Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:46:11.200Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary Environments in Ruby Valley, Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert S. Thompson
Robert S. Thompson*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 919, Denver, Colorado 80225
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Palynological data from sediment cores from the Ruby Marshes provide a record of environmental and climatic changes over the last 40,000 yr. The modern marsh waters are fresh, but no deeper than ∼3 m. A shallow saline lake occupied this basin during the middle Wisconsin, followed by fresh and perhaps deep waters by 18,000 to 15,000 yr B.P. No sediments were recovered for the period between 15,000 and 11,000 yr B.P., possibly due to lake desiccation. By 10,800 yr B.P. a fresh-water lake was again present, and deeper-than-modern conditions lasted until 6800 yr B.P. The middle Holocene was characterized by very shallow water, and perhaps complete desiccation. The marsh system deepened after 4700 yr B.P., and fresh-water conditions persisted until modern times. Vegetation changes in Ruby Valley were more gradual than those seen in the paleolimno-logical record. Sagebrush steppe was more widespread than at present through the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, giving way somewhat to expanded shadscale vegetation between 8500 and 6800 yr B.P. Shadscale steppe contracted by 4000 yr B.P., but had greater than modern coverage until 1000 to 500 yr ago. Pinyon-juniper woodland was established in the southern Ruby Mountains by 4700 yr B.P.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 1 - 15
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

Bacon, C.R., (1983). Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 18, 57–115 Google Scholar
Barnosky, C.W., (1985). Late Quaternary vegetation in the southwestern Columbia Basin, Washington Quaternary Research 23, 109–122 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batchelder, G.L., (1970). Post-glacial fluctuations of lake level in Adobe Valley, Mono County, California American Quaternary Association Abstracts 7 Google Scholar
Beiswenger, J.M., (1991). Late Quaternary vegetational history of Grays Lake, Idaho Ecological Monographs 61, 165–182 Google Scholar
Benson, L.V. Thompson, R.S., (1987). The physical record of lakes in the Great Basin Ruddiman, W.F. Wright, H.E. Jr. North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation Geological Society of America Boulder, CO 241–260 Google Scholar
Billings, W.D., (1951). Vegetational zonation in the Great Basin of western North America Les Bases Ecologiques de la Régénération de la Végétation des Zones Arides Union International Société Biologique, Series B Vol. 9, 101–122 Google Scholar
Born, S.M., (1972). Late Quaternary History, Deltaic Sedimentation, and Mudlump Formation at Pyramid Lake, Nevada Center for Water Resources Research, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada System Reno, NV Google Scholar
Bradbury, J.P. Forester, R.M. Thompson, R.S., (1989). Late Quaternary paleolimnology of Walker Lake, Nevada Journal of Paleolimnology 1, 249–267 Google Scholar
Bright, R.C., (1966). Pollen and seed stratigraphy of Swan Lake, southeastern Idaho: Its relation to regional vegetational history and to Lake Bonneville history Tebiwa 9, 1–47 Google Scholar
Bright, R.C. Davis, O.K., (1982). Quaternary paleoecology of the Idaho National Engineering laboratory, Snake River Plain, Idaho American Midland Naturalist 108, 21–33 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Correll, D.S. Correll, H.B., (1972). Aquatic and wetland plants of southwestern United States Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Research Series Washington, DC Google Scholar
Currey, D.R., (1988). Isochronism of final Pleistocene shallow lakes in the Great Salt Lake and Carson Desert regions of the Great Basin American Quaternary Association, Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Biennial Meeting 117 Google Scholar
Currey, D.R. Oviatt, C.G., (1985). Durations, average rates, and probable cause of Lake Bonne-ville expansions, stillstands, and contractions during the last deep-lake cycle, 32,000 to 10,000 years ago Kay, P.A. Diaz, H.F. Problems of and Prospects for Predicting Great Salt Lake Levels Center for Public Affairs and Administration, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 1–9 Google Scholar
Davis, J.O., (1981). Report of Trenching in Ruby Valley near Harrison Pass: Holocene and Pleistocene Lakes in Ruby Valley Desert Research Institute Technical Report 20,Google Scholar
Davis, O.K. Sheppard, J.C. Robertson, S., (1986). Contrasting climatic histories for the Snake River Plain, Idaho, resulting from multiple thermal maxima Quaternary Research 26, 321–339 Google Scholar
Dean, W.E. Jr. (1974). Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: Comparison with other methods Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 44, 242–248 Google Scholar
Dudley, W.W. Jr. (1967). Hydrogeology and Ground-water Flow System of the Central Ruby Mountains, Nevada Unpublished Ph.D. thesis University of Illinois Google Scholar
Faegri, K. Iversen, J., (1975). 3rd ed. Textbook of Pollen Analysis Hafner Press Copenhagen, Denmark Google Scholar
Henry, C., (1984). Holocene Paleoecology of the Western Snake River Plain, Idaho Unpublished M.S. thesis University of Michigan Google Scholar
Jarvis, J.M., (1969). Ecological Effects of Marsh Manipulation by Drawdown and Mechanical Removal of Vegetation Unpublished M.S. thesis Humboldt State College Google Scholar
LaMarche, V.C. Jr. (1973). Holocene climatic variations inferred from treeline fluctuations in the White Mountains, California Quaternary Research 3, 632–660 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaMarche, V.C. Jr. Mooney, H.A., (1972). Recent climatic change and development of the bristlecone pine (P. longaeva Bailey) krummholz zone. Mt. Washington, Nevada Arctic and Alpine Research 4, 61–72 Google Scholar
Loope, L.L., (1969). Subalpine and Alpine Vegetation of Northeastern Nevada Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation Duke University Google Scholar
Mack, R.N. Bryant, V.M. Jr. (1974). Modern pollen spectra from the Columbia Basin, Washington Northwest Science 48, 183–194 Google Scholar
Madsen, D.B. Rhode, D., (1990). Early Holocene pinyon (Pinus monophylla) in the northeastern Great Basin Quaternary Research 33, 94–101 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Late-Quaternary pollen records from the interior Pacific Northwest and northern Great Basin of the United States Bryant, V.M. Jr. Holloway, R.G., (1985). Pollen Records of Late-Quaternary North America Sediments American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Dallas, TX 167–189 Google Scholar
Mifflin, M.D. Wheat, M.M., (1979). Pluvial lakes and estimated pluvial climates of Nevada Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 94,Google Scholar
Mosimann, J.E., (1965). Statistical methods for the pollen analyst: Multinominal and negative multinominal techniques Kummel, B.G. Raup, D.M. Handbook of Paleontological Techniques Freeman San Francisco 636–673 Google Scholar
Muenscher, W.C., (1944). Aquatic Plants of the United States Comstock Publishing Associates Ithaca, NY Google Scholar
Oviatt, C.G., (1987). Lake Bonneville stratigraphy at the Old River Bed, Utah American Journal of Science 287, 383–398 Google Scholar
Oviatt, C.G. McCoy, W.D. Reider, R.G., (1987). Evidence for a shallow early or middle Wisconsin-age lake in the Bonneville Basin, Utah Quaternary Research 27, 248–262 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prescott, G.W., (1980). How to Know the Aquatic Plants Wm. C. Brown Dubuque, IA Google Scholar
Quade, J., (1986). Late Quaternary environmental changes in the upper Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Quaternary Research 20, 340–357 Google Scholar
Round, F.E., (1981). The Ecology of Algae Cambridge University Press Cambridge Google Scholar
Sharp, R.P., (1938). Pleistocene glaciation in the Ruby-East Humboldt Range, northeastern Nevada Journal of Geomorphology 1, 296–321 Google Scholar
Spencer, R.J. Baedecker, M. Eugster, H.P. Forester, R.M. Goldhaber, M.B. Jones, B.F. Kelts, K. McKenzie, J. Madsen, D.B. Rettig, S.L. Rubin, M. Bowser, C.J., (1984). Great Salt Lake and precursors, Utah; the last 30,000 years Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 86, 321–334 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S., (1984). Late Pleistocene and Holocene Environments in the Great Basin Unpublished Ph.D. thesis University of Arizona Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S., (1984). Paleoenvironmental Studies in Pine Valley Stearns, S.M. Matranga, P. The Archaeological Analysis of Seven Sites in Pine Valley, Eureka County, Nevada Nevada Department of Transportation Carson City, NV 305–324 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S., (1988). Western North America—Vegetation dynamics in the western United States: Modes of response to climatic fluctuations Huntley, B. Webb, T. III Vegetation History Handbook of Vegetation Science Volume 7, Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht 415–458 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S., (1990). Late Quaternary vegetation and climate in the Great Basin Betancourt, J.B. Van Devender, T.R. Martin, P.S. Packrat Middens—The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change University of Arizona Press Tucson, AZ 200–239 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S. Kautz, R.R., (1983). Pollen analysis The Archaeology of Gatecliff Shelter Thomas, D.H. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 59, 136–151 (1) Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S. Mead, J.I., (1982). Late Quaternary environments and biogeography in the Great Basin Quaternary Research 17, 39–55 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S. Toolin, L.J. Forester, R.M. Spencer, R.J., (1990). Accelerator-mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon dating of Pleistocene lake sediments in the Great Basin Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 78, 301–313 Google Scholar
Wayne, W.J., (1984). Glacial chronology of the Ruby Mountains—East Humboldt Range, Nevada Quaternary Research 21, 286–303 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, P.V., (1983). Paleobiogeography of montane islands in the Great Basin since the last glaciopluvial Ecological Monographs 53, 341–382 Google Scholar
Whiteside, M.C., (1965). Paleoecological studies of Potato Lake and its environs Ecology 46, 807–816 Google Scholar
Wigand, P.E., (1987). Diamond Pond, Harney County, Oregon: Vegetation history and water table in the eastern Oregon desert Great Basin Naturalist 47, 427–458 Google Scholar
Wigand, P.E. Mehringer, P.J. Jr. (1985). Pollen and seed analyses Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 61, 1 108–124 Google Scholar
World WeatherDisc (no date). CD-ROM, WeatherDisc Associates, Inc., 4584 NE 89th St., Seattle, WA 98115.Google Scholar