Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-rkxrd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T08:39:18.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Contrasting Climatic Histories for the Snake River Plain, Idaho, Resulting from Multiple Thermal Maxima

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Owen K. Davis ,
John C. Sheppard  and
Susan Robertson
Owen K. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721
John C. Sheppard
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99163
Susan Robertson
Affiliation:
Physical Sciences Division, Geology, University of Toronto, West Hill, Ontario M1C 1A4
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ten sites near the Snake River Plain have consistent differences in their climatic histories. Sites at low elevation reflect the “early Holocene xerothermic” of the Pacific Northwest, whereas most climatic chronologies at high elevation indicate maximum warmth or aridity somewhat later, ca. 6000 yr ago. This elevational contrast in climatic histories is duplicated at three sites from the central Snake River Plain. For sites in such close proximity, the different chronologies cannot be explained by changes in atmospheric circulation during the late Quaternary. Rather, the differences are best explained by the autecology of the plants involved and the changing seasonal climate. The seasonal climatic sequence predicted by multiple thermal maxima explains the high- and low-elevation chronologies. During the early Holocene, maximum insolation and intensified summer drought in July forced low-elevation vegetation upward. However, moisture was not a limiting factor at high elevation, where vegetation moved upward in response to increased length of growing season coincident with maximum September insolation 6000 yr ago.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , November 1986 , pp. 321 - 339
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antevs, E.V. (1948). The Great Basin, with emphasis on glacial and postglacial times Bulletin of the University of Utah 38 168 191 Google Scholar
Baker, R.G. (1976). Late Quaternary Vegetation History of the Yellowstone Lake Basin, Wyoming U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 729-EGoogle Scholar
Barnosky, C.W. (1981). A record of late Quaternary vegetation from Davis Lake, Southern Puget Lowland, Washington Quarternary Research 16 221 289 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, A.L. (1979). Long-term variations of daily insolation and Quaternary climatic changes Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 35 2362 2367 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billings, W.O. (1949). The shadscale vegetation zone of Nevada and eastern California in relation to climate and soils American Midland Naturalist 42 87 109 Google Scholar
Bright, R.C. (1966). Pollen and seed stratigraphy of Swan Lake, southeastern Idaho: Its relation to regional vegetational history and to Lake Bonneville history Tebiwa 9 1 47 Google Scholar
Bright, R.C. Davis, O.K. (1982). Quaternary paleoecology of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Snake River Plain, Idaho American Midland Naturalist 108 21 33 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daubenmire, R. (1943). Vegetation zonation in the Rocky Mountains Botanical Review 9 325 393 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daubenmire, R. (1954). Alpine timberlines in the Americas and their interpretation Butler University Botanical Studies 11 119 136 Google Scholar
Daubenmire, R. (1968). Soil moisture in relation to vegetation distribution in the mountains of northern Idaho Ecology 49 431 438 Google Scholar
Davis, O.K. (1981). Vegetation Migration in Southern Idaho during the Late Quaternary and Holocene Ph.D. dissertation University of Minnesota Minneapolis Google Scholar
Davis, O.K. (1982). Plant list for the Albion Mountains, Cassia County, Idaho Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science 18 1 12 Google Scholar
Davis, O.K. (1984a). Multiple thermal maxima during the Holocene Science 244 617 619 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, O.K. (1984b). Pollen frequencies reflect vegetation patterns in a Great Basin (U.S.A) mountain range Review of Palaeobotany Palynology 40 295 315 Google Scholar
Davis, J.O. (1985). Correlation of late Quarternary tephra layers in a long Pluvial sequence near Summer Lake, Oregon Quaternary Research 23 38 53 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deevey, E.S. Flint, R.F. (1957). Postglacial hypsithermal interval Science 125 182 184 Google Scholar
Elias, S.A. (1985). Paleoenvironmental interpretations of Holocene insect fossil assemblages from four high-altitude sites in the Front Range, Colorado, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research 17 31 48 Google Scholar
Faegri, K. Iversen, J. 3rd ed. (1975). Textbook of Pollen Analysis Hafner New York Google Scholar
Fautin, R.W. (1946). Northern desert shrub biome of western Utah Ecological Monographs 16 4 250 310 Google Scholar
Gates, W.L. (1976). Modeling the ice-age climate Science 191 1138 1144 Google Scholar
Graumlich, L.J. Brubaker, L.B. (1986). Reconstructions of annual temperature (1590–1979) for Longmire, Washington, derived from tree rings Quaternary Research 25 223 234 Google Scholar
Hansen, H.P. (1947). Postglacial forest succession, climate, and chronology in the Pacific Northwest Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 37 1 30 Google Scholar
Hebda, R.J. Mathewes, R.W. (1984). Holocene history of cedar and native Indian cultures of the North American Pacific coast Science 225 711 712 Google Scholar
Henry, C. (1984). Holocene Paleoecology of the Western Snake River Plain, Idaho M.S. thesis University of Michigan Google Scholar
Kearney, M.S. Luckman, B.H. (1983). Holocene timberline fluctuations in Jasper National Park, Alberta Science 221 261 263 Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E. Guetter, P.J. (1984). The sensitivity of monsoon climates to orbital parameter changes for 9000 years B.P.: Experiments with the NCAR general circulation model Berger, A. Milankovitch and Climate, Understanding the Response to Astronomical Forcing Kluwer Hingham, Mass 801 820 Google Scholar
McBride, R. French, N.R. Dahl, A.H. Detmer, J.E. (1978). Vegetation Types and Surface Soils of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory site U.S. Department of Energy Report IDO-1284 Google Scholar
McDonald, H.G. Anderson, E. White, J.A. Soiset, J.M. (1980). Lava blisters as carnivore traps Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 12 280 Google Scholar
McMinn, R.G. (1952). The role of soil drought in the distribution of vegetation in the northern Rocky Montains Ecology 33 1 15 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. (1977). Great Basin late Quaternary environments and chronology Fowler, D.D. Models and Great Basin Prehistory A Symposium. Desert Research Institute Publications in the Social Sciences. 12 113 167 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. (1985). Late Quaternary pollen records from the interior Pacific Northwest and northern Great Basin of the United States Bryant, V.M. Jr. Hollaway, R.G. Pollen Records of Late Quarternary North American Sediments Amer. Assoc. Stratigr. Palynol. Found Dallas, Tex 167 189 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Arno, S.F. Petersen, K.L. 1977a Postglacial history of Lost Trail Pass Bog, Bitterroot Mountains, Montana Arctic and Alpine Research 9 345 368 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Blinman, E. Petersen, K.L. 1977b Pollen influx and volcanic ash Science 198 257 261 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Sheppard, J.C. Foit, F.F. Jr. (1984). The age of Glacier Peak tephra in westcentral Montana Quarternary Research 21 36 41 Google Scholar
Miller, S.J. Dort, W. Jr. (1978). Early man at Owl Cave: Current investigations at the Wasden site, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho Bryan, A.L. Early Man in America from a Circum-Pacific Perspective. University of Alberta Department of Anthropology Occasional Paper No. 1.129 139 Google Scholar
Minore, D. (1979). Comparative Autecological Characteristics of Northwestern Tree Species—A Literature Review U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-87Google Scholar
Mitchell, V.L. (1976). The regionalization of climate in the western United States Journal of Applied Meteorology 15 920 927 Google Scholar
Petersen, K.L. Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Gustafson, C.E. (1983). Late-glacial vegetation and climate at the Manis mastodon site, Olympic Peninsula, Washington Quarternary Research 20 215 231 Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C. Cwynar, L.C. Spear, R.W. (1983). Evidence from northwest Canada for an early Holocene Milankovitch thermal maximum Nature 9London) 304 126 128 Google Scholar
Sarna-Wojcicki, A.M. Champion, D.E. Davis, J.O. (1983). Holocene volcanism in the conterminous United States and the role of silicic volcanic ash layers in correlation of latest-Pleistocene and Holocene deposits Wright, H.E. Jr. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States Vol. 2 University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 52 77 Google Scholar
Sheppard, J.C. Hopper, J.F. Westberg, H.H. (1981). Radiocarbon Dating of Milligram-Sized Archaeological and Environmental Samples Vol. 252 International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna 409 416 Google Scholar
Thompson, R.S. (1984). Late Pleistocene and Holocene Environments in the Great Basin Ph.D. dissertation University of Arizona Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, (1973). Monthly Normals of Temperature, Precipitation, and Heating and Cooling Degree Days 1941–1970 U.S. Govt. Printing Office Washington, D.C Google Scholar
Waddington, J.C.B. Wright, H.E. (1974). Late-Quarternary vegetational changes on the east side of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Quarternary Research 4 175 184 Google Scholar
Westgate, J.A. Evans, M.E. (1978). Compositional variability of Glacier Peak tephra and its stratigraphic significance Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 14 1544 1567 Google Scholar