The rise and fall of latest Pleistocene pluvial lakes in the northern Great Basin

Presented by - Daniel Enrique Ibarra,
University of California, Berkeley
G.K. Gilbert’s 1890 monograph on Lake Bonneville for the United States Geological Survey started over a century of research on Quaternary lakes in the American West that continues today with an increased need to forecast future water resources in the regions.
Early geologists documented extensive lacustrine shoreline deposits in many terminal basins of the Great Basin, and in doing so formally documented evidence for many classic Earth science concepts including uniformitarianism, isostasy and diastrophism, and glacial-interglacial cycles.
Now the application of stable isotope techniques and radiometric age determination provide the constraints necessary to disentangle the timing and magnitude of hydrologic change from shoreline deposits and lacustrine sediments.
In this talk, I will document the rapid rise to highstand conditions in Surprise Valley, California after, rather than during, the Last Glacial Maximum; also demonstrate that as the Laurentide ice sheet retreated the Great Basin lakes (Bonneville, Franklin, Lahontan, Surprise, Chewaucan and others) are not synchronous in their highstand timing due to sinuosity and steering of the westerly storm track; and model the increases in precipitation necessary to drive post-LGM highstand areas.​I
n doing so the results presented will provide quantitative targets for assessing the performance of climate model simulations of the terrestrial water cycle during the LGM and subsequent deglaciation.

[@justmenotyou3151]

When I was doing exploration geology around lovelock Nevada in the mid 80s, we were around paleolakes and shorelines. I came across an area where someone set and worked on a stone tool. You could see the triangular shape of their crouch and crossed legs where the chips fell. Kinda cool.

[@cowboygeologist7772]

Great video; thanks for posting.

[@Clarkem1]

Wish more were interested in these things, knowledge.

[@dancooper8551]

Excellent presentation!! 🌋⛏

[@d2sfavs]

how cool yet so complex thanks for sharing i always have been fascinated by geology and how the earth works and the weather

[@justmenotyou3151]

Very good presentation. Well done.

[@nancytestani1470]

Fascinating..

[@ivanoffw]

I am wondering if some of the disagreement of the climate model might have something to do with volcanism, such as the movement of the Yellowstone hot spot, or was the Cascade range active south of Lassen?

[@qrfarchaeology9391]

Considering that the the lakes were not particularly fresh, but not excessively salty, was there a mechanism to remove salts from the lakes, as in a draining flow or glaciers removing them? I would be surprised if these lakes were only experiencing salinifying conditions for a short time, unless for some very odd reason the whole region with it's confining topography is geologically young, as in less than 20,000 years old. Is there evidence of older climates or are any potential remains of those paleoclimates inaccessible due to deep burial?

[@jamesdobrovnik]

Great presentation. Did you ever examine the Vostok Ice Core samples CO2 data?

[@Quixote1818]

Really enjoyed this. Where can I find those precipitation models? I would be interested in seeing the detailed ones with the elevations added in. Has anyone done the calculations on how much precipitation Sierra Blanca in NM received to sustain a glacier? Or the San Juans to produce a glacier that could reach Durango, CO? I am also interested in the amount of moisture needed to sustain an evergreen forest in places that are pretty arid now like Monument Valley. USGS maps show the area wooded. Another thing that I have tried to find with little luck is how large some of the rivers were in the SW. For example the Rio Grande, Colorado, Arkansas etc. I use this info for world building a novel set 18,000 years ago but have always been fascinated with Pleistocene vegetation and climate. Thanks so much!

[@pjaro77]

How do you see future of precipitation in Great basin ? I read a study that even in pliocene many of nowadays playas in southestern usa and mexico were covered with lakes or wetlands.

[@DelusionalDoug]

Nice presentation. I was thinking, the high lake levels around 15 kya could have been from ice melt rather than increased precipitation. Just thinking.

[@pjaro77]

Ice melting created paleolakes Ojibway and Agassiz. And of course 5 today giant lakes on canada-usa frontier.

[@grandparocky]

WHY DOES NO ONE SHOW LAKE IDAHO?

[@kenhanson8878]

After all any serious researcher says concerning the geological record of climate in the past and the time frames it took to transition from one to the other circumstance like pre Laurentide glacier expansion to contraction and the time frame of glacial melt run off? 160,000 years? People are sticking to change that defies past geological history would be to great an anomaly to be taken seriously? In our lifetime is popular today, that suggests decades? That is hard to reconcile compared to past record.

[@SolaceEasy]

Any map of that time frame that does not show the California Central Valley holding at least a large lake is not correct.

[@Rockhoundingcolorado]

Ice melt from each ice ages also generated lakes.

[@seangrexa4707]

Woody Creek? Did you receive any incoming fire from Hunter S Thompson 😉?

[@adamlewellen5081]

Nick zentner has a more westward story.

[@adamlewellen5081]

Randall Carlson has a more northey story

[@swirvinbirds1971]

@@adamlewellen5081 Randall has dating issues.

[@Quixote1818]

@@adamlewellen5081 Randall is a self promoter and goes against the mainstream science to create an audience. He doesn't even attempt to get peer reviewed as his stuff would get chewed up and spit out pretty soundly.

[@TheAnarchitek]

I'd like to ask one question: Why do you (geologists) assume Earth was always the way it is today? Continents, oceans, mountains, rivers, and other details show signs of radical change, in widely separated locations, and often, repeatedly. Assuming facts not in evidence is not science. Earth of only 10,000 years ago looked very different, and Earth of one million years ago would be unrecognizable to humans of today! "Heraclitus, I believe, says that all things pass and nothing stays, and comparing existing things to the flow of a river. He says you could not step twice into the same river.” - Plato" Earth, it's environment and topography, are part of the River of Time, the ever-changing instant of "Now!" that carries us all along. It is illogical to believe the planet, with its undeniable scars, would be immune to the vicissitudes of change over time. It's been cruising around a violent galaxy for four-point-five-billion years. There is no way it escaped untouched, and the landscape testifies to that.

[@user-hi8rf7dh4e]

His chart indicates that sea level has risen 150 meters (492 feet) in the last 21,000 years (210 centuries) which is an average sea level rise of 2.34 feet (29+ inches) per century. Current accepted rate of sea level rise is 6-8 inches for the last century. Looks like the rate of increase over the last 210 centuries has slowed dramatically. Should we be concerned? Sea level rise is no new threat to the environment or earth, it’s part of a natural climatic cycle that has been ongoing for a very long time. Since these numbers indicate averages, we can also infer that rates of sea level advance have also been much higher in times past. I think there is an inordinate hysteria regarding climate change/sea level rise, driven by political interests, that are being employed to control the ignorant masses. What say ye?

[@RobertJl9516]

I have a strong geology background but now looking for layman's information on Pleistocene Lakes in the Great Basin to inform fellow "Jeep Overlanders" as we travel through Nevada. But most of your talk is sci babble to the layman. I think your are talking over the heads of the public as it is more for a geologic symposium of your peers. No problem if that is your audience, just know you have left behind 99% of the KZbin folk.

[@josephhempel8192]

@robert is not wrong. however, there is a HUGE parallel between our existing water conditions/megadrought to the receding lake Bonneville / GSL. If you want a lot of viewers, tie in your research to lake mead, Lake Powell, and the GSL. I would be very interested in your opinion on refilling (with sea water) the GSL and creating resilience to this drought.

[@danlane4404]

Uh,uh,uh,uh,this is a Berkeley graduate? Figures!

[@JulesUS8386]

@robynbrown

[@Medicinnov8r]

I was recently wondering if there was any evidence showing past tsunami activity in the salt lake area, where did the salt come from?

[@Medicinnov8r]

Pacific born tsunami of course

[@Medicinnov8r]

The tsunami probably would’ve occurred just before an ice age