Great plains

@article{broecker1958radiocarbon,
    author = "BROECKER, WALLACE S. and ORR, PHIL C.",
    title = "RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY OF LAKE LAHONTAN AND LAKE BONNEVILLE",
    year = "1958",
    journal = "Geological Society of America Bulletin",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1958)69[1009:rcolla]2.0.co;2",
    doi = "10.1130/0016-7606(1958)69[1009:rcolla]2.0.co;2",
    number = "8",
    openalex = "W1986685850",
    pages = "1009",
    volume = "69"
}

@article{broecker1965radiocarbon,
    author = "BROECKER, WALLACE S. and KAUFMAN, AARON",
    title = "Radiocarbon Chronology of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville II, Great Basin",
    year = "1965",
    journal = "Geological Society of America Bulletin",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1965)76[537:rcolla]2.0.co;2",
    doi = "10.1130/0016-7606(1965)76[537:rcolla]2.0.co;2",
    number = "5",
    openalex = "W2011493946",
    pages = "537",
    volume = "76"
}

@article{doi101029jz070i016p04039,
    author = "Kaufman, Aaron and Broecker, Wallace S.",
    title = "Comparison of Th 230 and C 14 ages for carbonate materials from lakes Lahontan and Bonneville",
    year = "1965",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/jz070i016p04039",
    doi = "10.1029/jz070i016p04039",
    openalex = "W2005524562"
}

@book{morrison1965correlation1,
    author = "Morrison, R. B. and Frye, J. C",
    title = "Correlation of the middle and late Quaternary successions of the Lake Lahontan Lake Bonneville Rocky Mountain (Wasatch Range), southern Great Plains,and eastern midwest areas",
    year = "1965",
    publisher = "Las Vegas, Nevada, Nevada Bureau of Mines, University of Nevada, 45 p.; Report 9",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Morrison, R. B., and Frye, J. C., 1965, Correlation of the middle and late Quaternary successions of the Lake Lahontan Lake Bonneville Rocky Mountain (Wasatch Range), southern Great Plains,and eastern midwest areas: Las Vegas, Nevada, Nevada Bureau of Mines, University of Nevada, 45 p.; Report 9.}"
}

Samples of algal tufa, gastropods and calcite-cemented sand were collected from the Walker and Pyramid Lake areas of the Lahontan Basin, Nevada. X-ray diffraction petrographic and radiocarbon analyses show that massive forms of tufa such as the dendritic variety contain secondary carbon-bearing material and therefore yield unreliable radiocarbon dates. Dense coating of tufa (lithoid), however, gave radiocarbon ages in agreement with dates on coexisting aragonite gastropods. Radiocarbon data from the study were combined with previously dated noncarbonate materials [Born, S. M. (1972). “Lake Quaternary History, Deltaic Sedimentation, and Mudlump Formation at Pyramid Lake, Nevada”, Center for Water Resources, Desert Research Inst., Reno, Nevada] to give an internally consistent record of lake level fluctuations for the past 40,000 years. The main features of the Lahontan chronology are (1) extreme high stands (1330 m above sea level) 13,500 to 11,000 and 25,000 to 22,000 B.P., (2) a moderate high stand (1260 m above sea level) 20,000 to 15,000 B.P., (3) a low stand of unknown elevation 40,000 to 25,000 B.P., (4) an extremely low stand 9000 to 5000 B.P., and (5) an overall increase in the size of Walker and Pyramid Lakes during the past 5000 years, until the late 19th century. Pore fluid data indicate that Walker Lake desiccated sometime during the period 9050 to 6400 B.P. Salts deposited as a result of this dessication are still undergoing dissolution causing a flux of chloride, carbon, and other solute species from the sediments to the overlying lake water. Pore fluid data obtained from Pyramid Lake sediments do not indicate the presence of a concentrated brine at depth. This suggests that Pyramid Lake did not dry completely during this period although it may have been severely reduced in size. There has been considerable disagreement regarding the occurrence of extreme arid conditions (altithermal period) since 10,000 B.P. [Mehringer, P. J. (1977). “Models and Great Basin Prehistory”. Desert Research Inst. Pub, Reno, Nevada]. The data of this study suggest that such a climatic regime did occur in the western Great Basin during the period 9000 to 5000 B.P.

@article{doi1010160033589478900352,
    author = "Benson, Larry",
    title = "Fluctuation in the Level of Pluvial Lake Lahontan During the last 40,000 Years",
    year = "1978",
    journal = "Quaternary Research",
    abstract = "Samples of algal tufa, gastropods and calcite-cemented sand were collected from the Walker and Pyramid Lake areas of the Lahontan Basin, Nevada. X-ray diffraction petrographic and radiocarbon analyses show that massive forms of tufa such as the dendritic variety contain secondary carbon-bearing material and therefore yield unreliable radiocarbon dates. Dense coating of tufa (lithoid), however, gave radiocarbon ages in agreement with dates on coexisting aragonite gastropods. Radiocarbon data from the study were combined with previously dated noncarbonate materials [Born, S. M. (1972). “Lake Quaternary History, Deltaic Sedimentation, and Mudlump Formation at Pyramid Lake, Nevada”, Center for Water Resources, Desert Research Inst., Reno, Nevada] to give an internally consistent record of lake level fluctuations for the past 40,000 years. The main features of the Lahontan chronology are (1) extreme high stands (1330 m above sea level) 13,500 to 11,000 and 25,000 to 22,000 B.P., (2) a moderate high stand (1260 m above sea level) 20,000 to 15,000 B.P., (3) a low stand of unknown elevation 40,000 to 25,000 B.P., (4) an extremely low stand 9000 to 5000 B.P., and (5) an overall increase in the size of Walker and Pyramid Lakes during the past 5000 years, until the late 19th century. Pore fluid data indicate that Walker Lake desiccated sometime during the period 9050 to 6400 B.P. Salts deposited as a result of this dessication are still undergoing dissolution causing a flux of chloride, carbon, and other solute species from the sediments to the overlying lake water. Pore fluid data obtained from Pyramid Lake sediments do not indicate the presence of a concentrated brine at depth. This suggests that Pyramid Lake did not dry completely during this period although it may have been severely reduced in size. There has been considerable disagreement regarding the occurrence of extreme arid conditions (altithermal period) since 10,000 B.P. [Mehringer, P. J. (1977). “Models and Great Basin Prehistory”. Desert Research Inst. Pub, Reno, Nevada]. The data of this study suggest that such a climatic regime did occur in the western Great Basin during the period 9000 to 5000 B.P.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(78)90035-2",
    doi = "10.1016/0033-5894(78)90035-2",
    openalex = "W2043681515"
}

A substantially modified history of the last two cycles of Lake Bonneville is proposed. The Bonneville lake cycle began prior to 26,000 yr B.P.; the lake reached the Bonneville shoreline about 16,000 yr B.P. Poor dating control limits our knowledge of the timing of subsequent events. Lake level was maintained at the Bonneville shoreline until about 15,000 yr B.P., or somewhat later, when catastrophic downcutting of the outlet caused a rapid drop of 100 m. The Provo shoreline was formed as rates of isostatic uplift due to this unloading slowed. By 13,000 yr B.P., the lake had fallen below the Provo level and reached one close to that of Great Salt Lake by 11,000 yr B.P. Deposits of the Little Valley lake cycle are identified by their position below a marked unconformity and by amino acid ratios of their fossil gastropods. The maximum level of the Little Valley lake was well below the Bonneville shoreline. Based on degree of soil development and other evidence, the Little Valley lake cycle may be equivalent in age to marine oxygenisotope stage 6. The proposed lake history has climatic implications for the region. First, because the fluctuations of Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan during the last cycle of each were apparently out of phase, there may have been significant local differences in the timing and character of late Pleistocene climate changes in the Great Basin. Second, although the Bonneville and Little Valley lake cycles were broadly synchronous with maximum episodes of glaciation, environmental conditions necessary to generate large lakes did not exist during early Wisconsin time.

@article{doi1010160033589483900133,
    author = "Scott, William E. and McCoy, William D. and Shroba, Ralph R. and Rubin, Meyer",
    title = "Reinterpretation of the Exposed Record of the Last two Cycles of Lake Bonneville, Western United States",
    year = "1983",
    journal = "Quaternary Research",
    abstract = "A substantially modified history of the last two cycles of Lake Bonneville is proposed. The Bonneville lake cycle began prior to 26,000 yr B.P.; the lake reached the Bonneville shoreline about 16,000 yr B.P. Poor dating control limits our knowledge of the timing of subsequent events. Lake level was maintained at the Bonneville shoreline until about 15,000 yr B.P., or somewhat later, when catastrophic downcutting of the outlet caused a rapid drop of 100 m. The Provo shoreline was formed as rates of isostatic uplift due to this unloading slowed. By 13,000 yr B.P., the lake had fallen below the Provo level and reached one close to that of Great Salt Lake by 11,000 yr B.P. Deposits of the Little Valley lake cycle are identified by their position below a marked unconformity and by amino acid ratios of their fossil gastropods. The maximum level of the Little Valley lake was well below the Bonneville shoreline. Based on degree of soil development and other evidence, the Little Valley lake cycle may be equivalent in age to marine oxygenisotope stage 6. The proposed lake history has climatic implications for the region. First, because the fluctuations of Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan during the last cycle of each were apparently out of phase, there may have been significant local differences in the timing and character of late Pleistocene climate changes in the Great Basin. Second, although the Bonneville and Little Valley lake cycles were broadly synchronous with maximum episodes of glaciation, environmental conditions necessary to generate large lakes did not exist during early Wisconsin time.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(83)90013-3",
    doi = "10.1016/0033-5894(83)90013-3",
    openalex = "W2060501649",
    references = "doi1010160016703771900317, doi1010160033589473900525, doi1010160033589478900352, doi101029jb075i020p03941, doi101029jz070i016p04039, doi1010970001069419660500000001, doi101130001676061957681141holbas20co2, doi1023071792487, doi102307212699, doi103133pp454e, openalexw1904021077, passey1981upper, wright1972glacial"
}

@book{crossref1984major,
    title = "Major levels of Great Salt Lake and Lake Bonneville",
    year = "1984",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.34191/m-73",
    doi = "10.34191/m-73",
    openalex = "W4253920265"
}

@article{doi101016003101829090113l,
    author = "Currey, Donald R.",
    title = "Quaternary palaeolakes in the evolution of semidesert basins, with special emphasis on Lake Bonneville and the Great Basin, U.S.A",
    year = "1990",
    journal = "Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(90)90113-l",
    doi = "10.1016/0031-0182(90)90113-l",
    openalex = "W1984272613",
    references = "crossref1984major, doi1010160033589483900133, doi101130001676061957681141holbas20co2, doi103133pp454e, doi103133pp596"
}

@article{oviatt1992radiocarbon,
    author = "Oviatt, Charles G. and Currey, Donald R. and Sack, Dorothy",
    title = "Radiocarbon chronology of Lake Bonneville, Eastern Great Basin, USA",
    year = "1992",
    journal = "Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(92)90017-y",
    doi = "10.1016/0031-0182(92)90017-y",
    number = "3-4",
    openalex = "W2035523276",
    pages = "225-241",
    volume = "99",
    references = "broecker1958radiocarbon, broecker1965radiocarbon, doi101007bf01187137, doi101016003101829090113l, doi101016003101829090217u, doi1010160033589478900352, doi1010160033589483900133, doi101016003358949090015d, doi101038345405a0, doi10113000167606198799127potlpb20co2, doi101130dnaggnak2283, doi103133pp596"
}

A high-resolution, regional climate model nested within a general circulation model was used to study the interactions between the atmosphere and the large Pleistocene lakes in the Great Basin of the United States. Simulations for January and July 18,000 years ago indicate that moisture provided by synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation features was the primary component of the hydrologic budgets of Lakes Lahontan and Bonneville. In addition, lake-generated precipitation was a substantial component of the hydrologic budget of Lake Bonneville at that time. This local lake-atmosphere interaction may help explain differences in the relative sizes of these lakes 18,000 years ago.

@article{hostetler1994lakeatmosphere,
    author = "Hostetler, S. W. and Giorgi, F. and Bates, G. T. and Bartlein, P. J.",
    title = "Lake-Atmosphere Feedbacks Associated with Paleolakes Bonneville and Lahontan",
    year = "1994",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "A high-resolution, regional climate model nested within a general circulation model was used to study the interactions between the atmosphere and the large Pleistocene lakes in the Great Basin of the United States. Simulations for January and July 18,000 years ago indicate that moisture provided by synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation features was the primary component of the hydrologic budgets of Lakes Lahontan and Bonneville. In addition, lake-generated precipitation was a substantial component of the hydrologic budget of Lake Bonneville at that time. This local lake-atmosphere interaction may help explain differences in the relative sizes of these lakes 18,000 years ago.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5147.665",
    doi = "10.1126/science.263.5147.665",
    number = "5147",
    openalex = "W1974440507",
    pages = "665-668",
    volume = "263",
    references = "doi101007bf00240465, doi101016003101829090217u, doi10102992jd02843, doi101029jd090id01p02167, doi101029wr026i010p02603, doi101126science24148691043, doi101130dnaggnak3, doi1011751520044219900030941sorcua20co2, doi1011751520046919860431726tiocop20co2, doi1011751520049319891172325tcsoar20co2"
}

The purpose of this study was to develop a site-specific water quality standard for selenium in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. The study examined the bioavailability and toxicity of selenium, as selenate, to biota resident to the Great Salt Lake and the potential for dietary selenium exposure to aquatic dependent birds that might consume resident biota. Because of its high salinity, the lake has limited biological diversity with bacteria, algae, diatoms, brine shrimp, and brine flies being the only organisms present in the main (hypersaline) portions of the lake. To evaluate their sensitivity to selenium, a series of acute and chronic toxicity studies were conducted on brine shrimp (Artemia franiciscana), brine fly (Ephydra cinerea), and a hypersaline alga (Dunaliella viridis). The resulting acute and chronic toxicity data indicated that resident species are more selenium tolerant than many freshwater species. Because sulfate is known to reduce selenate bioavailability, this selenium tolerance is thought to result in part from the lake's high ambient sulfate concentrations (>5,800 mg/L). The acute and chronic test results were compared to selenium concentrations expected to occur in a mining effluent discharge located at the south end of the lake. Based on these comparisons, no appreciable risks to resident aquatic biota were projected. Field and laboratory data collected on selenium bioaccumulation in brine shrimp demonstrated a linear relationship between water and tissue selenium concentrations. Applying a dietary selenium threshold of 5 mg/kg dry weight for aquatic birds to this relationship resulted in an estimate of 27 microg/L Se in water as a safe concentration for this exposure pathway and an appropriate chronic site-specific water quality standard. Consequently, protection of aquatic birds represents the driving factor in determining a site-specific water quality standard for selenium.

@article{doi10189702623,
    author = "Brix, Kevin V. and DeForest, David K. and Cardwell, Rick D. and Adams, William J.",
    title = "Derivation of a chronic site-specific water quality standard for selenium in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA",
    year = "2004",
    journal = "Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry",
    abstract = "The purpose of this study was to develop a site-specific water quality standard for selenium in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. The study examined the bioavailability and toxicity of selenium, as selenate, to biota resident to the Great Salt Lake and the potential for dietary selenium exposure to aquatic dependent birds that might consume resident biota. Because of its high salinity, the lake has limited biological diversity with bacteria, algae, diatoms, brine shrimp, and brine flies being the only organisms present in the main (hypersaline) portions of the lake. To evaluate their sensitivity to selenium, a series of acute and chronic toxicity studies were conducted on brine shrimp (Artemia franiciscana), brine fly (Ephydra cinerea), and a hypersaline alga (Dunaliella viridis). The resulting acute and chronic toxicity data indicated that resident species are more selenium tolerant than many freshwater species. Because sulfate is known to reduce selenate bioavailability, this selenium tolerance is thought to result in part from the lake's high ambient sulfate concentrations (>5,800 mg/L). The acute and chronic test results were compared to selenium concentrations expected to occur in a mining effluent discharge located at the south end of the lake. Based on these comparisons, no appreciable risks to resident aquatic biota were projected. Field and laboratory data collected on selenium bioaccumulation in brine shrimp demonstrated a linear relationship between water and tissue selenium concentrations. Applying a dietary selenium threshold of 5 mg/kg dry weight for aquatic birds to this relationship resulted in an estimate of 27 microg/L Se in water as a safe concentration for this exposure pathway and an appropriate chronic site-specific water quality standard. Consequently, protection of aquatic birds represents the driving factor in determining a site-specific water quality standard for selenium.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1897/02-623",
    doi = "10.1897/02-623",
    openalex = "W2048410717"
}

The water cycle in the western United States changed dramatically over glacial cycles. In the past 20,000 years, higher precipitation caused desert lakes to form which have since dried out. Higher glacial precipitation has been hypothesized to result from a southward shift of Pacific winter storm tracks. We compared Pacific Ocean data to lake levels from the interior west and found that Great Basin lake high stands are older than coastal wet periods at the same latitude. Westerly storms were not the source of high precipitation. Instead, air masses from the tropical Pacific were transported northward, bringing more precipitation into the Great Basin when coastal California was still dry. The changing climate during the deglaciation altered precipitation source regions and strongly affected the regional water cycle.

@article{doi101126science1218390,
    author = "Lyle, Mitchell W and Heusser, Linda E. and Ravelo, Christina and Yamamoto, Masanobu and Barron, John A. and Diffenbaugh, Noah S. and Herbert, Timothy D. and Andreasen, Dyke",
    title = "Out of the Tropics: The Pacific, Great Basin Lakes, and Late Pleistocene Water Cycle in the Western United States",
    year = "2012",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "The water cycle in the western United States changed dramatically over glacial cycles. In the past 20,000 years, higher precipitation caused desert lakes to form which have since dried out. Higher glacial precipitation has been hypothesized to result from a southward shift of Pacific winter storm tracks. We compared Pacific Ocean data to lake levels from the interior west and found that Great Basin lake high stands are older than coastal wet periods at the same latitude. Westerly storms were not the source of high precipitation. Instead, air masses from the tropical Pacific were transported northward, bringing more precipitation into the Great Basin when coastal California was still dry. The changing climate during the deglaciation altered precipitation source regions and strongly affected the regional water cycle.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1218390",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1218390",
    openalex = "W2057015756",
    references = "broecker1958radiocarbon, doi101130001676061958691009rcolla20co2, doi1011300016760619981101318spatao23co2, doi1011300091761319970250155lbfagc23co2"
}

Shorelines and surficial deposits (including buried forest-floor mats and organic-rich wetland sediments) show that Great Salt Lake did not rise higher than modern lake levels during the earliest Holocene (11.5–10.2 cal ka BP; 10–9 14 C ka BP). During that period, finely laminated, organic-rich muds (sapropel) containing brine-shrimp cysts and pellets and interbedded sodium-sulfate salts were deposited on the lake floor. Sapropel deposition was probably caused by stratification of the water column — a freshwater cap possibly was formed by groundwater, which had been stored in upland aquifers during the immediately preceding late-Pleistocene deep-lake cycle (Lake Bonneville), and was actively discharging on the basin floor. A climate characterized by low precipitation and runoff, combined with local areas of groundwater discharge in piedmont settings, could explain the apparent conflict between evidence for a shallow lake (a dry climate) and previously published interpretations for a moist climate in the Great Salt Lake basin of the eastern Great Basin.

@article{doi101016jyqres201505001,
    author = "Oviatt, Charles G. and Madsen, David B. and Miller, David M. and Thompson, Robert S. and McGeehin, John P.",
    title = "Early Holocene Great Salt Lake, USA",
    year = "2015",
    journal = "Quaternary Research",
    abstract = "Shorelines and surficial deposits (including buried forest-floor mats and organic-rich wetland sediments) show that Great Salt Lake did not rise higher than modern lake levels during the earliest Holocene (11.5–10.2 cal ka BP; 10–9 14 C ka BP). During that period, finely laminated, organic-rich muds (sapropel) containing brine-shrimp cysts and pellets and interbedded sodium-sulfate salts were deposited on the lake floor. Sapropel deposition was probably caused by stratification of the water column — a freshwater cap possibly was formed by groundwater, which had been stored in upland aquifers during the immediately preceding late-Pleistocene deep-lake cycle (Lake Bonneville), and was actively discharging on the basin floor. A climate characterized by low precipitation and runoff, combined with local areas of groundwater discharge in piedmont settings, could explain the apparent conflict between evidence for a shallow lake (a dry climate) and previously published interpretations for a moist climate in the Great Salt Lake basin of the eastern Great Basin.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2015.05.001",
    doi = "10.1016/j.yqres.2015.05.001",
    openalex = "W388267991",
    references = "crossref1984major"
}

Includes 5 topical chapters covering paleoclimates, dating methods, volcanism, tephrochronology, and Pacific margin tephrochronologic correlation, and 15 chapters of regional synthesis covering: the Pacific margin; the Columbia Plateau; the Snake River Plain; the major pluvial lakes of the Great Basin; the Basin and Range in California, Arizona, and New Mexico; the Colorado Plateau; the Southern and Central Rocky Mountains; the Northern and Southern Great Plains, Osage Plains, and Interior Highlands; the Lower Mississippi Valley; the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and Florida; the Appalachian Highlands and Interior Low Plateaus; and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A large, full-color geologic map of the Quaternary deposits of the Lower Mississippi Valley, in addition to correlation charts, tables, and cross-sections relating to other chapters, is also included.

@incollection{doi101130dnaggnak2283,
    author = "Morrison, Roger B.",
    title = "Quaternary stratigraphic, hydrologic, and climatic history of the Great Basin, with emphasis on Lakes Lahontan, Bonneville, and Tecopa",
    year = "2015",
    booktitle = "Geological Society of America eBooks",
    abstract = "Includes 5 topical chapters covering paleoclimates, dating methods, volcanism, tephrochronology, and Pacific margin tephrochronologic correlation, and 15 chapters of regional synthesis covering: the Pacific margin; the Columbia Plateau; the Snake River Plain; the major pluvial lakes of the Great Basin; the Basin and Range in California, Arizona, and New Mexico; the Colorado Plateau; the Southern and Central Rocky Mountains; the Northern and Southern Great Plains, Osage Plains, and Interior Highlands; the Lower Mississippi Valley; the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and Florida; the Appalachian Highlands and Interior Low Plateaus; and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A large, full-color geologic map of the Quaternary deposits of the Lower Mississippi Valley, in addition to correlation charts, tables, and cross-sections relating to other chapters, is also included.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1130/dnag-gna-k2.283",
    doi = "10.1130/dnag-gna-k2.283",
    openalex = "W2500398889"
}

Abstract Although the African Great Lakes are important regulators for the East African climate, their influence on atmospheric dynamics and the regional hydrological cycle remains poorly understood. This study aims to assess this impact by comparing a regional climate model simulation that resolves individual lakes and explicitly computes lake temperatures to a simulation without lakes. The Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling model in climate mode (COSMO-CLM) coupled to the Freshwater Lake model (FLake) and Community Land Model (CLM) is used to dynamically downscale a simulation from the African Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX-Africa) to 7-km grid spacing for the period of 1999–2008. Evaluation of the model reveals good performance compared to both in situ and satellite observations, especially for spatiotemporal variability of lake surface temperatures (0.68-K bias), and precipitation (−116 mm yr −1 or 8% bias). Model integrations indicate that the four major African Great Lakes almost double the annual precipitation amounts over their surface but hardly exert any influence on precipitation beyond their shores. Except for Lake Kivu, the largest lakes also cool the annual near-surface air by −0.6 to −0.9 K on average, this time with pronounced downwind influence. The lake-induced cooling happens during daytime, when the lakes absorb incoming solar radiation and inhibit upward turbulent heat transport. At night, when this heat is released, the lakes warm the near-surface air. Furthermore, Lake Victoria has a profound influence on atmospheric dynamics and stability, as it induces circular airflow with over-lake convective inhibition during daytime and the reversed pattern at night. Overall, this study shows the added value of resolving individual lakes and realistically representing lake surface temperatures for climate studies in this region.

@article{doi101175jclid14005651,
    author = "Thiery, Wim and Davin, Édouard L. and Panitz, Hans-Jürgen and Demuzere, Matthias and Lhermitte, Stef and Lipzig, Nicole Van",
    title = "The Impact of the African Great Lakes on the Regional Climate",
    year = "2015",
    journal = "Journal of Climate",
    abstract = "Abstract Although the African Great Lakes are important regulators for the East African climate, their influence on atmospheric dynamics and the regional hydrological cycle remains poorly understood. This study aims to assess this impact by comparing a regional climate model simulation that resolves individual lakes and explicitly computes lake temperatures to a simulation without lakes. The Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling model in climate mode (COSMO-CLM) coupled to the Freshwater Lake model (FLake) and Community Land Model (CLM) is used to dynamically downscale a simulation from the African Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX-Africa) to 7-km grid spacing for the period of 1999–2008. Evaluation of the model reveals good performance compared to both in situ and satellite observations, especially for spatiotemporal variability of lake surface temperatures (0.68-K bias), and precipitation (−116 mm yr −1 or 8\% bias). Model integrations indicate that the four major African Great Lakes almost double the annual precipitation amounts over their surface but hardly exert any influence on precipitation beyond their shores. Except for Lake Kivu, the largest lakes also cool the annual near-surface air by −0.6 to −0.9 K on average, this time with pronounced downwind influence. The lake-induced cooling happens during daytime, when the lakes absorb incoming solar radiation and inhibit upward turbulent heat transport. At night, when this heat is released, the lakes warm the near-surface air. Furthermore, Lake Victoria has a profound influence on atmospheric dynamics and stability, as it induces circular airflow with over-lake convective inhibition during daytime and the reversed pattern at night. Overall, this study shows the added value of resolving individual lakes and realistically representing lake surface temperatures for climate studies in this region.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-14-00565.1",
    doi = "10.1175/jcli-d-14-00565.1",
    openalex = "W2009081140",
    references = "doi101002joc3370100202, doi101002qj828, doi1010079781461263333, doi101038nature09396, doi101126science2755299502, doi1011751520047719990802261aiucfi20co2, doi1011751520049319891171779acmfsf20co2, doi1011751525754120010020036gpaodd20co2, doi1011751525754120040050487camtpg20co2, hostetler1994lakeatmosphere, openalexw2106435017"
}

@incollection{doi101016b9780444635907000111,
    author = "Thompson, Robert S. and Oviatt, Charles G. and Honke, Jeffrey S. and McGeehin, John P.",
    title = "Late Quaternary Changes in Lakes, Vegetation, and Climate in the Bonneville Basin Reconstructed from Sediment Cores from Great Salt Lake",
    year = "2016",
    booktitle = "Developments in earth surface processes",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-63590-7.00011-1",
    doi = "10.1016/b978-0-444-63590-7.00011-1",
    openalex = "W2516081984",
    references = "oviatt2017ostracodes, rhode2016quaternary"
}

@incollection{weber2016the,
    author = "Weber, Darrell J.",
    title = "The Impact of Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan on the Halophytes of the Great Basin",
    year = "2016",
    booktitle = "Tasks for Vegetation Science",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27093-7\_8",
    doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-27093-7\_8",
    openalex = "W2516675046",
    pages = "119-136",
    references = "doi101002j153721971979tb06228x, doi101006jare20000640, doi1010079789401118583, doi101016s0176161711801471, doi101139b03140, doi101139b98204, doi10189702623, doi102135cropsci19990011183x003900040034x, doi1023072656978, doi105281zenodo15971127"
}

@article{oviatt2017ostracodes,
    author = "Oviatt, Charles G.",
    title = "Ostracodes in Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, eastern Great Basin, North America",
    year = "2017",
    journal = "Hydrobiologia",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2483-y",
    doi = "10.1007/s10750-015-2483-y",
    number = "1",
    openalex = "W2242257539",
    pages = "125-135",
    volume = "786",
    references = "doi101007bf01187137, doi101016c20090026695, doi101016jpalaeo201108005, doi101016jquascirev201412016, doi101111j15023885201200297x, doi10113000917613198614796dotdac20co2, doi101130dnaggnak2283, doi101130spe274, doi101130spe274p1, doi101139e69151"
}

Abstract The Bonneville Basin is a continental lacustrine system accommodating extensive microbial carbonate deposits corresponding to two distinct phases: the deep Lake Bonneville (30 000 to 11 500 14 C bp) and the shallow Great Salt Lake (since 11 500 14 C bp). A characterization of these microbial deposits and their associated sediments provides insights into their spatio‐temporal distribution patterns. The Bonneville phase preferentially displays vertical distribution of the microbial deposits resulting from high‐amplitude lake level variations. Due to the basin physiography, the microbial deposits were restricted to a narrow shoreline belt following Bonneville lake level variations. Carbonate production was more efficient during intervals of relative lake level stability as recorded by the formation of successive terraces. In contrast, the Great Salt Lake microbial deposits showed a great lateral distribution, linked to the modern flat bottom configuration. A low vertical distribution of the microbial deposits was the result of the shallow water depth combined with a low amplitude of lake level fluctuations. These younger microbial deposits display a higher diversity of fabrics and sizes. They are distributed along an extensive ‘shore to lake’ transect on a flat platform in relation to local and progressive accommodation space changes. Microbial deposits are temporally discontinuous throughout the lake history showing longer hiatuses during the Bonneville phase. The main parameters controlling the rate of carbonate production are related to the interaction between physical (kinetics of the mineral precipitation, lake water temperature and runoff), chemical (Ca 2+, Mg 2+ and HCO 3 − concentrations, Mg/Ca ratio, dilution and depletion) and/or biological (trophic) factors. The contrast in evolution of Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake microbial deposits during their lacustrine history leads to discussions on major chemical and climatic changes during this interval as well as the role of physiography. Furthermore, it provides novel insights into the composition, structure and formation of microbialite‐rich carbonate deposits under freshwater and hypersaline conditions.

@article{doi101111sed12499,
    author = "Vennin, Emmanuelle and Bouton, Anthony and Bourillot, Raphaël and Pace, Aurélie and Roche, Adeline and Brayard, Arnaud and Thomazo, Christophe and Virgone, Aurélien and Gaucher, Éric C. and Désaubliaux, Guy and Visscher, Pieter T.",
    title = "The lacustrine microbial carbonate factory of the successive Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Sedimentology",
    abstract = "Abstract The Bonneville Basin is a continental lacustrine system accommodating extensive microbial carbonate deposits corresponding to two distinct phases: the deep Lake Bonneville (30 000 to 11 500 14 C bp) and the shallow Great Salt Lake (since 11 500 14 C bp). A characterization of these microbial deposits and their associated sediments provides insights into their spatio‐temporal distribution patterns. The Bonneville phase preferentially displays vertical distribution of the microbial deposits resulting from high‐amplitude lake level variations. Due to the basin physiography, the microbial deposits were restricted to a narrow shoreline belt following Bonneville lake level variations. Carbonate production was more efficient during intervals of relative lake level stability as recorded by the formation of successive terraces. In contrast, the Great Salt Lake microbial deposits showed a great lateral distribution, linked to the modern flat bottom configuration. A low vertical distribution of the microbial deposits was the result of the shallow water depth combined with a low amplitude of lake level fluctuations. These younger microbial deposits display a higher diversity of fabrics and sizes. They are distributed along an extensive ‘shore to lake’ transect on a flat platform in relation to local and progressive accommodation space changes. Microbial deposits are temporally discontinuous throughout the lake history showing longer hiatuses during the Bonneville phase. The main parameters controlling the rate of carbonate production are related to the interaction between physical (kinetics of the mineral precipitation, lake water temperature and runoff), chemical (Ca 2+, Mg 2+ and HCO 3 − concentrations, Mg/Ca ratio, dilution and depletion) and/or biological (trophic) factors. The contrast in evolution of Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake microbial deposits during their lacustrine history leads to discussions on major chemical and climatic changes during this interval as well as the role of physiography. Furthermore, it provides novel insights into the composition, structure and formation of microbialite‐rich carbonate deposits under freshwater and hypersaline conditions.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12499",
    doi = "10.1111/sed.12499",
    openalex = "W2804961812",
    references = "oviatt2017ostracodes"
}

Abstract Mollusk and ostracode assemblages from the distal Old River Bed delta (ORBD) contribute to our understanding of the Lake Bonneville basin Pleistocene-Holocene transition (PHT) wetland and human presence on the ORBD (ca. 13,000–7500 cal yr BP). Located on U.S. Air Force-managed lands of the Great Salt Lake Desert (GSLD) in western Utah, USA, the area provided 30 samples from 12 localities. The biological assemblages and the potential water sources using 87 Sr/ 86 Sr analyses showed wetland expansion and contraction across the PHT, including the Younger-Dryas Chronozone (YDC). The record reflects cold, freshwater conditions, which is uncharacteristic of the Great Salt Lake Desert, after recession of Lake Bonneville. Lymnaea stagnalis jugularis, Cytherissa lacustris, and possibly Candona sp. cf. C. adunca, an endemic and extinct species only reported from Lake Bonneville, suggest cold-water environments. Between 13,000–12,400 cal yr BP, a shallow lake formed, referred to as the Old River Bed delta lake, fed by Lake Gunnison, as shown by 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of 0.71024–0.71063 in mollusk fossils collected at the ORBD, characteristic of the Sevier basin. These findings add paleoenvironmental context to the long-term use of the ORBD by humans in constantly changing wetland habitats between 13,000–9500 cal yr BP.

@article{doi101017qua202149,
    author = "Palacios‐Fest, Manuel R. and Duke, Daron and Young, D. Craig and Kirk, Jason and Oviatt, Charles G.",
    title = "A Paleo-Lake and wetland paleoecology associated with human use of the distal Old River Bed Delta at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Bonneville Basin, Utah, USA",
    year = "2021",
    journal = "Quaternary Research",
    abstract = "Abstract Mollusk and ostracode assemblages from the distal Old River Bed delta (ORBD) contribute to our understanding of the Lake Bonneville basin Pleistocene-Holocene transition (PHT) wetland and human presence on the ORBD (ca. 13,000–7500 cal yr BP). Located on U.S. Air Force-managed lands of the Great Salt Lake Desert (GSLD) in western Utah, USA, the area provided 30 samples from 12 localities. The biological assemblages and the potential water sources using 87 Sr/ 86 Sr analyses showed wetland expansion and contraction across the PHT, including the Younger-Dryas Chronozone (YDC). The record reflects cold, freshwater conditions, which is uncharacteristic of the Great Salt Lake Desert, after recession of Lake Bonneville. Lymnaea stagnalis jugularis, Cytherissa lacustris, and possibly Candona sp. cf. C. adunca, an endemic and extinct species only reported from Lake Bonneville, suggest cold-water environments. Between 13,000–12,400 cal yr BP, a shallow lake formed, referred to as the Old River Bed delta lake, fed by Lake Gunnison, as shown by 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of 0.71024–0.71063 in mollusk fossils collected at the ORBD, characteristic of the Sevier basin. These findings add paleoenvironmental context to the long-term use of the ORBD by humans in constantly changing wetland habitats between 13,000–9500 cal yr BP.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2021.49",
    doi = "10.1017/qua.2021.49",
    openalex = "W3201531629",
    references = "goebel2021prehistoric, oviatt2017ostracodes, rhode2016quaternary"
}

The most common and widespread sedimentary facies of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, in the eastern Great Basin of North America, is marl, which consists of a mixture of fine-grained endogenic calcium carbonate that precipitated in the epilimnion of the lake and then settled onto the lake floor and mixed with fine-grained clastic sediments. Primary sources of clastic sediment were inflowing rivers, wave activity in shore zones, and ice rafting. The thickness of deposits in cores and outcrops is largely dependent on the proportion of clastic sediment, although the rate of endogenic calcium carbonate precipitation probably also varied temporally and spatially. Net sediment-accumulation rate in the marl, as measured in outcrops and cores, ranges from a low of 4 cm/1000 yr, in the middle of the lake basin far from sources of clastic input, to over 100 cm/1000 yr near clastic-sediment sources. Underflow deposits, derived from higher-density river water loaded with suspended sediment, are thick and extensive near the mouths of major rivers that drained glaciated mountains. Net sediment-accumulation rates in suspended-load underflow deposits were much greater than those in contemporaneously deposited marl. The largest underflow-sediment accumulations, which have a fan shape in plan view, have been referred to as deltas (as at the mouths of the Sevier, Provo, Weber, and Bear Rivers). True Gilbert-type deltas composed of gravel, with topset, foreset, and bottomset beds, are uncommon in the basin. Variability in the sedimentary characteristics of the Bonneville deposits is determined by geomorphic factors, such as wave energy, composition of surficial material in the shore zone (e.g., resistant bedrock vs. unconsolidated alluvium), slope, and proximity to river mouths and active shore zones.

@incollection{jackoviatt2021geomorphic,
    author = "(Jack) Oviatt*, Charles G.",
    title = "Geomorphic controls on sedimentation in Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, eastern Great Basin",
    year = "2021",
    booktitle = "From Saline to Freshwater: The Diversity of Western Lakes in Space and Time",
    abstract = "The most common and widespread sedimentary facies of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, in the eastern Great Basin of North America, is marl, which consists of a mixture of fine-grained endogenic calcium carbonate that precipitated in the epilimnion of the lake and then settled onto the lake floor and mixed with fine-grained clastic sediments. Primary sources of clastic sediment were inflowing rivers, wave activity in shore zones, and ice rafting. The thickness of deposits in cores and outcrops is largely dependent on the proportion of clastic sediment, although the rate of endogenic calcium carbonate precipitation probably also varied temporally and spatially. Net sediment-accumulation rate in the marl, as measured in outcrops and cores, ranges from a low of 4 cm/1000 yr, in the middle of the lake basin far from sources of clastic input, to over 100 cm/1000 yr near clastic-sediment sources. Underflow deposits, derived from higher-density river water loaded with suspended sediment, are thick and extensive near the mouths of major rivers that drained glaciated mountains. Net sediment-accumulation rates in suspended-load underflow deposits were much greater than those in contemporaneously deposited marl. The largest underflow-sediment accumulations, which have a fan shape in plan view, have been referred to as deltas (as at the mouths of the Sevier, Provo, Weber, and Bear Rivers). True Gilbert-type deltas composed of gravel, with topset, foreset, and bottomset beds, are uncommon in the basin. Variability in the sedimentary characteristics of the Bonneville deposits is determined by geomorphic factors, such as wave energy, composition of surficial material in the shore zone (e.g., resistant bedrock vs. unconsolidated alluvium), slope, and proximity to river mouths and active shore zones.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1130/2018.2536(04)",
    doi = "10.1130/2018.2536(04)",
    openalex = "W3082961102",
    pages = "53-66",
    references = "doi101016jmarpetgeo200301003, doi101017s0033822200013904, doi101023a1023270324800, doi1011300091761319970250155lbfagc23co2, doi101130spe274p1, doi1013065ceadd7616bb11d78645000102c1865d, doi101306703c9af5170711d78645000102c1865d, doi102458azujsrc5516947, doi1029041strat18301, openalexw645095896"
}

@incollection{crossref2023from,
    title = "From Bonneville to Great Salt Lake",
    year = "2023",
    booktitle = "First Peoples of Great Salt Lake",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33676918.7",
    doi = "10.2307/jj.33676918.7",
    openalex = "W4414368893",
    pages = "8-13"
}

Abstract The depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, a perennial saline pan in Utah's Bonneville basin, has poor temporal constraints, and the climatic and geomorphic conditions that led to saline pan formation there are poorly understood. We explore the late Pleistocene to Holocene depositional record of Bonneville Salt Flats cores. Our data challenge the assumption that the saline pan formed from the desiccation of Lake Bonneville, the largest late Pleistocene lake in the Great Basin, which covered this area from 30 to 13 cal ka BP. We test two hypotheses: whether climatic transitions from (1) wet to arid or (2) arid to wet led to saline pan deposition. We describe the depositional record with radiocarbon dating, sedimentological structures, mineralogy, diatom, ostracode, and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer measurements. Gypsum and carbonate strontium isotope ratio measurements reflect changes in water sources. Three shallow saline lake to desiccation cycles occurred from >45 and >28 cal ka BP. Deflation removed Lake Bonneville sediments between 13 and 8.3 cal ka BP. Gypsum deposition spanned 8.3 to 5.4 cal ka BP, while the oldest halite interval formed from 5.4 to 3.5 cal ka BP during a wetter period. These findings offer valuable insights for sedimentologists, archaeologists, geomorphologists, and land managers.

@article{doi101017qua202379,
    author = "Bernau, Jeremiah A. and Bowen, Brenda B. and Oviatt, Charles G. and Clark, Donald L. and Hart, Isaac",
    title = "Lateral and temporal constraints on the depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Quaternary Research",
    abstract = "Abstract The depositional history of the Bonneville Salt Flats, a perennial saline pan in Utah's Bonneville basin, has poor temporal constraints, and the climatic and geomorphic conditions that led to saline pan formation there are poorly understood. We explore the late Pleistocene to Holocene depositional record of Bonneville Salt Flats cores. Our data challenge the assumption that the saline pan formed from the desiccation of Lake Bonneville, the largest late Pleistocene lake in the Great Basin, which covered this area from 30 to 13 cal ka BP. We test two hypotheses: whether climatic transitions from (1) wet to arid or (2) arid to wet led to saline pan deposition. We describe the depositional record with radiocarbon dating, sedimentological structures, mineralogy, diatom, ostracode, and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer measurements. Gypsum and carbonate strontium isotope ratio measurements reflect changes in water sources. Three shallow saline lake to desiccation cycles occurred from >45 and >28 cal ka BP. Deflation removed Lake Bonneville sediments between 13 and 8.3 cal ka BP. Gypsum deposition spanned 8.3 to 5.4 cal ka BP, while the oldest halite interval formed from 5.4 to 3.5 cal ka BP during a wetter period. These findings offer valuable insights for sedimentologists, archaeologists, geomorphologists, and land managers.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.79",
    doi = "10.1017/qua.2023.79",
    openalex = "W4391910399",
    references = "jackoviatt2021geomorphic, oviatt2017ostracodes, rhode2016quaternary"
}