Tropical Pacific forcing of Late-Holocene hydrologic variability in the coastal southwest United States

Kirby, Matthew E.; Feakins, Sarah J.; Hiner, C.; Fantozzi, Joanna M.; Zimmerman, Susan; Dingemans, Theodore; Mensing, Scott

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.08.005

Cited by 52 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 82 publications

(126 reference statements)

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“…The triple sequence of effective moisture minima at 27.5 ka, 26.6 ka, and 25.5 ka, each lasting~500 years, represent drought-like conditions that persist for over~2000 years. A similar duration (500 yr) of drought is inferred from late Holocene sediments from Zaca Lake, located 50 km north from SBB (Kirby et al, 2014). This drought similarity indicates that our proposed glacial megadroughts are not without more recent analogs; moreover, it suggests that megadroughts are a feature during both glacial and-interglacial conditions (Kirby et al, 2014).…”

Section: Paleoclimate Change In Coastal Southern California and Offshsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Below the inversion layer, cool maritime air flows up the coastal slopes to~400 m and condenses into fog and fog-drip that averages~5.74 cm/month in May and June on the seaward side and~2.41 cm/month on the leeward side (Vogl, 1973). Inter-annual winter precipitation variability is modulated by ocean-atmosphere conditions in the tropical and extra-tropical Pacific such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) (Castello, 2004;Kirby et al, 2010Kirby et al, , 2014. During El Niño years, drainage basins in the southwestern United States are more likely to experience higher stream flow and sediment flux than during La Niña years (Inman, Fig.…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present "Great Drought" in California is extreme but not in terms of duration, especially for CSC where multi-decadal to centennial scale drought are inferred from the paleoclimatic record (Cook et al, 2004;Kirby et al, 2014). Predicted future changes in mean annual precipitation and temperature seasonality is likely to impact vegetation and associated ecosystems of the California Floristic Biodiversity Hotspot, wherein Lake Elsinore (LE) is located (McDowell, 2008;Williams, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pollen-based evidence of extreme drought during the last Glacial (32.6–9.0 ka) in coastal southern California

Heusser

Kirby

Nichols

2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tHigh resolution pollen analyses of sediment core LEDC10-1 from Lake Elsinore yield the first well-dated, terrestrial record of sub-centennial-scale ecologic change in coastal southern California between~32 and 9 ka. In the Lake Elsinore watershed, the initial, mesic montane conifer forests dominated by Pinus, and Cupressaceae with trace amounts of Abies and Picea were replaced by a sequence of multiple, extended severe mega-droughts between~27.5 and~25.5 ka, in which halophytic and xerophytic herbs and shrubs occupied an ephemeral lake. This prolonged and extended dry interval, which corresponds with warm waters offshore, imply strengthening of the North Pacific High and persistent below-average winter precipitation. The subsequent, contrasting monotonic occurrence of montane conifers reflects little variation in cold, mesic climate until~15 ka. Postglacial development of Quercus woodland and chaparral mark the return to more xeric, warmer conditions at this time. A brief reversal at~13.1e~12.1 ka, as reflected by an expansion of Pinus, is correlative with the Younger Dryas and interrupts development of warm, postglacial climate. Subsequent gradual expansion of xeric vegetation post e Younger Dryas denotes the establishment of a winter hydroclimate regime in coastal southern California that is more similar to modern conditions. Pollen-based reconstructions of temperature and precipitation at Lake Elsinore are generally correlative with pollen-based paleoclimatic reconstructions and foraminiferabased sea surface temperatures from Santa Barbara Basin in marine core ODP 893. The conspicuous absence of the~27.5e~25.5 ka glacial "mega-drought" in the Santa Barbara Basin pollen record highlights the sensitivity of Lake Elsinore to hydroclimate change, and thus, the importance of this new record that indicates that mega-drought can occur during the full glacial when climatic boundary conditions and forcings differed substantially from the present.

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Section: Paleoclimate Change In Coastal Southern California and Offshsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pollen-based evidence of extreme drought during the last Glacial (32.6–9.0 ka) in coastal southern California

Heusser

Kirby

Nichols

2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Proxy evidence for rainfall can extend our perspective of hydroclimate in the region and is the only way to capture evidence for multidecadal to millennial scale droughts and pluvials in the west (Cook et al, 2004;Briggs et al, 2005;Mensing et al, 2013). The sediments of Zaca Lake have yielded records of hydroclimate fluctuations over the last 3000 years including pluvials lasting decades to centuries based on leaf wax, pollen, and grain size evidence Feakins et al, 2014;Kirby et al, 2014). Inactive perched tufa deposits within the catchment (labeled 'perched cascade' in Fig.…”

Section: Geologic and Environmental Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluvial tufa evidence of Late Pleistocene wet intervals from Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.

Ibarra

Corsetti

Feakins

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…However, various modes of ENSO are associated with different impacts on western NA hydroclimate (Ashok et al, 2007), and teleconnections can vary on decadal-to-centennial time scales (Gershunov and Barnett, 1998b), suggesting that southwest hydroclimate does not always respond to ENSO variability in a linear manner based on our modern understanding of southwest hydroclimate and ENSO correlations (Heyer et al, 2017). However, despite teleconnection variability (Gershunov and Barnett, 1998b), dipole variability (Wise, 2010) and different modes of ENSO (Ashok et al, 2007), paleo-sedimentary records suggest teleconnections between ENSO and southwest climate are similar to those observed in the modern record, and have persisted at century-millennial time scales (Barron and Anderson, 2010;Antinao and McDonald, 2013;Kirby et al, 2014;Hart et al, 2015). Further, paleoecological records have revealed the ENSO phenomenon is correlated with fire regimes of the southwest (Swetnam and .…”

Section: Regional Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Filling a Geographical Gap: New Paleoecological Reconstructions From the Desert Southwest, USA

et al. 2018

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In 1916 the time stamp for quantitative palynology was set with Lennart von Post's initial paper on pollen analysis and environmental change in the Scandinavian peat bogs. In the 1930s, Von Post provided a map of the known palynological reconstructions. This map showed many conspicuous gaps of geographic coverage that have endured to this day. In particular, environmental reconstruction in arid lands remain much less known, largely due to the paucity of depositional environments in these areas as well as challenges with preservation in regions either uniformly dry or subjected to strong wet/dry phases. Over the last decade we have examined linkages between desert wetland development and episodes of wet and arid conditions. Desert wetland, or ciénegas, are recharged by groundwater and appear to be sensitive to climate-driven groundwater fluctuations. These systems appear to "grow" during wet periods potentially associated with enhanced El Niño activity, suggesting an important linkage with groundwater dynamics and the quantity and frequency of winter precipitation delivery. Hydrologic conditions in ciénegas are also important controls on the preservation of pollen, where episodes of aridity coincide with periods of poor pollen preservation. We assess modern El Niño events, as analogs of past wet conditions, to provide context on the atmospheric controls for delivery of moisture into the desert southwest during winter. Our analysis shows that anomalously high and persistent moisture delivery into the region during El Niño events enables the growth of ciénegas, improves preservation of pollen and promotes the growth of fuels necessary to support wildfire. This paper examines ciénega sites located in the southwestern region of North America at the US/Mexico Border and discusses results that addresses a geographical gap identified by Von Post's original work in paleoenvironmental research.

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Tropical Pacific forcing of Late-Holocene hydrologic variability in the coastal southwest United States

Cited by 52 publications

References 82 publications

Pollen-based evidence of extreme drought during the last Glacial (32.6–9.0 ka) in coastal southern California

Pollen-based evidence of extreme drought during the last Glacial (32.6–9.0 ka) in coastal southern California

Fluvial tufa evidence of Late Pleistocene wet intervals from Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.

Filling a Geographical Gap: New Paleoecological Reconstructions From the Desert Southwest, USA

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