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Late Neogene–Quaternary tephrochronology, stratigraphy, and paleoclimate of Death Valley, California, USA

2018; Geological Society of America; Volume: 130; Issue: 7-8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/b31690.1

1943-2674

Jeffrey R. Knott, Michael N. Machette, Elmira Wan, Ralph E. Klinger, Joseph C. Liddicoat, Andrei M. Sarna‐Wojcicki, Robert J. Fleck, Alan L. Deino, J. W. Geissman, Janet L. Slate, David Wahl, Brian P. Wernicke, Stephen G. Wells, John C. Tinsley, Jeffrey C. Hathaway, Veva M. Weamer,

Cryospheric studies and observations

Research Article| January 02, 2018 Late Neogene–Quaternary tephrochronology, stratigraphy, and paleoclimate of Death Valley, California, USA Jeffrey R. Knott; Jeffrey R. Knott † 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA †jknott@fullerton.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Michael N. Machette; Michael N. Machette 2U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225-0046, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Elmira Wan; Elmira Wan 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Ralph E. Klinger; Ralph E. Klinger 4Technical Service Center, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box 25007, D-8530, Denver, Colorado 80225-0007, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Joseph C. Liddicoat; Joseph C. Liddicoat 5Department of Environmental Science, Barnard College, Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, New York 10027-6598, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki; Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Robert J. Fleck; Robert J. Fleck 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Alan L. Deino; Alan L. Deino 6Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John W. Geissman; John W. Geissman 7Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC 03 2040, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87001, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Janet L. Slate; Janet L. Slate 2U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225-0046, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David B. Wahl; David B. Wahl 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Brian P. Wernicke; Brian P. Wernicke 8Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Stephen G. Wells; Stephen G. Wells 9Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John C. Tinsley, III; John C. Tinsley, III 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jeffrey C. Hathaway; Jeffrey C. Hathaway 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Veva M. Weamer Veva M. Weamer 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Jeffrey R. Knott † 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA Michael N. Machette 2U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225-0046, USA Elmira Wan 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Ralph E. Klinger 4Technical Service Center, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box 25007, D-8530, Denver, Colorado 80225-0007, USA Joseph C. Liddicoat 5Department of Environmental Science, Barnard College, Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, New York 10027-6598, USA Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Robert J. Fleck 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Alan L. Deino 6Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, USA John W. Geissman 7Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, MSC 03 2040, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87001, USA Janet L. Slate 2U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225-0046, USA David B. Wahl 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Brian P. Wernicke 8Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA Stephen G. Wells 9Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, USA John C. Tinsley, III 3U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 975, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Jeffrey C. Hathaway 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA Veva M. Weamer 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92834, USA †jknott@fullerton.edu Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 27 Oct 2016 Revision Received: 02 Oct 2017 Accepted: 16 Nov 2017 First Online: 02 Jan 2018 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 © 2018 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2018) 130 (7-8): 1231–1255. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31690.1 Article history Received: 27 Oct 2016 Revision Received: 02 Oct 2017 Accepted: 16 Nov 2017 First Online: 02 Jan 2018 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Jeffrey R. Knott, Michael N. Machette, Elmira Wan, Ralph E. Klinger, Joseph C. Liddicoat, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Robert J. Fleck, Alan L. Deino, John W. Geissman, Janet L. Slate, David B. Wahl, Brian P. Wernicke, Stephen G. Wells, John C. Tinsley, Jeffrey C. Hathaway, Veva M. Weamer; Late Neogene–Quaternary tephrochronology, stratigraphy, and paleoclimate of Death Valley, California, USA. GSA Bulletin 2018;; 130 (7-8): 1231–1255. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B31690.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Sedimentary deposits in midlatitude continental basins often preserve a paleoclimate record complementary to marine-based records. However, deriving that paleoclimate record depends on having well-exposed deposits and establishing a sufficiently robust geochronology. After decades of research, we have been able to correlate 77 tephra beds exposed in multiple stratigraphic sections in the Death Valley area, California, United States. These correlations identify 25 different tephra beds that erupted from at least five different volcanic centers from older than 3.58 Ma to ca. 32 ka. We have informally named and determined the ages for seven previously unrecognized beds: ca. 3.54 Ma tuff of Curry canyon, ca. 3.45 Ma tuff of Furnace Creek, ca. 3.1 Ma tuff of Kit Fox Hills, ca. 3.1 Ma tuff of Mesquite Flat, ca. 3.15 Ma tuff of Texas Spring, 3.117 ± 0.011 Ma tuff of Echo Canyon, and the ca. 1.3 Ma Amargosa ash bed. Several of these tephra beds are found as far northeast as central Utah and could be important marker beds in western North America.Our tephrochronologic data, combined with magnetic polarity data and 40Ar/39Ar age determinations, redefine Neogene sedimentary deposits exposed across 175 km2 of the Death Valley area. The alluvial/lacustrine Furnace Creek Formation is a time-transgressive sedimentary sequence ranging from ca. 6.0 to 2.5 Ma in age. The ca. 2.5–1.7 Ma Funeral Formation is typically exposed as a proximal alluvial-fan facies overlying the Furnace Creek Formation. We have correlated deposits in the Kit Fox Hills, Salt Creek, Nova Basin, and southern Death Valley with the informally named ca. 1.3–0.5 Ma Mormon Point formation. In addition, our correlation of the late Pleistocene Wilson Creek ash bed 15 in the Lake Rogers deposits represents the first unambiguous sequences deposited during the Last Glacial Maximum (marine isotope stage [MIS] 2) in Death Valley.Based on this new stratigraphic framework, we show that the Pliocene and Pleistocene climate in Death Valley is consistent with the well-established marine tropical/subtropical record. Pluvial lakes in Death Valley and Searles Valley began to form ca. 3.5–3.4 Ma in the late Pliocene during MIS MG5. Initiation of lakes in these two hydrologically separated valleys at the same time at the beginning of a cooling trend in the marine climate record suggests a link to a cooler, wetter (glacial) regional climate in North America. The Death Valley lake persisted until ca. 3.30 Ma, at the peak of the M2 glaciation, after which there is no evidence of Pliocene lacustrine deposition, even at the peak of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (ca. 2.75 Ma). If pluvial lakes in the Pliocene are an indirect record of glacial climate conditions, as they are for the Pleistocene, then a glacial climate was present in western North America for ∼200,000 yr during the Pliocene, encompassing MIS MG5–M2.Pleistocene pluvial lakes in Death Valley that formed ca. 1.98–1.78 Ma, 1.3–1.0 Ma, and ca. 0.6 Ma (MIS 16) are consistent with other regional climate records that indicate a regional glacial climate; however, Death Valley was relatively dry at ca. 0.77 Ma (MIS 19), when large lakes existed in other basins. The limited extent of the MIS 2 marsh/shallow lake in the Lake Rogers basin of northern Death Valley reflects the well-known regional glacial climate at that time; however, Death Valley received relatively lower inflow and rainfall in comparison. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.