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Wetter or colder during the Last Glacial Maximum? Revisiting the pluvial lake question in southwestern North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kirsten M. Menking ,
Roger Y. Anderson ,
Nabil G. Shafike ,
Kamran H. Syed  and
Bruce D. Allen
Kirsten M. Menking*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geography, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA
Roger Y. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Nabil G. Shafike
Affiliation:
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA
Kamran H. Syed
Affiliation:
Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 3M4
Bruce D. Allen
Affiliation:
New Mexico Bureau of Mines, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 845 437 7577.

E-mail address:kimenking@vassar.edu(K.M. Menking).

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Abstract

Well-preserved shorelines in Estancia basin and a relatively simple hydrologic setting have prompted several inquiries into the basin's hydrologic balance for the purpose of estimating regional precipitation during the late Pleistocene. Estimates have ranged from 86% to 150% of modern, the disparity largely the result of assumptions about past temperatures. In this study, we use an array of models for surface-water runoff, groundwater flow, and lake energy balance to examine previously proposed scenarios for late Pleistocene climate. Constraints imposed by geologic evidence of past lake levels indicate that precipitation for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may have doubled relative to modern values during brief episodes of colder and wetter climate and that annual runoff was as much as 15% of annual precipitation during these episodes.

Keywords

Last Glacial MaximumLGMLake EstanciaPluvial lakeHydrologic modelMODFLOWLAK2SWAT
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , November 2004 , pp. 280 - 288
Copyright
University of Washington

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