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Late Pleistocene and Late Holocene Lake Highstands in the Pyramid Lake Subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Richard W. Briggs ,
Steven G. Wesnousky  and
Kenneth D. Adams
Richard W. Briggs*
Affiliation:
Center for Neotectonic Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Steven G. Wesnousky
Affiliation:
Center for Neotectonic Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Kenneth D. Adams
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected] (R.W. Briggs).
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Abstract

Shoreline geomorphology, shoreline stratigraphy, and radiocarbon dates of organic material incorporated in constructional beach ridges record large lakes during the late Pleistocene and late Holocene in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA. During the late Holocene, a transgression began at or after 3595 ± 35 14C yr B.P. and continued, perhaps in pulses, through 2635 ± 40 14C yr B.P., resulting in a lake as high as 1199 m. During the latest Pleistocene and overlapping with the earliest part of the Younger Dryas interval, a lake stood at approximately 1212 m at 10,820 ± 35 14C yr B.P. and a geomorphically and stratigraphically distinct suite of constructional shorelines associated with this lake can be traced to 1230 m. These two lake highstands correspond to periods of elevated regional wetness in the western Basin and Range that are not clearly represented in existing northern Sierra Nevada climate proxy records.

Keywords

Pyramid LakeLake LahontanShorelinesHoloceneYounger Dryas
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , September 2005 , pp. 257 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington

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