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Paleoclimatic Inferences from an Isotopic Investigation of Groundwater in the Central San Juan Basin, New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Fred M. Phillips ,
Leslie A. Peeters ,
Michael K. Tansey  and
Stanley N. Davis
Fred M. Phillips
Affiliation:
Geoscience Department and Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801
Leslie A. Peeters
Affiliation:
Geoscience Department and Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801
Michael K. Tansey
Affiliation:
Geoscience Department and Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801
Stanley N. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721
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Abstract

Groundwater from the Ojo Alamo and Nacimiento aquifers in the central San Juan Basin. New Mexico, has yielded 14C ages ranging from modern to 35,000 yr B.P. The Pleistocene-age samples are characterized by a stable isotope content about 25‰ lighter in D and 3‰ lighter in 18O than modern precipitation and groundwater. We attribute this difference to a colder mean annual temperature and perhaps increased winter precipitation. Consideration of various factors controlling the stable isotope composition of the groundwater allows estimation of a 5° to 7°C temperature decrease during the late Wisconsin, accompanied by increased effective precipitation. A similar estimate of the temperature change is obtained from noble-gas paleothermometry. These data support a model of moderately cooler late Pleistocene climate in the American Southwest characterized by summers with less precipitation than today, but wetter winters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , September 1986 , pp. 179 - 193
Copyright
University of Washington

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