Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles
The projected long-term drying of the southwest (SW) United States in response to climate warming raises a sobering alarm for this already water-limited region, yet the climatic controls on moisture availability over longer time scales remain a topic of debate. Here, we present a 350,000-year record...
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ftusouthflorida:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:kip_articles-4492 2023-09-05T13:21:27+02:00 Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles Wendt, A. Kathleen Dublyansky, Yuri V. Moseley, Gina E. 2018-10-24T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3493 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/kip_articles/article/4492/viewcontent/K26_05173_eaau1375.full.pdf unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3493 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/kip_articles/article/4492/viewcontent/K26_05173_eaau1375.full.pdf KIP Articles Climatology text 2018 ftusouthflorida 2023-08-13T16:28:22Z The projected long-term drying of the southwest (SW) United States in response to climate warming raises a sobering alarm for this already water-limited region, yet the climatic controls on moisture availability over longer time scales remain a topic of debate. Here, we present a 350,000-year record of past water table fluctuations in Devils Hole 2 cave that are driven by variations in recharge amount to the local groundwater flow system. Because of the unprecedented length and precision of our record, we can observe variations in regional moisture availability over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles at a millennial-scale resolution. The timing of past water table rises and falls (>9 m in amplitude) closely coincides with the expansion and reduction of Northern Hemisphere ice volume, which in turn influences the position and intensity of westerly winter storms on orbital time scales. Superimposed on this long-term trend are millennial-scale highstands recorded during the last glaciation that coincide with North Atlantic Heinrich events. Earlier millennial-scale highstands provide the first evidence of multiple short-lived wet periods in the SW United States linksed to coeval cooling intervals in the North Atlantic during marine isotope stages 6 and 8. The Devils Hole 2 water table record is currently the longest independently dated paleomoisture record in the SW United States and thus provides a critical testbed to examine the controls on regional moisture availability over larger time scales. Text North Atlantic University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP Devils Hole ENVELOPE(0.667,0.667,56.633,56.633) |
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Open Polar |
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University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP |
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ftusouthflorida |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Climatology |
spellingShingle |
Climatology Wendt, A. Kathleen Dublyansky, Yuri V. Moseley, Gina E. Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
topic_facet |
Climatology |
description |
The projected long-term drying of the southwest (SW) United States in response to climate warming raises a sobering alarm for this already water-limited region, yet the climatic controls on moisture availability over longer time scales remain a topic of debate. Here, we present a 350,000-year record of past water table fluctuations in Devils Hole 2 cave that are driven by variations in recharge amount to the local groundwater flow system. Because of the unprecedented length and precision of our record, we can observe variations in regional moisture availability over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles at a millennial-scale resolution. The timing of past water table rises and falls (>9 m in amplitude) closely coincides with the expansion and reduction of Northern Hemisphere ice volume, which in turn influences the position and intensity of westerly winter storms on orbital time scales. Superimposed on this long-term trend are millennial-scale highstands recorded during the last glaciation that coincide with North Atlantic Heinrich events. Earlier millennial-scale highstands provide the first evidence of multiple short-lived wet periods in the SW United States linksed to coeval cooling intervals in the North Atlantic during marine isotope stages 6 and 8. The Devils Hole 2 water table record is currently the longest independently dated paleomoisture record in the SW United States and thus provides a critical testbed to examine the controls on regional moisture availability over larger time scales. |
format |
Text |
author |
Wendt, A. Kathleen Dublyansky, Yuri V. Moseley, Gina E. |
author_facet |
Wendt, A. Kathleen Dublyansky, Yuri V. Moseley, Gina E. |
author_sort |
Wendt, A. Kathleen |
title |
Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
title_short |
Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
title_full |
Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
title_fullStr |
Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
title_full_unstemmed |
Moisture availability in the southwest United States over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
title_sort |
moisture availability in the southwest united states over the last three glacial-interglacial cycles |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3493 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/kip_articles/article/4492/viewcontent/K26_05173_eaau1375.full.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(0.667,0.667,56.633,56.633) |
geographic |
Devils Hole |
geographic_facet |
Devils Hole |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
KIP Articles |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3493 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/kip_articles/article/4492/viewcontent/K26_05173_eaau1375.full.pdf |
_version_ |
1776202063891398656 |