Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:09:33.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Uranium-Series Dating of Carbonate (Tufa) Deposits Associated with Quaternary Fluctuations of Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barney J. Szabo ,
Charles A. Bush  and
Larry V. Benson
Barney J. Szabo
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado, 80225
Charles A. Bush
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado, 80225
Larry V. Benson
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80303
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Uranium-series dating of dense tufa deposited in a small cave, at former lake margins, and in large tufa mounds clarifies the timing of lake-level variation during the past 400,000 yr in the Pyramid Lake basin. A moderate-sized lake occasionally overflowed the Emerson Pass sill at elevation of ∼1207 m between ca. 400,000 and 170,000 and from ca. 60,000 to 20,000 yr B.P., as shown by 230Th/234U ages of the cave samples, 230Th-excess ages of tubular tufas, and average isochron-plot ages of shoreline-deposited tufas. (By comparison, modern Pyramid Lake is ∼50 m below this sill). There is a lack of tufa record during the intervening period from ca. 170,000 to 60,000 yr B.P. After ca. 20,000 yr, Pyramid Lake underwent abrupt changes in level and, based on previous 14C ages, reached its highest elevation (ca 1335 m) at ca. 14,000 yr B.P. The youngest uranium-series ages are comparable with previously reported 14C ages.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 271 - 281
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

Bard, E. Arnold, M. Fairbanks, R. G., and Hamelin, B. (1993). 230Th–234U and 14C ages obtained by mass spectrometry on corals. Radiocarbon 35 , 191–199.Google Scholar
Benson, L. V. (1994). Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada. 1. Sequence of formation and elevational distribution of carbonate deposits (tufas). Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 109 , 55–87.Google Scholar
Benson, L. V. Kashgarian, M., and Rubin, M. (1995). Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada. 2. Lake levels and polar jet steam positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan Basin. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 117 , 1–30.Google Scholar
Benson, L. V. Currey, D. R. Dorn, R. I. Lajoie, K. R. Oviatt, C. G. Robinson, S. W. Smith, G. I., and Stine, S. (1990). Chronology of expansion and contraction of four Great Basin lake systems during the past 35,000 years. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 78 , 241–286.Google Scholar
Bischoff, J. L., and Fitzpatrick, J. A. (1991). U-series dating of impure carbonates: An isochron technique using total-sample dissolution. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55 , 543–554.Google Scholar
Casanova, J., and Hillaire-Marcel, C. (1992). Chronology and paleohydrology of late Quaternary high lake levels in the Manyara basin (Tanzania) from isotopic data (18O, 14C, Th/U) on fossil stromatolites. Quaternary Research 38 , 205–226.Google Scholar
Edwards, R. L. Beck, J. W. Burr, G. S. Donahue, D. J. Chappel, J. M. A. Bloom, A. L. Druffel, E. R. M., and Taylor, F. W. (1993). A large drop in the atmospheric 14C/12C and reduced melting in the Younger Dryas, documented with 230Th ages of corals. Science 260 , 962–968.Google ScholarPubMed
Hillaire-Marcel, C. Corro, O., and Casanova, J. (1986). 14C and Th/U dating of Pleistocene and Holocene stromatolites from East African paleolakes. Quaternary Research 25 , 312–329.Google Scholar
Hostetler, S. W. Giorgi, F. Bates, G. T., and Bartlein, P. J. (1994). Lake–atmosphere feedbacks associated with paleolakes Bonneville and Lahontan. Science 263 , 665–668.Google ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, A., and Broecker, W. S. (1965). Comparison of 230Th and 14C ages for carbonate materials from Lake Lahontan and Bonneville. Journal of Geophysical Research 70 , 4039–4054.Google Scholar
Lao, Y., and Benson, L. V. (1988). Uranium-series age estimates and paleoclimatic significance of Pleistocene tufas from the Lahontan basin, California and Nevada. Quaternary Research 30 , 165–176.Google Scholar
Lin, J. C. Broecker, W. S. Anderson, R. F. Rubenstone, J. L., and Hemming, S. (in press). New 230Th/U and 14C ages from Lake Lahontan (Nevada) carbonates and implications for the origin of their initial Th contents. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Google Scholar
Luo, S., and Ku, T.-L. (1991). U-series isochron dating: A generalized method employing total-sample dissolution. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55 , 555–564.Google Scholar
Simpson, H. S. Trier, R. M. Li, Y.-H. Anderson, R. F., and Herczeg, A. L. (1984). “Field Experiment Determinations of Distribution Coefficients of Actinide Elements in Alkaline Lake Environments.” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG/CR-3940.Google Scholar
Szabo, B. J. Carr, W. J., and Gottschall, W. C. (1981). “Uranium–Thorium Dating of Quaternary Carbonate Accumulations in the Nevada Test Site Region, Southern Nevada.” U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81–119.Google Scholar