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Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2018

Jeffrey S. Pigati ,
Kathleen B. Springer  and
Jeffrey S. Honke
Jeffrey S. Pigati*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, MS-980, Denver, Colorado 80225
Kathleen B. Springer
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, MS-980, Denver, Colorado 80225
Jeffrey S. Honke
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, MS-980, Denver, Colorado 80225
*
*Corresponding author at: U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, MS-980, Denver, Colorado 80225 USA. E-mail address: [email protected] (J.S. Pigati).
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Abstract

One of the enduring questions in the field of paleohydrology is how quickly desert wetland ecosystems responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. Recent investigations in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada have revealed that wetlands expanded and contracted on millennial and sub-millennial timescales in response to changes in climate during the late Quaternary. Here, we evaluate geologic evidence from multiple localities in the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin that suggests the response of wetland systems to climate change is even faster, occurring at centennial, and possibly decadal, timescales. Paleowetland deposits at Dove Springs Wash, Mesquite Springs, and Little Dixie Wash, California, contain evidence of multiple wet and dry cycles in the form of organic-rich black mats, representing periods of past groundwater discharge and wet conditions, interbedded with colluvial, alluvial, and aeolian sediments, each representing dry conditions. Many of these wet-dry cycles date to within the Younger Dryas (YD) chronozone (12.9–11.7 ka), marking the first time intra-YD hydrologic variability has been documented in paleowetland deposits. Our results illustrate that desert wetland ecosystems are exceptionally sensitive to climate change and respond to climatic perturbations on timescales that are relevant to human society.

Keywords

desert wetlandsYounger Dryasblack matMojave Desertpaleohydrology
Type
Thematic Set: Drylands
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 51 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018. 

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