Response of alluvial fan systems to the late Pleistocene to Holocene climatic transition: contrasts between the margins of pluvial Lakes Lahontan and Mojave, Nevada and California, USA

Harvey, Adrian; Wigand, Peter E.; Wells, Stephen

doi:10.1016/s0341-8162(99)00049-1

Cited by 138 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

136

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Many authors, including Bull (1991), Harvey et al (1999), McDonald et al (2003, Miller et al (2010), and Antinao and McDonald (2013a, b) have invoked changes in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme storms to drive fluvial-system aggradation in the southwestern US. Miller et al (2010), for example, documented a correlation between sea-surface temperatures in the Gulf of California (a proxy for monsoon activity) and alluvial-fan aggradation in the Mojave Desert.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quaternary deposits of the southwestern US are dominated by valley-floor-channel and alluvial-fan deposits and their associated terraces that record multiple regionally correlative episodes of aggradation, channel incision, and terrace abandonment (Christensen and Purcell, 1985;Bull, 1991;Harvey et al, 1999;Menges et al, 2001;McDonald et al, 2003;Anders et al, 2005). What drives these aggradation and incision episodes has been a fundamental question in the geomorphology and Quaternary geology of the southwestern US for decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

Pelletier

2014

Earth Surf. Dynam.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Valley-floor-channel and alluvial-fan deposits and terraces in the southwestern US record multiple episodes of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation and incision. Perhaps the most well-constrained of these episodes took place from the latest Pleistocene to the present in the Mojave Desert. One hypothesis for this episode -i.e., the paleovegetation-change hypothesis (PVCH) -posits that a reduction in hillslope vegetation cover associated with the transition from Pleistocene woodlands to Holocene desert scrub generated a pulse of sediment that triggered a primary phase of aggradation downstream, followed by channel incision, terrace abandonment, and initiation of a secondary phase of aggradation further downstream. A second hypothesisi.e., the extreme-storm hypothesis -attributes episodes of aggradation and incision to changes in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme storms. In the past decade a growing number of studies has advocated the extremestorm hypothesis and challenged the PVCH on the basis of inconsistencies in both timing and process. Here I show that in eight out of nine sites where the timing of fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert is reasonably well constrained, measured ages of primary aggradation are consistent with the predictions of the PVCH if the time-transgressive nature of paleovegetation changes with elevation is fully taken into account. I also present an alternative process model for PVCH that is more consistent with available data and produces sediment pulses primarily via an increase in drainage density (i.e., a transformation of hillslopes into low-order channels) rather than solely via an increase in sediment yield from hillslopes. This paper further documents the likely important role of changes in upland vegetation cover and drainage density in driving fluvial-system response during semiarid-to-arid climatic changes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

Pelletier

2014

Earth Surf. Dynam.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…9.2, 7.6, 8.2, 3.2 ka yrs BP with several minor shifts (wetting events) occurring ca. 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.8 ka yrs BP, respectively (Cook et al, 2007;Harvey et al, 1999;Holmquist et al, 2016). Sediments from the LGL 5 excavation yielded data documenting multiple sequences with LU3d characterized as an aridisol sandy loam showing minor pedogenic processes (Figs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Great Salt and Tulare lakes). Harvey et al (1999) documented that during the early Holocene (ca. 9,500 -8,600 cal yrs BP), the jet stream moved north, and allowing monsoonal activity to enter the American Southwest inundating geographic basins.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such a shift in environmental conditions would have been the reason for the existence of LU1: a thick lacustrine facies. Following this event (Harvey et al 1999), a drying episode described by Murchison and Mulvey (2000) likely led to the desiccation of the surface of LU1. Data suggests that the surface of LU1 is the product of the early Holocene lake termination event described by Murchison and Mulvey (2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Shallow Subsurface Evidence for Postglacial Holocene Lakes at Ivanpah Dry Lake: An Alternative Energy Development Site in the Central Mojave Desert, California, USA

Sims¹,

Spaulding

2017

JGG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dry lakes, or playas, in the American Southwest have become important locations for alternative energy solar electric generation systems. Many of these playas have not been investigated for past environmental conditions prior to their development, causing alterations to the shallow sediment profile and altering subsurface chemical and physical data important to recent geologic and hydrologic histories of these areas. Recent studies of these features commonly have focused on surficial data with little or no subsurface geologic data to delineate wet and dry cycles of playa lakes. Many of the playa margins are covered with a surficial layer of alluvial and/or aeolian sands varying in thickness, which could interfere with correct interpretations of data gathered only on the surface material on these lands. Over the past 13,000 years Ivanpah Dry Lake has had at least three episodes of lake highstands up to ~10m in response to climate changes, based on data in this study with the oldest episode dates to ~13,000 cal yrs BP. This study has a link to other sites as many other playas are slated for energy development and could endure subsurface data alteration during site reworking and occupation, resulting in a loss in their collective historical geologic and hydrologic records if more complete studies of important sites are not carried out before developments begin.

show abstract

Landscape response to Pleistocene-Holocene precipitation change in the Western Cordillera, Peru:¹⁰Be concentrations in modern sediments and terrace fills

McPhillips

Bierman

Crocker

et al. 2013

J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The landscape response to climate change is frequently investigated with models because natural experiments on geologic timescales are rare. In Quebrada Veladera, in the western Andes Mountains, the formation of alluvial terraces during periods of high precipitation presents opportunities for such an experiment. We compare drainage‐average erosion rates during Pleistocene terrace deposition with Holocene rates, using cosmogenic 10Be samples for seven pairs of quartz sand taken from the trunk and tributaries of Quebrada Veladera and adjacent terraces. Each pair consists of sediment collected from the modern channel and excavated from an adjacent fill terrace. The terrace fill was deposited at ~16 ka and preserved an isotopic record of paleoerosion rates in the Late Pleistocene. Modern sands yield 10Be concentrations between 1.68 × 105 and 2.28 × 105 atoms/g, corresponding to Holocene erosion rates between 43 ± 3 and 58 ± 4 mm/kyr. The 10Be concentrations in terrace sands range from 9.46 × 104 to 3.73 × 105 atoms/g, corresponding to paleoerosion rates from 27 ± 2 to 103 ± 8 mm/kyr. Smaller, upstream tributaries show a substantial decline in erosion rate following the transition from a wet to dry climate, but larger drainage areas show no change. We interpret this trend to indicate that the wetter climate drove landscape dissection, which ceased with the return to dry conditions. As channel heads propagated upslope, erosion accelerated in low‐order drainages before higher‐order ones. This contrast disappeared when the drainage network ceased to expand; at that point, erosion rates became spatially uniform, consistent with the uniformity of modern hillslope gradients.

show abstract

Response of alluvial fan systems to the late Pleistocene to Holocene climatic transition: contrasts between the margins of pluvial Lakes Lahontan and Mojave, Nevada and California, USA

Cited by 138 publications

References 35 publications

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

Shallow Subsurface Evidence for Postglacial Holocene Lakes at Ivanpah Dry Lake: An Alternative Energy Development Site in the Central Mojave Desert, California, USA

Landscape response to Pleistocene-Holocene precipitation change in the Western Cordillera, Peru:¹⁰Be concentrations in modern sediments and terrace fills

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Response of alluvial fan systems to the late Pleistocene to Holocene climatic transition: contrasts between the margins of pluvial Lakes Lahontan and Mojave, Nevada and California, USA

Cited by 138 publications

References 35 publications

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

The linkages among hillslope-vegetation changes, elevation, and the timing of late-Quaternary fluvial-system aggradation in the Mojave Desert revisited

Shallow Subsurface Evidence for Postglacial Holocene Lakes at Ivanpah Dry Lake: An Alternative Energy Development Site in the Central Mojave Desert, California, USA

Landscape response to Pleistocene-Holocene precipitation change in the Western Cordillera, Peru:10Be concentrations in modern sediments and terrace fills

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Landscape response to Pleistocene-Holocene precipitation change in the Western Cordillera, Peru:¹⁰Be concentrations in modern sediments and terrace fills