Bird, Broxton W.Kirby, Matthew E.Howat, Ian M.Tulaczyk, Slawek2023-03-142023-03-142010Bird, B. W., Kirby, M. E., Howat, I. M., & Tulaczyk, S. (2010). Geophysical evidence for Holocene lake-level change in southern California (Dry Lake). Boreas, 39(1), 131–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00114.xhttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/31899Ground penetrating radar (GPR) data are used in combination with previously published sediment cores to develop a Holocene history of basin sedimentation in a small, alpine lake in southern California (Dry Lake). The GPR data identify three depositional sequences spanning the past 9000 calendar years before present (cal. yr BP). Sequence I represents the first phase of an early Holocene highstand. A regression between <8320 and >8120 cal. yr BP separates Sequence I from Sequence II, perhaps associated with the 8200 cal. yr BP cold event. Sequence II represents the second phase of the early-to-mid Holocene highstand. Sequence IIIa represents a permanent shift to predominantly low lake stands beginning ∼5550 cal. yr BP. This mid-Holocene shift was accompanied by a dramatic decrease in sedimentation rate as well as a contraction of the basin's area of sedimentation. By ∼1860 cal. yr BP (Sequence IIIb), the lake was restricted to the modern, central basin. Taken together, the GPR and core data indicate a wet early Holocene followed by a long-term Holocene drying trend. The similarity in ages of the early Holocene highstand across the greater southern California region suggests a common external forcing – perhaps modulation of early Holocene storm activity by insolation. However, regional lake level records are less congruous following the initial early Holocene highstand, which may indicate a change in the spatial domain of climate forcing(s) throughout the Holocene in western North America.en-USPublisher PolicyHoloceneDry Lake, CaliforniaGround penetrating radarClimate changeArticle