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Uranium-Series Age Estimates and Paleoclimatic Significance of Pleistocene Tufas from the Lahontan Basin, California and Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Yong Lao  and
Larry Benson
Yong Lao
Affiliation:
Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 USA
Larry Benson
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS 404, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225 USA
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Abstract

An extended chronology of Lahontan basin lake levels based on uranium-series age estimates correlates with the global ice-volume record. Lake highstands occur at or shortly after times of maximum ice-sheet size. Moderate size lakes occur when the global ice volume is about 80% of its maximum. The data indicate that lake levels rise and fall relative to the proximity of the mean position of the jetstream. When the continental ice sheet is above some threshold size or shape, it appears that the large-scale circulation and climatic conditions are right for producing lakes of moderate to large size within the Lahontan basin.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , September 1988 , pp. 165 - 176
Copyright
University of Washington

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