Late Pleistocene oscillations of Lake Owens, eastern California

Conference · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5023976

Orme, A J ^[1]; Orme, A R ^[2]

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1. California State Univ., Northridge, CA (United States). Dept. of Geography
2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Geography

Just before diversion of the Owens River drainage to Los Angeles in 1912--13, Owens Lake had a maximum depth of 14m and covered 290 km[sup 2] at a water-surface elevation of 1,095m. Indeed throughout most of Holocene time, the lake formed the sump for the Owens River drainage, its level fluctuating in response to variable inflow and evaporation. In late Pleistocene time, however, Lake Owens' spilled south towards Lake Searles' on reaching an elevation of 1,145m, at which level the lake was 64m deep and covered 694 km[sup 2]. Aided by radiometric dating, stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses of beach ridges and associated deposits around its northeast margin reveal complex oscillations of Lake Owens between 13,000 and 9,000 years B.P.. Following an earlier high stand, lake level fell until around 13,000 B.P. it rose again to at least 1138m, probably linked to late Wisconsinan glacier melt in the Sierra Nevada. Across the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, lake level fell to around 1100m and then rose to about 1,120m around 9,600 B.P., before falling away during Holocene time. This pattern is consistent with fluctuations in glacier budgets and meltwater regimes, and with late Pleistocene-early Holocene climatic oscillations postulated elsewhere in the region. Correlation with lake-level fluctuations observed at other localities around Owens Lake is complicated by tectonism, but the above sequence invites comparison with the detailed record obtained from Searles Lake farther south.

• OSTI ID: 5023976
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305259--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
AGE ESTIMATION
CALIFORNIA
CENOZOIC ERA
DEPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
ISOTOPE DATING
LAKES
NORTH AMERICA
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
QUATERNARY PERIOD
SEDIMENTS
STRATIGRAPHY
SURFACE WATERS
USA
VARIATIONS