021; Oren, 2009; Gajardo & Redón, 2019; Mohammadi et al ., 2021, 2023). Except for bulk sediment, pollen and Artemia faecal pellets are the only constituents for 14 C dating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary evolution and lake level fluctuations of Urmia Lake (north‐west Iran) over the past 50 000 years; insights from Artemia faecal pellet records

Sarı,

Mohammadi,

Schwamborn

et al. 2023

Sedimentology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A 25 m long sediment core from hypersaline Urmia Lake (north‐west Iran) was studied for the Late Quaternary depositional history and palaeoclimate variations using the abundance and compositional characteristics of Artemia fecal pellets. Sediment analysis is supported by scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, organic and inorganic carbon contents measurements, and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) from fecal pellet carbonates. The imprecise chronology of the core back to 50 kyr BP is supported by ten radiocarbon ages from fecal pellets and bulk sediments. The palaeoenvironmental record is subdivided into four periods: (i) During much of Marine Isotope Stage 3, a period of lake level lowering is characterized by a decreasing amount of fecal pellets, and an increasing amount of coated grains, sulphate minerals and reworked shell fragments. (ii) During late Marine Isotope Stage 3 and early Marine Isotope Stage 2 a lake level lowstand and a lake floor exposure is interpreted based on the relatively low abundance of pellets, which are multicoloured and appear together with volcanic lithics and rounded sulphate minerals. (iii) During late Marine Isotope Stage 2 the record is devoid of pellets but dominated by large sulphate crystals suggesting a prolonged low lake level. (iv) During Marine Isotope Stage 1 a relative lake level highstand is rapidly established with sediments that are highly abundant in fresh pellets. The modern lake level lowstand is represented by a salt crust. The δ13C and δ18O records measured from fecal pellet carbonates suggest a link with the precipitation versus evaporation balance in the lake over time. From bottom to top the linear trend towards more negative delta values illustrates the increasing amount of precipitation arriving at the lake from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Two prominent isotope minima during the Late Pleistocene and one prominent minimum in the early Holocene mark relative high lake levels, which can also be linked to Lake Van in Turkey.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary evolution and lake level fluctuations of Urmia Lake (north‐west Iran) over the past 50 000 years; insights from Artemia faecal pellet records

Sarı,

Mohammadi,

Schwamborn

et al. 2023

Sedimentology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Approximate 2-sigma error bars are marked on the ages for Unit 1. This chronology diagram is modified from information in Oviatt (2015) and Oviatt et al (2021). T = transgressive phase; O = overflowing phase; R = regressive phase of Lake Bonneville.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Quaternary carbonate microbialite complex on the west shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Pedone

Oviatt

McGee

2022

J Quaternary Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Late Pleistocene carbonate microbialite complex at Death Point on the western shore of Great Salt Lake, UT, USA, coats Paleozoic bedrock over an area 70 × 40 m. The complex largely formed while Lake Bonneville flooded the basin. Three distinct stratigraphic units separated by minor unconformities have been identified. The oldest unit (Unit 1) occurs over the entire outcrop area and ranges from 10 cm to 2.5 m in thickness. It precipitated as aragonite in the wave‐agitated shoreline environment during the early transgressive phase of Lake Bonneville and was subsequently pervasively dolomitized. Some near‐vertical faces of Unit 1 are overlain by an 8‐cm‐thick calcite microbialite (Unit 2) precipitated in deeper water of the regressive phase of Lake Bonneville. The youngest microbialite unit (Unit 3) overlies the calcite layer and precipitated as aragonite when the lake had dropped to levels similar to those of modern Great Salt Lake. The elevation, stratigraphy, distinct mineralogical layers, diagenetic history and long depositional span distinguish the Death Point microbialite complex from other microbialites in the Lake Bonneville/Great Salt Lake lacustrine system. The geochronology of Death Point microbialite will lead to modifications of the Lake Bonneville hydrograph, showing significantly lower lake levels in the early‐transgression stage.

show abstract

“…During the Gilbert episode (11.6 cal ka BP), GSL rose to its highest post-Bonneville level at 1295 m (Oviatt, 2014), flooding the BSF area. Researchers have limited knowledge about the history of other post-Bonneville GSL expansions into GSLD and have not identified any shorelines from these expansions (Oviatt et al, 2021). Sediment deposition was minimal due to the brief nature of these expansions.…”

Section: Regional Depositional Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lateral and temporal constraints on the depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA

Bernau,

Bowen,

Oviatt

et al. 2024

Quat. res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, a perennial saline pan in Utah's Bonneville basin, has poor temporal constraints, and the climatic and geomorphic conditions that led to saline pan formation there are poorly understood. We explore the late Pleistocene to Holocene depositional record of Bonneville Salt Flats cores. Our data challenge the assumption that the saline pan formed from the desiccation of Lake Bonneville, the largest late Pleistocene lake in the Great Basin, which covered this area from 30 to 13 cal ka BP. We test two hypotheses: whether climatic transitions from (1) wet to arid or (2) arid to wet led to saline pan deposition. We describe the depositional record with radiocarbon dating, sedimentological structures, mineralogy, diatom, ostracode, and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer measurements. Gypsum and carbonate strontium isotope ratio measurements reflect changes in water sources. Three shallow saline lake to desiccation cycles occurred from >45 and >28 cal ka BP. Deflation removed Lake Bonneville sediments between 13 and 8.3 cal ka BP. Gypsum deposition spanned 8.3 to 5.4 cal ka BP, while the oldest halite interval formed from 5.4 to 3.5 cal ka BP during a wetter period. These findings offer valuable insights for sedimentologists, archaeologists, geomorphologists, and land managers.

show abstract

History of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA: since the Termination of Lake Bonneville

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Sedimentary evolution and lake level fluctuations of Urmia Lake (north‐west Iran) over the past 50 000 years; insights from Artemia faecal pellet records

Sedimentary evolution and lake level fluctuations of Urmia Lake (north‐west Iran) over the past 50 000 years; insights from Artemia faecal pellet records

Late Quaternary carbonate microbialite complex on the west shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Lateral and temporal constraints on the depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About