Collaborative Research/RUI: Assessing Multi-scale Holocene Climate Variability in Western North America Using Sediments from Lake Elsinore (Southern CA)

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The availability and quality of freshwater in western North America is directly linked to natural climate variability. The ability to determine climate variations on relevant time scales is limited by the short duration of observational and instrumental records. The need for long, high-resolution paleoclimatological records is particularly acute in Southern California, where over 20 million people are vulnerable to climate variability. This grant will develop the first complete terrestrial Holocene climate record for southern California using sediment from Lake Elsinore and compare this record to other well-dated terrestrial and marine archives from the region. Analysis of historical data indicates that Lake Elsinore is an excellent site for recording climate variability for southern California. Preliminary research on 2 drill cores from the lake's deepest basin indicates a relatively thick (~10m/9,000 yrs - based on 21 AMS 14C dates), continuous Holocene sediment sequence with minimal evidence for sediment discontinuities. Analyses of several sedimentological parameters reveal centimeter-scale variability that is consistent between the 2 cores. This grant supports further analysis of the cored sediment using established climate-sensitive proxy methods. To date, mass magnetic susceptibility, total organic matter, and total carbonate have been analyzed at 1cm contiguous intervals for both deep basin cores. This research grant focuses on two additional analyses: grain size (a proxy for lake basin and drainage basin sediment dynamics) and d18O(calcite) and d13C(calcite) (proxies for lake hydrologic budget and lake/drainage basin productivity, respectively). In conjunction with other paleoclimate records from western North America and the Pacific Ocean, the Lake Elsinore record will be used to better describe the evolution as well as the spatial and temporal patterns of Holocene climate variability over western North America. Furthermore, this record will provide a baseline of Holocene natural climate variability from which Southern California water management organizations - whom funded the initial research - can assess present water management policies. This record will also help to assess the sensitivity of the hydrologic system to a range of climate conditions.The intellectual merit of this study will provide critical information for characterizing and understanding Holocene climate variability on a local and regional scale. This research will also help to answer several important questions regarding Holocene climate evolution and its relationship to larger-scale ocean-atmosphere dynamics. The broader impacts of this work include research experience and thesis preparation for 2 undergraduate students and 1 M.Sc. student. The results of this study will be disseminated to the citizens and managers of Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California through an interactive web site as well as the development of a field site for use in lab classes at Cal-State Fullerton. As a RUI and Minority Serving Institute, this research will also provide research opportunities for underrepresented individuals in the sciences at CSUF. Lastly, this research will provide socially relevant insight into future water variability in western North America, a region where water resource management is critical to future socio-economic stability.