| PALEOLIMNOLOGY |
Century-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions from Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in the northern Great Plains
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Laird, K., S.C. Fritz, E.C. Grimm, P.G. Mueller. 1996. Century-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions from Moon Lake, a closed-basin
lake in the northern Great Plains. Limnology and Oceanography Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 890-902
| Data Coverage |
North: 46.8575 * South: 46.8575 |
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West: -98.15833 * East: -98.15833 |
Start Year: 11094 cal yr BP * End Year: -30 cal yr BP
Data: Please Cite Data Contributors!
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Summary: Estimates of past lake-water salinity from fossil diatom assemblages were used to infer past climatic conditions at Moon Lake,
a climatically sensitive site in the northern Great Plains. A good correspondence between diatom-inferred salinity and historical
records of mean annual precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-ET) strongly suggests that the sedimentary record from Moon
Lake can be used to reconstruct past climatic conditions. Century-scale analysis of the Holocene diatom record indicates
four major hydrological periods: an early Holocene transition from an open freshwater system to a closed saline system by
7300 BP, which corresponds with a transition from spruce forest to deciduous parkland to prairie and indicates a major shift
from wet to dry climate; a mid-Holocene period of high salinity from 7300 to 4700 BP, indicating low effective moisture
(P-ET); a transitional period of high salinity 4700 to 2200 BP, characterized by poor diatom preservation; and a late Holocene
period of variable lower salinity during the past 2,200 years, indicating fluctuations in effective moisture.
More Info on Paleolimnology |
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Complete XML Record: noaa-lake-5477
(Last Revised: 2007-09-05 )
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DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC (National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce )
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USA
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| http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ |
| E-mail: bruce.a.bauer@noaa.gov |
| E-mail: paleo@noaa.gov |
Phone: 303-497-6280
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