Isotopic evidence for shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns during the late Quaternary in mid–North America

Amundson, Ronald; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Kendall, Carol; Wang, Yang; DeNiro, Michael J.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1996)024<0023:iefsia>2.3.co;2

Cited by 124 publications

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“…O values were lower by c. 2‰ than modern values [Hoffmann et al, 2000], and wholly different from interpretations of Amundson et al [1996] that glacial-age d…”

contrasting

confidence: 56%

“…O values in Wind River glacial terraces (WRT) in Wyoming have been ascribed to an increase in summer precipitation, sourced from the Gulf of Mexico, and advected by a strong summer anticyclone [Amundson et al, 1996]. Whereas much GCM research has focused on isotopic temperature calibrations in ice cores [Jouzel et al, 1997[Jouzel et al, , 2003Hoffmann et al, 2000], improved modeling rigor (e.g., OAGCMs vs. AGCMs [Braconnot et al, 2007]) and changes to climate seasonality [Bromwich et al, 2004], first order discrepancies between models and data in North America have not been addressed.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stable isotopes of fossil teeth corroborate key general circulation model predictions for the Last Glacial Maximum in North America

Kohn

McKay

2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…O values were lower by c. 2‰ than modern values [Hoffmann et al, 2000], and wholly different from interpretations of Amundson et al [1996] that glacial-age d…”

contrasting

confidence: 56%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotopes of fossil teeth corroborate key general circulation model predictions for the Last Glacial Maximum in North America

Kohn

McKay

2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The WR contains a suite of Pleistocene fluvial terraces capped by soils that have persisted through multiple glacial-interglacial climates (3,4,11 (12)(13)(14). The C isotope composition of pedogenic carbonate (δ 13 C c ) is controlled by the proportion of C3-to C4-type vegetation and the soil respiration rate, which are both affected by mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation (MAP) amount (15,16).…”

Section: Carbonate Pedothemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S2-S4). Stable isotopes of O and C, strongly bound in the carbonate group, also retain their original isotopic compositions and can provide continuous records of paleoclimate conditions for soils that have persisted through millennia of subaerial exposure (3,4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedothem carbonates reveal anomalous North American atmospheric circulation 70,000–55,000 years ago

Oerter

Sharp

Oster

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Our understanding of climatic conditions, and therefore forcing factors, in North America during the past two glacial cycles is limited in part by the scarcity of long, well-dated, continuous paleoclimate records. Here, we present the first, to our knowledge, continuous, millennial-resolution paleoclimate proxy record derived from millimeter-thick pedogenic carbonate clast coatings (pedothems), which are widely distributed in semiarid to arid regions worldwide. Our new multiisotope pedothem record from the Wind River Basin in Wyoming confirms a previously hypothesized period of increased transport of Gulf of Mexico moisture northward into the continental interior from 70,000 to 55,000 years ago based on oxygen and carbon isotopes determined by ion microprobe and uranium isotopes and U-Th dating by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This pronounced meridional moisture transport, which contrasts with the dominant zonal transport of Pacific moisture into the North American interior by westerly winds before and after 70,000–55,000 years ago, may have resulted from a persistent anticyclone developed above the North American ice sheet during Marine Isotope Stage 4. We conclude that pedothems, when analyzed using microanalytical techniques, can provide high-resolution paleoclimate records that may open new avenues into understanding past terrestrial climates in regions where paleoclimate records are not otherwise available. When pedothem paleoclimate records are combined with existing records they will add complimentary soil-based perspectives on paleoclimate conditions.

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“…Sharp et al, 2003) and δ 18 O and δ 13 C data from soil carbonates (e.g. Amundson et al, 1996). This study seeks to fill gaps temporally and geographically in the paleoclimate record of the western United States.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Lake Level Fluctuations in Surprise Valley, California

Ibarra¹

2018

Preprint

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Knowledge of Earth’s climate history and sensitivity, combined with modeling past and future climate, are central to informing policy decisions regarding future climate change. The hydrologic response to future warming scenarios due to increased anthropogenic CO2 emissions remains uncertain. Freshwater availability in the arid western United States is projected to decrease in availability as increased agricultural, urban and industrial uses continue to stress supplies. Motivated by the potential for dramatic future hydrologic changes, studies recording the abrupt transitions between different equilibrium states of natural past climate variability shed light on our understanding of the modern climate system.The presence of pluvial lakes in the Basin and Range Province, in the western United States, during the late Pleistocene (40 to 10 ka) indicates far greater moisture availability during the Pleistocene glacials. This study investigates the timing and magnitude of the most recent pluvial lake cycle that filled Surprise Valley, California using geophysical, geochemical and geochronologic tools. Spanning 31.2 to 4.6 ka, this new lake level record places the highest lake level, at 180 meters above present day playa, at 13.9 ± 1.2 ka. This age appears to be nearly synchronous with highstands of Lake Lahontan to the south and the Chewaucan Basin to the north. Additionally, most of the Basin and Range lake highstands, including Lake Surprise, follow peaks in precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-ET) by 8-10 kyr. By compiling a diverse set of paleoclimate data available for western North America, I found that the timing and geographic distribution of lake highstands is inconsistent with increased precipitation in response to shifting westerly winds, the current model for the genesis of large lakes in western North America. Rather, lakes levels are more strongly correlated with changes in summer insolation, suggesting that lake highstands were likely facilitated by colder temperatures and increased humidity due to the presence of continental ice sheets and increased atmospheric convergence. I compared the constraints from lake and soil-based records to Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model simulations from the Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project 2. Based on model-proxy intercomparison, the Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models, the same models used to also assess future climatic changes, poorly predict hydrologic quantities for the Last Glacial Maximum.

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Isotopic evidence for shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns during the late Quaternary in mid–North America

Cited by 124 publications

References 0 publications

Stable isotopes of fossil teeth corroborate key general circulation model predictions for the Last Glacial Maximum in North America

Stable isotopes of fossil teeth corroborate key general circulation model predictions for the Last Glacial Maximum in North America

Pedothem carbonates reveal anomalous North American atmospheric circulation 70,000–55,000 years ago

An Assessment of Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Lake Level Fluctuations in Surprise Valley, California

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