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2005 Salt Lake City Annual Meeting (October 16–19, 2005)

Paper No. 6
Presentation Time: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM

DIATOM RESPONSE TO RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE DURING THE PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TRANSITION IN THE CENTRAL SIERRA NEVADA, CALIFORNIA, USA


BLOOM, Amy M.1, MOSER, Katrina A.1, PORINCHU, David F.2 and MACDONALD, Glen M.3, (1)Department of Geography, University of Utah, 260 South Central Campus Dr., Room 270, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, (2)Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, (3)Department of Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, amy.bloom@geog.utah.edu

High-resolution (~40 - ~170 cal yr) diatom analysis was performed on lake sediments spanning the last ~10,000 - ~14,500 cal yr B.P. from three alpine lakes in the central Sierra Nevada, California, USA, to investigate climatic and environmental conditions in this region during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, a period of documented rapid global climate change. Five distinct and abrupt shifts in diatom community composition occurred concurrently at all three sites during the interval studied. While the specific diatom assemblages varied at each site, suggesting differences in local limnology, the overall climatic conditions inferred from the diatoms were similar at the sites, providing evidence in support of a regional response. The results of this study aid in our understanding of how diatoms and alpine lakes in the central Sierra Nevada responded to a rapid climate change event and may serve as a proxy for climate change that could affect the western United States in the future.

Session No. 95--Booth# 119

T115. Holocene Climate Change in Western North America: Spatial-Temporal Phasing of Climate Modes, Events, and Transitions (Posters)
Monday, 17 October 2005: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 37, No. 7, p.225
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