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A late Quaternary chironomid-inferred temperature record from the Sierra Nevada, California, with connections to northeast Pacific sea surface temperatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Aaron P. Potito ,
David F. Porinchu ,
Glen M. MacDonald  and
Katrina A. Moser
Aaron P. Potito*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1361, USA
David F. Porinchu
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1361, USA
Glen M. MacDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of California–Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, USA
Katrina A. Moser
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Social Science Centre, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
*
⁎Corresponding author. Department of Geography, University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland. Fax: +1 614 292 6213. E-mail addresses:potito.1@osu.edu, aaron.potito@nuigalway.ie (A.P. Potito).
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Abstract

Chironomid remains from a mid-elevation lake in the Sierra Nevada, California, were used to estimate quantitative summer surface water temperatures during the past ∼15,000 yr. Reconstructed temperatures increased by ∼3°C between lake initiation and the onset of the Holocene at ∼10,600 cal yr BP (calibrated years before present). Temperatures peaked at 6500 cal yr BP, displayed high variability from 6500 to 3500 cal yr BP, and stabilized after 3500 cal yr BP. This record generally tracks reconstructed Santa Barbara Basin sea surface temperatures (SSTs) through much of the Holocene, highlighting the correspondence between SST variability and California land temperatures during this interval.

Keywords

ChironomidsHoloceneSierra NevadaCaliforniaTemperaturePacific OceanPaleolimnologyClimate changeHolocene thermal maximum
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , September 2006 , pp. 356 - 363
Copyright
University of Washington

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