Late Holocene Hydrologic Variability Reconstruction of the Coastal Southwestern United States Using Lake Sediments from Crystal Lake, CA

Abstract:

This study aims to reconstruct a high resolution, late Holocene record of precipitation variability for the coastal southwestern United States region using sediment cores from Crystal Lake, CA. This region is especially susceptible to droughts and episodic floods, making it of particular importance to understand past hydrologic variability. Crystal Lake is a small, alpine landslide dammed lake in the Angeles National Forest of the San Gabriel Mountains. The lake is the only permanent, freshwater lake located in the range. It is hydrologically closed, meaning all lake level changes are controlled by changes in precipitation: evaporation. To reconstruct past hydrologic variability, two Livingston piston cores were taken 15 m apart in the depocenter of the lake in May 2014. A multi-proxy methodology was utilized including: magnetic susceptibility, total organic matter and total carbonate content, grain size, and bulk d¹³C_org of sediments. All analyses were conducted at 1 cm contiguous intervals except bulk d¹³C_org (at 2 cm). Seismic reflection profiles were also generated to examine the basin’s stratigraphic features in the context of the individual sediment cores. A working age model was provided by multiple AMS ¹⁴C dates from discrete organic matter (i.e., seeds, charcoal). Results from this study are compared to preexisting records of late Holocene hydrologic variability from coastal, central, and southern California. Further, the forcing mechanisms that drive hydrologic change (wet vs. dry episodes) in Southern California, such as ocean-atmosphere interactions including El Niño Southern Oscillation or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, are discussed.