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A lacustrine sedimentary record of Holocene periglacial activity from the Uinta Mountains, Utah, U.S.A.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jeffrey S. Munroe ,
Catherine M. Klem  and
Matthew F. Bigl
Jeffrey S. Munroe*
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA
Catherine M. Klem
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA
Matthew F. Bigl
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 802 443 2072. E-mail address:jmunroe@middlebury.edu (J.S. Munroe).
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Abstract

A lake sediment core from the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah was analyzed to constrain the timing of late Holocene periglacial activity. Records of numerous physical properties were converted to time series spanning the past 5300 years using a depth-age model based on four AMS 14C dates. Long-term decreases in organic content and increases in bulk density attest to increasing inputs of clastic sediment. Abundance of mineral P, signaling physical bedrock weathering, reaches maximum values ca. 2900, 2150, and 1400 cal yr BP, coincident with finer median grain size and a shift toward darker red sediment. These peaks, interpreted as signals of periglacial activity, align with pulses of rock glacier activity in Colorado determined from lichenometry. The youngest peak coincides with lichenometric ages previously determined for periglacial deposits upstream from the lake. A pulse of renewed periglacial activity ca. 400 cal yr BP represents the Little Ice Age. The late 20th century witnessed extremely high values of organic matter and biogenic silica, and unprecedented low values of C:N, reflecting greatly enhanced in-lake productivity, likely due to disturbance in the watershed.

Keywords

HolocenePeriglacialLacustrine sedimentUinta MountainsUtah
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 79 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 101 - 109
Copyright
University of Washington

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