Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:56:06.320Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Monitoring Playa Lake Inundation in the Western United States: Modern Analogues to Late-Holocene Lake Level Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Louis A. Scuderi ,
Christine K. Laudadio  and
Peter J. Fawcett
Louis A. Scuderi*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC032040 Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA Center for Rapid Environmental Assessment and Terrain Evaluation (CREATE), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Christine K. Laudadio
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC032040 Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA Center for Rapid Environmental Assessment and Terrain Evaluation (CREATE), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Peter J. Fawcett
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC032040 Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC032040 Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. E-mail address:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Closed basin playas are among the most sensitive hydrologic systems globally and are excellent indicators of current and past climatic variability. This variability can significantly impact hydrologic regimes and biotic communities, and is often expressed in lake-bed deposits and shoreline features. We analyzed two playa basins in western North America that lie to either side of the current divide between monsoon and westerly precipitation regimes. Using a 23-year sequence of Landsat images at a 16-day time step, we determined the playa inundation response to varying precipitation inputs. Our results show that a strongly contrasting lake-inundation response occurs in lake basins separated by only 200 km. The Animas/Lordsburg Basin shows a marked lake-area increase in response to winter precipitation events, while the more southerly Palomas Basin shows a stronger response to monsoonal and El Niño-type events. This sensitivity to different input sources over short distances may explain some of the apparent asynchronous behavior of playa response found in lake records. Comprehensive regional-scale inundation records could be used to understand the dynamics of playa inundation events and how these events are linked to atmospheric circulation, and possibly to understand the observed asynchronous behavior of lake basins during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.

Keywords

PlayasWestern North AmericaSemi-aridHoloceneClimate changeRemote sensingMODISLandsatPrincipal components
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 48 - 58
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, K.D., (2003). Age and paleoclimatic significance of late Holocene lakes in the Carson Sink, NV, USA. Quaternary Research 60, 294–306.Google Scholar
Adams, K.D., (2007). Late Holocene lake-level fluctuations and sedimentary environments at Walker Lake, Nevada, USA. Geological Society of America Bulletin 119, 126–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, B.D., (2005). Ice age lakes in New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 28, 107–114.Google Scholar
Allen, B.D., Anderson, R.Y., (1993). Evidence from western North America for rapid shifts in climate during the last glacial maximum. Science 260, 1920–1923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allen, B.D., Anderson, R.Y., (2000). A continuous, high-resolution record of late Pleistocene climate variability from the Estancia Basin, New Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 1444–1458.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benson, L.V., Currey, D.R., Dorn, R.I., Lajoie, K.R., Oviatt, C.G., Robinson, S.W., Smith, G.I., Stine, S., (1990). Chronology of expansion and contraction of four Great Basin lake systems during the past 35,000 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 78, 241–260.Google Scholar
Betancourt, J.L., Pierson, E.A., Rylander, K.A., Fairchild-Parks, J.A., Dean, J.S., (1993). Influence of history and climate on New Mexico piñon-juniper woodlands. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-236 42–62.Google Scholar
Birkett, C.M., (2000). Synergistic remote sensing of Lake Chad: variability of basin inundation. Remote Sensing of Environment 72, 218–236.Google Scholar
Briggs, R.W., Wesnousky, S.G., Adams, K.D., (2005). Late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake highstands in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA. Quaternary Research 64, 257–263.Google Scholar
Bryant, R.G., (1999). Monitoring climatically sensitive playas using AVHRR data. Earth Surface Process and Landforms 24, 283–302.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, R.G., Rainey, M.P., (2002). Investigation of flood inundation on playas within the Zone of Chotts using a time-series of AVHRR. Remotes Sensing of Environment 82, 360–375.Google Scholar
Castañeda, C., Herrero, J, Casterad, M.A., (2005). Landsat monitoring of playa-lakes in the Spanish Monegros desert. Journal of Arid Environments 63, 497–516.Google Scholar
Castiglia, P.J., (2002). Late Quaternary climate history of the pluvial Lake Palomas system. northern Chihuahua, Mexico. M.S. Thesis, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, 161 pp.Google Scholar
Castiglia, P.J., Fawcett, P.J., (2006). Large Holocene lakes and climate change in the Chihuahan Desert. Geology 34, 113–116.Google Scholar
Castro, C.L., McKee, T.B., Pielke Sr., R.A., (2001). The relationship of the American monsoon on tropical and North Pacific sea surface temperatures as revealed by observational analyses. Journal of Climate 14, 4449–4473.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cayan, D.R., Webb, R.H., (1992). ENSO and streamflow in the Western United States. Diaz, H.F., Markgraf, V. El Niño: Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation.Cambridge University Press, 29–68.Google Scholar
Cayan, D.R., Redmond, K.T., Riddle, L.G., (1999). ENSO and hydrologic extremes in the western United States. Journal of Climate 12, 2882–2893.Google Scholar
(1988). COHMAP Members, Climatic changes of the past 18,000 years: observations and model simulations. Science 241, 1043–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desmond, M., Montoya, J.A., (2006). Status and distribution of Chihuahuan Desert grasslands in the United States and Mexico. Basurto, X., Hadley, D. Grasslands Ecosystems, Endangered Species, and Sustainable Ranching in the Mexico–U.S. borderlands. Conference Proceedings, RMRS-P-40.U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.17–25.Google Scholar
Douglas, M.W., Maddox, R.A., Howard, K., (1993). The Mexican monsoon. Journal of Climate 6, 1665–1677.Google Scholar
Drake, N.A., Bryant, R.G., (1994). Monitoring of the flood ratio of Tunisian playas using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery. Millington, A.C., Pye, K. Environmental Change in Drylands: Biogeographical and Geomorphological Perspectives.Wiley, New York.347–364.Google Scholar
(2007). ENVI Research Systems Inc. Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Enzel, Y., Cayan, D.R., Anderson, R.Y., Wells, S.G., (1989). Atmospheric circulation during Holocene lake stands in the Mojave Desert: evidence of regional climate change. Nature 341, 44–47.Google Scholar
Fleischhauer Jr., H.L., Stone, W.J., (1982). Quaternary geology of Lake Animas, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Open File Report 174, .Google Scholar
Gupta, A.K., Anderson, D.M., Overpeck, J.T., (2003). Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 421, 354–357.Google Scholar
Harris, A.R., (1994). Time series remote sensing of a climatically sensitive lake. Remote Sensing of Environment 50, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A.R., Mason, I.M., (1989). Lake area measurement using AVHRR — a case study. International Journal of Remote Sensing 10, 885–895.Google Scholar
Harrison, S.P., Kutzbach, J.E., Liu, Z., Bartlein, P.J., Muhs, D., Prentice, I.C., Thompson, R.S., (2003). Mid-Holocene climates of the Americas: a dynamical response to changed seasonality. Climate Dynamics 20, 663–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, J.W., Hibbs, B.J., Kennedy, J.F., Creel, B.J., Remmenga, M.D., Johnson, M., Lee, M.M., Dinterman, P., (2000). Trans-international boundary aquifers in southwestern New Mexico. New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute Technical Completion Report Prepared for the US EPA and International Boundary and Water Commission. US Section, Albuquerque.126.Google Scholar
Higgins, R.W., Shi, W., Yarosh, E., Joyce, R., (2000). Improved United States Precipitation Quality Control System and Analysis. Atlas No. 7, NCEP/Climate Prediction Center, 40 pp.Google Scholar
Hope, A.S., Coulter, L.L., Stow, D.A., (1999). Estimating lake area in an Arctic landscape using linear mixture modeling with AVHRR data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 20, 829–835.Google Scholar
Jellison, R., Anderson, R.F., Melack, J.M., Heil, D., (1996). Organic matter accumulation in sediments of hypersaline mono lake during a period of changing salinity. Limnology and Oceanography 41, 1539–1544.Google Scholar
Jewell, P.W., (2007). Morphology and paleoclimatic significance of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville spits. Quaternary Research 68, 421–430.Google Scholar
Jiménez-Moreno, G., Fawcett, P.J., Anderson, R.S., (2008). Millennial- and centennial-scale vegetation and climate changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene from northern New Mexico (USA). Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 1442–1452.Google Scholar
Jolly, D., Harrison, S.P., Damnati, B., Bonnefille, R., (1998a). Simulated climate and biomes of Africa during the late Quaternary: comparison with pollen and lake status data. Quaternary Science Reviews 17, 629–657.Google Scholar
Jolly, D., Prentice, I.C., Bonnefille, R., Ballouche, A., Bengo, M., Brenac, P., Buchet, G., Burney, D., Cazet, J.P., Cheddadi, R., Edorh, T., Elenga, H., Elmoutaki, S., Guiot, J., Laarif, F., Lamb, H., Le'zine, A.M., Maley, J., Mbenza, M., Peyron, O., Reille, M., Reynaud-Ferrera, I., Riollet, G., Ritchie, J.C., Roche, E., Scott, L., Ssemmanda, I., Straka, H., Umer, M., van Campo, E., Vilimumbalo, S., Vincens, A., Waller, M., (1998b). Biome reconstruction from pollen and plant macrofossil data for Africa and the Arabian peninsula at 0 and 6 ka. Journal of Biogeography 25, 1007–1028.Google Scholar
Justice, C.O., Townshend, J.G.R., Vermote, E.F., Masuoka, E., Wolfe, R.E., Saleous, N., Roy, D.P., Morisette, J.T., (2002). An overview of MODIS Land data processing and product status. Remote Sensing of Environment 83, 3–15.Google Scholar
Krider, P.R., (1998). Paleoclimatic significance of late Quaternary lacustrine and alluvial stratigraphy, Animas Valley, New Mexico. Quaternary Research 50, 283–289.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E., (1981). Monsoon climate of the Early Holocene: climate experiment with the Earth's orbital parameters for 9000 years ago. Science 214, 59–61.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E., (1987). Model simulations of climatic patterns during the deglaciation in North America. Ruddiman, W.F., Wright, H.E. The Geology of North America: North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation K-3.Geological Society of America Bulletin, Boulder, CO.425–446.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E., Guetter, P., (1986). The influence of changing orbital parameters and surface boundary conditions on climate simulations for the past 18,000 years. Journal of Atmospheric Science 43, 1726–1759.Google Scholar
Lee, J.A., Gill, T.E., Mulligan, K.R., Acosta, M.D., Perez, A.E., (2009). Land use/land cover and point sources of the 15 December 2003 dust storm in southwestern North America. Geomorphology 105, 18–27.Google Scholar
Liu, Z., Harrison, S.P., Kutzbach, J., Otto-Bliesner, B., (2004). Global monsoons in the mid-Holocene and oceanic feedback. Climate Dynamics 22, 157–182.Google Scholar
Livezey, R.E., Masutani, M., Leetmaa, A., Rui, H., Ji, M., Kumar, A., (1997). Teleconnective response of the Pacific-North American region atmosphere to large central equatorial Pacific SST anomalies. Journal of Climate 10, 1787–1819.Google Scholar
Markgraf, V., Baumgartner, T.R., Bradbury, J.P., Diaz, H.F., Dunbar, R.B., Luckman, B.H., Seltzer, G.O., Swetnam, T.W., Villalba, R., (2000). Paleoclimate reconstruction along the Pole-Equator-Pole transect of the Americas (PEP 1). Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 125–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masuoka, E., Tilmes, C., Devine, N., Ye, G., Tilmes, M., (2001). Evolution of the MODIS science data processing system. IEEE 2001 International 3, 1454–1457.Google Scholar
Mercier, F., Cazenave, A., Maheu, C., (2002). Interannual lake level fluctuations (1993–1999) in Africa from Topex/Poseidon: connections with ocean–atmosphere interactions over the Indian Ocean. Global and Planetary Change 32, 141–163.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, S.E., (1997). Palaeolimnological records of climate change in Mexico — frustrating past, promising future?. Quaternary International 43–44, 111–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metcalfe, S.E., Bimpson, A., Courtice, A.J., O'Hara, S.L., Taylor, D.M., (1997). Climate change at the monsoon/westerly boundary in northern Mexico. Journal of Paleolimnology 17, 155–171.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, S.E., O'Hara, S.L., Caballero, M., Davies, S.J., (2000). Records of late Pleistocene–Holocene climatic change in Mexico — a review. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 699–721.Google Scholar
Molnar, P., Burlando, P., Ruf, W., (2002). Integrated catchment assessment of riverine landscape dynamics. Aquatic Science 64, 129–140.Google Scholar
Nordt, L., von Fischer, J., Tieszen, L., (2007). Late Quaternary temperature record from buried soils of the North American Great Plains. Geology 35, 159–162.Google Scholar
Osterkamp, W.R., Wood, W.W., (1987). Playa-lake basins on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico: Part I. Hydrologic, geomorphic, and geologic evidence for their development. Geological Society of America Bulletin 99, 215–223.Google Scholar
Overpeck, J.T., Anderson, D.M., Trumbore, S., Prell, W.L., (1996). The Southwest Monsoon over the last 18,000 years. Climate Dynamics 12, 213–225.Google Scholar
Oviatt, C.G., (1997). Lake Bonneville fluctuations and global climate change. Geology 25, 155–158.Google Scholar
Parker, J., (2005). Significance and implications of Holocene lacustrine and alluvial stratigraphy El Fresnal Basin. Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. M.S. Thesis, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, 105 pp.Google Scholar
Poore, R.Z., Pacich, M.J., Grissino-Mayer, H.D., (2005). Record of the North American southwest monsoon from Gulf of Mexico sediment cores. Geology 33, 209–212.Google Scholar
Prata, A.J., (1990). Satellite derived evaporation from Lake Eyre, South Australia. International Journal of Remote Sensing 11, 2051–2068.Google Scholar
Redmond, K.T., Koch, R.W., (1991). Surface climate and streamflow variability in the western United States and their relationship to large scale circulation indices. Water Resources Research 27, 2381–2399.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C., (1965). Pluvial Lake Palomas, northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico and Pleistocene geologic history of south-central New Mexico. Fitzsimmons, J.P., Lochman-Balk, C. New Mexico Geological Society 16th Annual Field Conference Guidebook.New Mexico Geological Society, Socorro, NM.199–203.Google Scholar
Reeves, C.C., (1969). Pluvial Lake Palomas, northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. Cordoba, D.A., Wengerd, S., Shoemaker, J. New Mexico Geological Society 20th Annual Field Conference Guidebook.New Mexico Geological Society, Socorro, NM.143–154.Google Scholar
Richmond, G.M., (1986). Stratigraphy and correlation of glacial deposits of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the ranges of the Great Plains. Quaternary Science Reviews 5, 99–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanchez de Carpenter, G., MacWilliams, A.C., (2006). Borderlands environment, past and present. Fish, P.R., Fish, S.K., Madsen, J.H. 2006. Prehistory and early history of the Malpai Borderlands: Archaeological synthesis and recommendations. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-176.U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.7–22.Google Scholar
Scuderi, L.A., (1987). Late-Holocene upper timberline variation in the southern Sierra Nevada. Nature 325, 242–244.Google Scholar
Seager, R., Ting, M., Held, I., Kushnir, Y., Lu, J., Vecchi, G., Huang, H-P., Harnik, N., Leetmaa, A., Lau, N-C., Li, C., Velez, J., Naik, N., (2007). Model projections of an imminent transition to a more arid climate in southwestern North America. Science 316, 1181–1184.Google Scholar
Street-Perrott, F.A., Perrott, R.A., (1993). Holocene vegetation, lake levels and climate of Africa. Wright Jr., , , H.E., Kutzbach, J.E., Webb III, , , T., Ruddiman, W.F., Street-Perrott, F.A., Bartlein, P.J. Global climates since the Last Glacial Maximum.The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, USA.318–356.Google Scholar
Stute, M., Schlosser, P., Clark, J.F., Broecker, W.S., (1992). Paleotemperatures in the Southwestern United States derived from noble gases in ground water. Science 256, 1000–1003.Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S., Anderson, K.H., (2000). Biomes of western North America at 18,000, 6000, and 0 14C yr BP reconstructed from pollen and packrat midden data. Journal of Biogeography 27, 555–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, R.S., Whitlock, C., Bartlein, B.J., Harrison, S.P., Spaulding, W.G., (1993). Climatic changes in the western United States since 18,000 yr B.P.please all names et al. Wright, H.E. Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum.The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.468–513.Google Scholar
Verdin, J.P., (1996). Remote sensing of ephemeral water bodies in western Niger. International Journal of Remote Sensing 17, 733–748.Google Scholar
Webb, T., Bartlein, P., Harrison, S.P., Anderson, K.H., (1993). Vegetation, lake levels, and climate in eastern North America for the past 18,000 years. Wright Jr., , , H.E., Kutzbach, J.E., Webb III, , , T., Ruddiman, W.F., Street-Perrott, F.A., Bartlein, P.J. Global climates since the Last Glacial Maximum.The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, USA.415–467.Google Scholar
Winkler, M.G., Wang, P.K., (1993). The late-Quaternary vegetation and climate of China.please all names et al. Wright, H.E. Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum.University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.221–264.Google Scholar
Young, C.B., Pradhananga, A., (2004). Monitoring playa hydrology using LANDSAT imagery. American Geophysical Union, 2004 Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA. December, 2004. Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H23D–1154.Google Scholar
Yu, G., Prentice, I.C., Harrison, S.P., Sun, X., (1998). Pollen-based biome reconstructions for China at 0 and 6000 years. Journal of Biogeography 25, 1055–1069.Google Scholar
Yu, G., Chen, X., Ni, J., Cheddadi, R., Guiot, J., Han, H., Harrison, S.P., Huang, C., Ke, M., Kong, Z., Li, S., Li, W., Liew, P.M., Liu, G., Liu, J., Liu, K.B., Prentice, I.C., Ren, G., Song, C., Sugita, S., Sun, X., Tang, L., Van Campo, E., Xia, Y., Xu, Q., Yan, S., Yang, X., Zheng, Z., (2000). Palaeovegetation of China: a pollen data-based synthesis for the mid-Holocene and last glacial maximum. Journal of Biogeography 27, 635–664.Google Scholar
Zhang, X., Zwiers, F.W., Heger, G.C., Lambert, F.H., Gillett, N.P., Solomon, S., Stott, P.A., Nozawa, T., (2007). Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends. Nature 448, 461–465.Google Scholar