Exploratory Palynology in the Sierra Nevada, California
Issue Date
1965Keywords
CaliforniaCenozoic
microfossils
paleontology
palynomorphs
Quaternary
Sierra Nevada
United States
Pollen, Fossil -- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)
Palynology -- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)Paleoclimatology -- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)
Committee Chair
Martin, Paul S.Metadata
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The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Antevs Library, Department of Geosciences, and the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author or the department.Collection Information
This item is part of the Geosciences Theses collection. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the Antevs Library, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please email the Antevs Library, antevs@geo.arizona.edu.Abstract
Pollen analysis of two surface transects of modern soil samples and four stratigraphic sections from the central Sierra Nevada of California have provided a climatic record covering the time interval since the recession of the last glaciers of the Wisconsin glaciation. Two separate warm intervals are recognized between the recession of the Wisconsin glaciers and the reappearance of glaciers in the Sierra during the Little Ice Age.Type
textThesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Degree Name
M.S.Degree Level
mastersDegree Program
Graduate CollegeGeochronology
Degree Grantor
University of ArizonaRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
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LATE-QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA, CALIFORNIA.The pollen, plant macrofossil and aquatic fossil stratigraphies from a transect of sites in the Sierra Nevada, California, were examined to deduce paleoenvironmental change since the late-Wisconsinan. Fossil pollen samples were compared to modern pollen samples from both sides of the Sierra Nevada crest. Modern samples corresponded largely to modern vegetation units, validating the use of pollen for this purpose in mountainous environments. Vegetation change during the Holocene was largely contemporaneous on both sides of the crest at elevations where lake cores and meadow sections were analysed. Deglaciation occurred by ca. 12,500 yr BP at a site on the east side, and by ca. 11,000 yr BP at a west side site. Prior to ca. 10,000 yr BP, few trees were found around the higher elevation sites. An open forest with trees characteristic of the modern Sierra Montane and Upper Montane forest grew around the mid- to high elevation sites by the early Holocene. Montane chaparral species, such as bush chinquapin, mountain mahogany and probably huckleberry oak, with sagebrush, were most abundant then. Along with lowered lake levels or absence of perennially standing water, and greater affinities to modern pollen samples from the more arid east side, these observations suggest drier conditions than today. However, by ca. 6500-5500 yr BP, effective precipitation increased, as shown by increases in subalpine conifers (mountain hemlock and red fir) and higher lake levels, and less affinities to modern samples from the east side. Modern vegetation developed at most sites within the last 2-3 millenia. Specific changes in the vegetation at this time included a reduction in upper elevational limits of mountain hemlock and red fir, with possible downslope retreat of whitebark pine, indicating greater cooling and/or wetter conditions. This is consistent with the record of wet meadow genesis as well as tree-ring and Neoglacial chronologies.
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INTEGRATED HYDROCHEMICAL MODELING OF AN ALPINE WATERSHED: SIERRA NEVADA, CALIFORNIASeasonally snow covered alpine areas play a larger role in the hydrologic cycle than their area would indicate. Their ecosystems may be sensitive indicators of climatic and atmospheric change. Assessing the hydrologic and bio- geochemical responses of these areas to changes in inputs of water, chemicals and energy should be based on a detailed understanding of watershed processes. This dissertation discusses the development and testing of a model capable of predicting watershed hydrologic and hydrochemical responses to these changes. The model computes integrated water and chemical balances for watersheds with unlimited numbers of terrestrial, stream, and lake subunits, each of which may have a unique, variable snow -covered area. Model capabilities include 1) tracking of chemical inputs from precipitation, dry deposition, snowmelt, mineral weathering, basefiow or flows from areas external to the modeled watershed, and user -defined sources and sinks, 2) tracking water and chemical movements in the canopy, snowpack, soil litter, multiple soil layers, streamflow, between terrestrial subunits (surface and subsurface movement), and within lakes (2 layers), 3) chemical speciation, including free and total soluble species, precipitates, exchange complexes, and acid -neutralizing capacity, 4) nitrogen reactions, 5) a snowmelt optimization procedure capable of exactly matching observed watershed outflows, and 6) modeling riparian areas. Two years of data were available for fitting and comparing observed and modeled output. To the extent possible, model parameters are set based on physical or chemical measurements, leaving only a few fitted parameters. The effects of snowmelt rate, rate of chemical elution from the snowpack, nitrogen reactions, mineral weathering, and flow routing on modeled outputs are examined.
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Integrated hydrogeochemical modeling of an alpine watershed: Sierra Nevada, California.Seasonally snow covered alpine areas play a larger role in the hydrologic cycle than their area would indicate. Their ecosystems may be sensitive indicators of climatic and atmospheric change. Assessing the hydrologic and bio-geochemical responses of these areas to changes in inputs of water, chemicals and energy should be based on a detailed understanding of watershed processes. This dissertation discusses the development and testing of a model capable of predicting watershed hydrologic and hydrochemical responses to these changes. The model computes integrated water and chemical balances for watersheds with unlimited numbers of terrestrial, stream, and lake subunits, each of which may have a unique, variable snow-covered area. Model capabilities include (1) tracking of chemical inputs from precipitation, dry deposition, snowmelt, mineral weathering, baseflow or flows from areas external to the modeled watershed, and user-defined sources and sinks, (2) tracking water and chemical movements in the canopy, snowpack, soil litter, multiple soil layers, streamflow, between terrestrial subunits (surface and subsurface movement), and within lakes (2 layers), (3) chemical speciation, including free and total soluble species, precipitates, exchange complexes, and acid-neutralizing capacity, (4) nitrogen reactions, (5) a snowmelt optimization procedure capable of exactly matching observed watershed outflows, and (6) modeling riparian areas. Two years of data were available for fitting and comparing observed and modeled output. To the extent possible, model parameters are set based on physical or chemical measurements, leaving only a few fitted parameters. Thc effects of snowmelt rate, rate of chemical elution from the snowpack, nitrogen reactions, mineral weathering, and flow routing on modeled outputs are examined.
