Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns: Evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes

Yu, Zicheng; McAndrews, John H.; Eicher, Ueli

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0251:mhdccb>2.3.co;2

Cited by 130 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

111

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Hydroclimatic variability in continental North America is closely linked to the large-scale circulation, and a large number of studies have previously related regional palaeoclimatic change to storm tracks and moisture transport [10][11][12][13][14][15]17,25,29 . Our work suggests strong, continental-scale coherency in these changes at centennial to millennial scales throughout the past 8,000 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paired oxygen isotope records reveal modern North American atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Pacific North American (PNA) teleconnection has a strong influence on North American climate. Instrumental records and century-scale reconstructions indicate an accelerating tendency towards the positive PNA state since the mid-1850s, but much less is known about long-term PNA variability. Here we reconstruct PNA-like climate variability during the mid-and late Holocene using paired oxygen isotope records from two regions in North America with robust, anticorrelated isotopic response to the modern PNA. We identify mean states of more negative and positive PNA-like climate during the mid-and late Holocene, respectively. Superimposed on the secular change between states is a robust, quasi-200-year oscillation, which we associate with the de Vries solar cycle. These findings suggest the persistence of PNA-like climate variability throughout the mid-and late Holocene, provide evidence for modulation of PNA over multiple timescales and may help researchers de-convolve PNA pattern variation from other factors reflected in palaeorecords.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paired oxygen isotope records reveal modern North American atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…18 O values of inorganic lacustrine calcite are a well-documented climate proxy for lake studies (Stuiver 1970;McKenzie and Hollander 1993;Drummond et al 1995;Anderson et al 1997;Yu et al 1997;Teranes and McKenzie 2001;Hammarlund et al 2002;Kirby et al 2002c, d). In arid lake environments, such as Lake Elsinore, there are multiple studies purporting traditional interpretations of 18 O (calcite) values in terms of climate-forced relative lake level change (Benson et al 1991(Benson et al , 1996(Benson et al , 1998Li and Ku 1997;Li et al 2000;Seltzer et al 2000).…”

Section: Supporting Proxy Data For Lake Level Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Late Holocene lake level dynamics inferred from magnetic susceptibility and stable oxygen isotope data: Lake Elsinore, southern California (USA)

Kirby

Poulsen

Lund

et al. 2004

Journal of Paleolimnology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Southern California faces an imminent freshwater shortage. To better assess the future impact of this water crisis, it is essential that we develop continental archives of past hydrological variability. Using four sediment cores from Lake Elsinore in Southern California, we reconstruct late Holocene ($3800 calendar years B.P.) hydrological change using a twentieth-century calibrated, proxy methodology. We compared magnetic susceptibility from Lake Elsinore deep basin sediments, lake level from Lake Elsinore, and regional winter precipitation data over the twentieth century to calibrate the late Holocene lake sediment record. The comparison revealed a strong positive, first-order relationship between the three variables. As a working hypothesis, we suggest that periods of greater precipitation produce higher lake levels. Greater precipitation also increases the supply of detritus (i.e., magnetic-rich minerals) from the lake's surrounding drainage basin into the lake environment. As a result, magnetic susceptibility values increase during periods of high lake level. We apply this modern calibration to late Holocene sediments from the lake's littoral zone. As an independent verification of this hypothesis, we analyzed 18 O (calcite) , interpreted as a proxy for variations in the precipitation:evaporation ratio, which reflect first order hydrological variability. The results of this verification support our hypothesis that magnetic susceptibility records regional hydrological change as related to precipitation and lake level. Using both proxy data, we analyzed the past 3800 calendar years of hydrological variability. Our analyses indicate a long period of dry, less variable climate between 3800 and 2000 calendar years B.P. followed by a wet, more variable climate to the present. These results suggest that droughts of greater magnitude and duration than those observed in the modern record have occurred in the recent geological past. This conclusion presents insight to the potential impact of future droughts on the over-populated, water-poor region of Southern California.

show abstract

“…Recently, considerable paleoclimatic evidence has emerged indicating that the decline coincided with a dry climatic interval that induced regional-to-continental changes in vegetation and water levels (Yu and 3 E-mail: drfoster@fas.harvard.edu McAndrews 1994, Yu et al 1997, Haas and McAndrews 2000, Shuman et al 2001, 2005b, Calcote 2003. These findings, coupled with evidence that mid-Holocene climate fluctuations may be linked to changes in solar activity Haas 2004, Magny et al 2006), raise again the potential of an important role for environmental change in this striking forest dynamic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Climatic Driver for Abrupt Mid-Holocene Vegetation Dynamics and the Hemlock Decline in New England

Foster

Oswald

Faison

et al. 2006

Ecology

116

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The mid-Holocene decline of eastern hemlock is widely viewed as the sole prehistorical example of an insect-or pathogen-mediated collapse of a North American tree species and has been extensively studied for insights into pest-host dynamics and the consequences to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of dominant-species removal. We report paleoecological evidence implicating climate as a major driver of this episode. Data drawn from sites across a gradient in hemlock abundance from dominant to absent demonstrate: a synchronous, dramatic decline in a contrasting taxon (oak); changes in lake sediments and aquatic taxa indicating low water levels; and one or more intervals of intense drought at regional to continental scales. These results, which accord well with emerging climate reconstructions, challenge the interpretation of a biotically driven hemlock decline and highlight the potential for climate change to generate major, abrupt dynamics in forest ecosystems.

show abstract

Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns: Evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes

Cited by 130 publications

References 22 publications

Paired oxygen isotope records reveal modern North American atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene

Paired oxygen isotope records reveal modern North American atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene

Late Holocene lake level dynamics inferred from magnetic susceptibility and stable oxygen isotope data: Lake Elsinore, southern California (USA)

A Climatic Driver for Abrupt Mid-Holocene Vegetation Dynamics and the Hemlock Decline in New England

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About