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Uranium-Series Dating of Carbonate (Tufa) Deposits Associated with Quaternary Fluctuations of Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barney J. Szabo ,
Charles A. Bush  and
Larry V. Benson
Barney J. Szabo
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado, 80225
Charles A. Bush
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado, 80225
Larry V. Benson
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80303
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Abstract

Uranium-series dating of dense tufa deposited in a small cave, at former lake margins, and in large tufa mounds clarifies the timing of lake-level variation during the past 400,000 yr in the Pyramid Lake basin. A moderate-sized lake occasionally overflowed the Emerson Pass sill at elevation of ∼1207 m between ca. 400,000 and 170,000 and from ca. 60,000 to 20,000 yr B.P., as shown by 230Th/234U ages of the cave samples, 230Th-excess ages of tubular tufas, and average isochron-plot ages of shoreline-deposited tufas. (By comparison, modern Pyramid Lake is ∼50 m below this sill). There is a lack of tufa record during the intervening period from ca. 170,000 to 60,000 yr B.P. After ca. 20,000 yr, Pyramid Lake underwent abrupt changes in level and, based on previous 14C ages, reached its highest elevation (ca 1335 m) at ca. 14,000 yr B.P. The youngest uranium-series ages are comparable with previously reported 14C ages.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 271 - 281
Copyright
University of Washington

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