Abstract
Recognition that Earth/Sun orbital changes are the basic cause for Quaternary climatic variations provides a context for explaining global environmental changes, many of which are preserved in the stratigraphic and geomorphic record of lakes. Paleoclimatic numerical models suggest the mechanisms. In subtropical latitudes such as North Africa the enhanced summer insolation culminating about 10 000 years ago resulted in the increased monsoonal rains that explain the widespread expansion of lakes in now-desert basins. But in the American Southwest lake expansion dates to 18 000–15 000 years ago, when storm tracks were displaced to the south by the ice sheets—themselves a product of earlier orbital changes. The dynamics in the resopnse of different components of the natural system to climatic change are recorded in the stratigraphy of lake sediments, not only by their pollen content as a manifestation of the regional vegetation but also by their microfossils and chemical composition as reflections of lake development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ammann, B. et al., 1985. Lobsigensee—Late-glacial and Holocene environments of a lake on the Central Swiss Plateau. In G. Lang (ed.), Swiss Lake and Mire Environments during the Last 15 000 Years. Dissertationes Botanicae 87. J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Ammann, B. & A. Lotter, 1989. Lake-Glacial radiocarbon and palynostratigraphy on the Swiss Plateau. Boreas 18: 89–98.
Arkhipov, S. A., J. Ehlers, R. G. Johnson & H. E. Wright, Jr., 1995. Glacial drainage towards the Mediterranean Sea during the middle and late Pleistocene. Boreas (in press).
Astakhov, S. A., 1992. The last glaciation in western Siberia. Sveriges Geologiska Undersokning, Ser. Ca 81: 21–30.
Barnosky, C. W., 1985. Late Quaternary vegetation in southwestern Columbia Basin, Washington. Quat. Res. 23: 109–122.
Benson, L. & R. S. Thompson, 1987. The physical record of lakes in the Great Basin. In W. F. Ruddiman & H. E. Wright, Jr. (eds), North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation. Geol. Soc. Am., Geology of North America, vol. K-3:241–259.
Bonnefille, R., J. C. Roeland & J. Guiot, 1990. Temperature and rainfall estimates for the past 40 000 years in equatorial Africa. Nature 346: 347–349.
COHMAP Members, 1988. Climatic changes of the last 18 000 years: Observations and model simulations. Science 241: 1045–1052.
Currey, D. R. & C. G. Oviatt, 1985. Durations, average rates, and probable cause of Lake Bonneville expansions, stillstands, and contractions during the last deep-lake cycle. 32 000 to 10 000 years ago. In Kay, P. A. & H. F. Diaz, H. F. (eds.), Problems of and Prospects for Predicting Great Salt Lake Levels. Center for Public Affairs and Administration, University of Utah: 1–9
Eyster-Smith, N. M., H. E. WrightJr. & E. J. Cushing, 1992. Pollen studies at Lake St. Croix, ariver lake on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, USA. The Holocene 1: 102–111.
Groswald, M., 1980. Late Weichselian ice sheet of northern Eurasia. Quat. Res. 13: 1–32.
Guilderson, T. P., R. G. Fairbanks & J. L. Rubenstone, 1994. Tropical temperature variations since 20 000 years ago: modulating interhemispheric climate change. Science 263: 663–665.
Hostetler, S. W., F. Giorgi, G. T. Bates & P. J. Bartlein, 1993. Use of a regional atmospheric model to simulate lake-atmospheric feedbacks associated with Pleistocene Lakes Lahontan and Bonneville. Science 263: 665–668.
Imbrie, J. & K. P. Imbrie, 1979. Ice Aes. Solving the Mystery. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Kutzbach, J. E. & B. Otto-Bliesner, 1982. The sensitivity of the African-Asian monsoonal climate to orbital parameter changes for 9000 yr B.P. in a low-resolution general circulation model. J. Atmos. Sci. 39: 1173–1188.
Radle, N., C. M. Keister & R. W. Battarbee, 1989. Diatoms, pollen, and geochemical evidence for paleosalinity of Medicine Lake, S. Dakota, during the Late Wisconsin and early Holocene. J. Paleolimnol. 2: 159–172.
Roberts, N., 1993. Timing of the Younger Dryas event in East Africa from lake-level changes. Nature 366: 146–148.
Roberts, N. & H. E. WrightJr., 1993. Vegetational, lake-level, and climatic history of the Near East and Southwest Asia. In H. E. WrightJr., J. E. Kutzbach, T. WebbIII, W. F. Ruddiman, F. A. Street-Perrott & P. J. Bartlein (eds), Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum. Univ. Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN: 194–240.
Seltzer, G. O., 1992. Late Quaternary glaciation of the Cordillera Real, Bolivia. J. Quat. Sci. 7: 87–98.
Smith, G. I. & F. A. Street-Perrott, 1983. Pluvial lakes of the western United States. In S. C. Porter (ed). Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States. Vol. 1. The Late Pleistocene. Univ. Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Street-Perrott, F. A. & R. A. Perrott, 1993. Holocene vegetation, lake levels, and climate of Africa. In H. E. WrightJr., J. E. Kutzbach, T. WebbIII, W. F. Ruddiman, F. A. Street-Perrott & P. J. Bartlein (eds), Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum. Univ. Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN: 318–356.
Wright, H. E., Jr., 1987. Synthesis: the land south of the ice sheets. In W. F. Ruddiman & H. E. Wright, Jr. (eds), North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation. Geol. Soc. Am., Geology of North America, v. K-3: 458–469.
Wright, H. E.Jr., 1992. Patterns of Holocene climatic change in the midwestern United States. Quat. Res. 38: 129–134.
Wright, H. E.Jr., 1993. Climatic determinism in Near Eastern archaeology. Current Anthropology 34: 458–469.
Wright, H. E.Jr., J. E. Kutzbach, T. WebbIII, W. F. Ruddiman, F. A. Street-Perrott & P. J. Bartlein (eds), 1993. Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum. Univ. Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wright, H.E. Global climatic changes since the last glacial maximum: evidence from paleolimnology and paleoclimate modeling. J Paleolimnol 15, 119–127 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196775
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196775