Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:48:05.215Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

n-Alkane evidence for the onset of wetter conditions in the Sierra Nevada, California (USA) at the mid-late Holocene transition, ~ 3.0 ka

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joseph H. Street ,
R. Scott Anderson ,
Robert J. Rosenbauer  and
Adina Paytan
Joseph H. Street*
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
R. Scott Anderson
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Robert J. Rosenbauer
Affiliation:
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA
Adina Paytan
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. Fax: + 1 831 459 4882. E-mail address:[email protected] (J.H. Street).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

n-Alkane biomarker distributions in sediments from Swamp Lake (SL), in the central Sierra Nevada of California (USA), provide evidence for an increase in mean lake level ~ 3000 yr ago, in conjunction with widespread climatic change inferred from marine and continental records in the eastern North Pacific region. Length distributions of n-alkane chains in modern plants growing at SL were determined and compared to sedimentary distributions in a core spanning the last 13 ka. As a group, submerged and floating aquatic plants contained high proportions of short chain lengths (< nC25) compared to emergent, riparian and upland terrestrial species, for which chain lengths > nC27 were dominant. Changes in the sedimentary n-alkane distribution over time were driven by variable inputs from plant sources in response to changing lake level, sedimentation and plant community composition. A shift toward shorter chain lengths (nC21,nC23) occurred between 3.1 and 2.9 ka and is best explained by an increase in the abundance of aquatic plants and the availability of shallow-water habitat in response to rising lake level. The late Holocene expansion of SL following a dry mid-Holocene is consistent with previous evidence for increased effective moisture and the onset of wetter conditions in the Sierra Nevada between 4.0 and 3.0 ka.

Keywords

Sierra NevadaPaleoclimatePaleolimnologyPlant n-alkanesLake levelHolocene
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 79 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 14 - 23
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

Addison, J.A., (2009). High-resolution paleoceanography from the Gulf of Alaska, Subarctic Northeast Pacific Ocean, since the Last Glacial Maximum: insights into a dynamic atmosphere–ocean-ecosystem linkage at decadal timescales. Ph.D dissertation, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 203 pp.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S. Holocene forest development and paleoclimates within the central Sierra Nevada, California. Journal of Ecology. 78, (1990). 470–489.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S. Postglacial biogeography of Sierra lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. murrayana) in California. Ecoscience 3, (1996). 343–351.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S. Fire and vegetation history from Swamp Lake, Yosemite National Park, California: a final report on research. Technical Report. (2011). The Yosemite Conservancy, San Francisco. 63 pp.Google Scholar
Anderson, R.S., and Smith, S.J. Paleoclimatic interpretations of meadow sediment and pollen stratigraphies from California. Geology 22, (1994). 723–726.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacon, S.N., Burke, R.M., Pezzopane, S.K., and Jayko, A.S. Last glacial maximum and Holocene lake levels of Owens Lake, eastern California, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 1264–1282.Google Scholar
Barron, J.A., and Anderson, L. Enhanced Late Holocene ENSO/PDO expression along the margins of the eastern North Pacific. Quaternary International 235, (2011). 3–12.Google Scholar
Barron, J.A., and Bukry, D. Development of the California current during the past 12,000-yr based on diatoms and silicoflagellates. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 248, (2007). 313–338.Google Scholar
Barron, J.A., Bukry, D., Dean, W.E., Addison, J.A., and Finney, B. Paleoceanography of the Gulf of Alaska during the past 15,000 years: results from diatoms, silicoflagellates, and geochemistry. Marine Micropaleontology 72, (2008). 176–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barron, J.A., Heusser, L., Herbert, T., and Lyle, M. High-resolution climatic evolution of coastal northern California during the past 16,000 years. Paleoceanography 18, (2003). 1020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2002PA000768Google Scholar
Benson, L., Kashgarian, M., Rye, R., Lund, S., Paillet, F., Smoot, J., Kester, C., Mensing, S., Meko, D., and Lindstrom, S. Holocene multidecadal and multicentennial droughts affecting Northern California and Nevada. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 659–682.Google Scholar
Bowerman, N.D., and Clark, D.H. Holocene glaciation of the central Sierra Nevada, California. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, (2011). 1067–1085.Google Scholar
Brincat, D., Yamada, K., Ishiwatari, R., Uemura, H., and Naraoka, H. Molecular-isotopic stratigraphy of long-chain n-alkanes in Lake Baikal Holocene and glacial age sediments. Organic Geochemistry 31, (2000). 287–294.Google Scholar
Brunelle, A., and Anderson, R.S. Sedimentary charcoal as an indicator of late-Holocene drought in the Sierra Nevada, California, and its relevance to the future. The Holocene 13, (2003). 21–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castello, A.F., and Shelton, M.F. Winter precipitation on the US Pacific coast and El Nino–Southern Oscillation events. International Journal of Climatology 24, (2004). 481–497.Google Scholar
Conroy, J.L., Overpeck, J.T., Cole, J.E., Shanahan, T.M., and Steinitz-Kannan, M. Holocene changes in eastern tropical Pacific climate inferred from a Galápagos lake sediment record. Quaternary Science Reviews 27, (2008). 1166–1180.Google Scholar
Cranwell, P.A. Lipid geochemistry of sediments from Upton Broad, a small productive lake. Organic Geochemistry 7, (1984). 25–37.Google Scholar
Cranwell, P.A., Eglinton, G., and Robinson, N. Lipids of aquatic organisms as potential contributors to lacustrine sediments. 2. Organic Geochemistry 11, (1987). 513–527.Google Scholar
Crisman, T.L., Crisman, U.A.M., and Binford, M.W. Interpretation of bryozoan microfossils in lacustrine sediment cores. Hydrobiologia 143, (1986). 113–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, O.K. Pollen analysis of Tulare Lake, California: great basin-like vegetation in central California during the full-glacial and early Holocene. Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology 107, (1999). 249–257.Google Scholar
Davis, O.K., Anderson, R.S., Fall, P., Thompson, R.S., and O'Rourke, M.K. Palyological evidence for early Holocene aridity in the southern Sierra Nevada, California. Quaternary Research 24, (1985). 322–332.Google Scholar
Dettinger, M.D., Cayan, D.R., Diaz, H.F., and Meko, D.M. North–south precipitation patterns in western North America on interannual-to-decadal timescales. Journal of Climate 11, (1998). 3095–3110.Google Scholar
Eglinton, G., and Hamilton, R.J. Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science 156, (1967). 1322–1334.Google Scholar
Ficken, K.J., Li, B., Swain, D.L., and Eglinton, G. An n-alkane proxy for the sedimentary input of submerged/floating freshwater aquatic macrophytes. Organic Geochemistry 31, (2000). 745–749.Google Scholar
Ficken, K.J., Street-Perrott, F.A., Perrott, R.A., Swain, D.L., Olago, D.O., and Eglinton, G. Glacial/interglacial variations in carbon cycling revealed by molecular and isotope stratigraphy of Lake Nkunga, Mt. Kenya, East Africa. Organic Geochemistry 29, (1998). 1701–1719.Google Scholar
Fisler, J., and Hendy, I.L. California current system response to late Holocene climate cooling in southern California. Geophysical Research Letters 35, (2008). L09702 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, D.R. Bryozoan stratoblasts. Smol, J.P., Birks, H.J.B., and Last, W.M. Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Zoological Indicators. Volume 4, (2001). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 105–123.Google Scholar
Giger, W., Schaffner, C., and Wakeham, S.G. Aliphatic and olefinic hydrocarbons in recent sediments of Greifensee, Switzerland. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 44, (1980). 119–129.Google Scholar
Hallett, D.J., Hills, L.V., and Clague, J.J. New accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages for the Mazama tephra layer from Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 34, (1997). 1202–1209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jetter, R., and Schaffer, S. Chemical composition of the Prunus laurocerasus leaf surface. Dynamic changes of the epicuticular wax film during leaf development. Plant Physiology 126, (2001). 1725–1737.Google Scholar
Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K.C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., Reynolds, R., Jenne, R., and Joseph, D. The NMC/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 77, (1996). 437–471.Google Scholar
Kennett, D.J., Kennett, J.P., Erlandson, J.M., and Cannariato, K.G. Human responses to middle Holocene climate change on California's Channel Islands. Quaternary Science Reviews 26, (2007). 351–367.Google Scholar
Konrad, S.K., and Clark, D.H. Evidence for an early neoglacial glacier advance from rock glaciers and lake sediments in the Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research 30, (1998). 272–284.Google Scholar
Koutavas, A., deMenocal, P.D., Olive, G.C., and Lynch-Steiglitz, J. Mid-Holocene El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) attenuation revealed by individual foraminifera in eastern tropical Pacific sediments. Geology 34, (2006). 993–996.Google Scholar
Lichtfouse, E. Isotope and biosynthetic evidence for the origin of long-chain aliphatic lipids in soils. Die Naturwissenschaften 85, (1998). 76–77.Google Scholar
Maffei, M., Badino, S., and Bossi, S. Chemotaxonomic significance of leaf wax n-alkanes in the Pinales (Coniferales). Journal of Biological Research 1, (2004). 3–19.Google Scholar
Mantua, N.J., Hare, S.R., Zhang, Y., Wallace, J.M., and Francis, R.C. A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 78, (1997). 1069–1079.Google Scholar
Mensing, S.A., Benson, L.V., Kashgarian, M., and Lund, S. A Holocene pollen record of persistent droughts from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA. Quaternary Research 62, (2004). 29–38.Google Scholar
Meyers, P.A. Organic geochemical proxies of paleoceanographic, paleolimnologic, and paleoclimatic processes. Organic Geochemistry 27, (1997). 213–250.Google Scholar
Meyers, P.A., and Ishiwatari, R. Lacustrine organic geochemistry—an overview of indicators of organic matter sources and diagenesis in lake sediments. Organic Geochemistry 20, (1993). 867–900.Google Scholar
Monteverdi, J., and Null, J. El Niño and California Precipitation. NOAA Western Region Technical Attachment 97-37. (1997). http://tornado.sfsu.edu/geosciences/elnino/elnino.html Google Scholar
Moy, C.M., Seltzer, G.O., Rodbell, D.T., and Anderson, D.T. Variability of El Niño/Southern Oscillation activity at millennial timescales during the Holocene epoch. Nature 420, (2002). 162–165.Google Scholar
Negrini, R.M., Wigand, P.E., Draucker, S., Gobalet, K., Gardner, J.K., Sutton, M.Q., Yohe, R.M. II The Rambla highstand shoreline and the Holocene lake-level history of Tulare Lake, California, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 1599–1618.Google Scholar
Nichols, J.E., Booth, R.K., Jackson, S.T., Pendall, E.G., and Huang, Y. Paleohydrologic reconstruction based on n-alkane distributions in ombrotrophic peat. Organic Geochemistry 37, (2006). 1505–1513.Google Scholar
Ogura, K., Machihara, T., and Takada, H. Diagenesis of biomarkers in Biwa lake sediments over 1 million years. Organic Geochemistry 16, (1990). 805–813.Google Scholar
Osborn, J.M., and Schneider, E.L. Morphological studies of the Nymphaeaceae sensu lato. XVI. The floral biology of Brasenia schreberi . Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 75, (1988). 778–794.Google Scholar
Pancost, R.D., Baas, M., Geel, B., and Sinnighe Damste, J.S. Biomarkers as proxies for plant inputs to peats: an example from a sub-boreal ombrotrophic bog. Organic Geochemistry 33, (2002). 675–690.Google Scholar
Radke, J., Bechtel, A., Gaupp, R., Puttmann, W., Schwark, L., Sachse, D., and Gleixner, G. Correlation between hydrogen isotope ratios of lipid biomarkers and sediment maturity. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69, (2005). 5517–5530.Google Scholar
Redmond, K.T., and Koch, R.W. Surface climate and streamflow variability in the western United States and their relationship to large-scale circulation indices. Water Resources Research 27, (1991). 2381–2399.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Ballie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Herring, C., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S.W., Ramsey, C.B., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, S., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., Van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, (2004). 1029–1058.Google Scholar
Rieley, G., Collier, D.M., Jones, D.M., and Eglinton, G. The biogeochemistry of Ellesmere Lake, U.K.—I: source correlation of leaf wax inputs to the sedimentary lipid record. Organic Geochemistry 17, (1991). 901–912.Google Scholar
Roach, L.D., (2010). Climate change in the Pacific North America region over the past millenium: Development and application of novel geochemical tracers. Ph.D. Thesis, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Rooney, N., and Kalff, J. Inter-annual variation in submerged macrophyte community biomass and distribution: the influence of temperature and lake morphometry. Aquatic Botany 65, (2000). 321–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schonher, T., and Nicholson, S.E. The relationship between California rainfall and ENSO events. Journal of Climate 2, (1989). 1258–1269.Google Scholar
Schwark, L., Zink, K., and Lechterbeck, J. Reconstruction of postglacial to early Holocene vegetation history in terrestrial Central Europe via cuticular lipid biomarkers and pollen records from lake sediments. Geology 30, (2002). 463–466.Google Scholar
Scuderi, L.A. Late-Holocene upper timberline variation in the southern Sierra Nevada. Nature 325, (1987). 242–244.Google Scholar
Shepherd, T., and Griffiths, D.W. The effects of stress on plant cuticular waxes. The New Phytologist 171, (2006). 469–499.Google Scholar
Smith, S.J., and Anderson, R.S. Late Wisconsin paleoecologic record from Swamp Lake, Yosemite National Park, California. Quaternary Research 38, (1992). 91–102.Google Scholar
Starratt, S.W., Anderson, R.S., in press. Preliminary report on the Late Pleistocene and Holocene diatoms of Swamp Lake, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Proceedings of the 21st International Diatom Symposium.Google Scholar
Stine, S. Late Holocene fluctuations of Mono Lake, Eastern California. Paleogeography Paleoclimatology Paleoecology 78, (1990). 333–381.Google Scholar
Street, J.H., Anderson, R.S., and Paytan, A. An organic geochemical record of Sierra Nevada climate change since the LGM from Swamp Lake, Yosemite. Quaternary Science Reviews 40, (2012). 89–106.Google Scholar
Stuvier, M., Reimer, P.J., and Reimer, R. CALIB Radiocarbon Calibration 5.0.2. http://radiocarbon.pa.qub.ac.uk (2005). Google Scholar
Theissen, K.M., Zinniker, D.A., Moldowan, J.M., Dunbar, R.B., and Rowe, H.D. Pronounced occurrence of long-chain alkenones and dinosterol in a 25,000-year lipid molecular fossil record from Lake Titicaca, South America. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69, (2005). 623–636.Google Scholar
van Maarseveen, C., Han, H., and Jetter, R. Development of the cuticular wax during growth of Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Hamet et Perr. de la Bathie) leaves. Plant, Cell and Environment 32, (2009). 73–81.Google Scholar
Wise, E.K. Spatiotemporal variability of the precipitation dipole transition zone in the western United States. Geophysical Research Letters 37, (2010). L07706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009GL042193Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Street et al. Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Street et al. Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 1.3 MB