Abstract
Long-term variations in the effective moisture of deserts are linked both to glacial–interglacial climatic cycles and, through the Milankovitch theory, to orbitally induced changes in solar radiation intensity1–4. For southwestern North America, comparison of palaeobotanical data with model predictions of palaeoclimate reveals two distinct pluvial regimes during the late Wisconsin and early Holocene (23–8 kyr BP). Southward displacement of the Aleutian low-pressure centre and strengthened westerlies from ∼40° to 30° N were important features of the full-glacial (∼ 18 kyr BP) pluvial maximum. Increased cyclonic storms and weakened monsoons led to a winter precipitation regime, a feature seen both in the fossil record5,6 and climate models7,8. Dominantly zonal flow during this period contrasts with the latest Wisconsin and early Holocene (12–8 kyr BP), when meridional circulation transported maritime tropical air into the desert interior. We now show that plant macrofossil assemblages from packrat (Neotoma spp.) middens9 in the Mojave Desert provide evidence for increased temperatures and summer rainfall during this period10–12. The anomalously late persistence (to ∼8 kyr BP) of woodland in low-latitude, low-elevation deserts of the south-west13 is attributed to enhanced monsoonal circulation3.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berger, A. L. et al. (eds) Milankovitch and Climate (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).
Kutzbach, J. E. & Otto-Bleisner, B. L. J. atmos. Sci. 39, 1177–1188 (1982).
Kutzbach, J. E. & Street-Perrott, F. A. Nature 317, 130–134 (1985).
Davis, O. K. Science 225, 617–619.
Van Devender, T. R. & Spaulding, W. G. Science 204, 701–710 (1979).
Spaulding, W. G., Leopold, E. B. & Van Devender, T. R. in Late Quaternary Environments of The United States. Vol. 1 (ed. Porter, S. C.) 259–293 (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1983).
Antevs, E. Amer. Antiquity 20, 317–335 (1955).
Kutzbach, J. E. & Guetter, P. J. J. atmos. Sci. (in the press).
Wells, P. V. Quat. Res. 6, 223–248 (1976).
Spaulding, W. G. U.S. Geol. Surv. prof. Pap. 1329 (1985).
Cole, K. L. Science 217, 1142–1145 (1982).
Spaulding, W. G., Robinson, S. W. & Paillet, F. L. U.S. Geol. Surv. Water Resources Invest. Rpt. 84–4328 (1984).
Van Devender, T. R. Science 198, 189–192 (1977).
Hastings, J. R. & Turner, R. M. The Changing Mile (University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1965).
Mitchell, V. L. J. appl. Met. 15, 920–927 (1976).
Van Devender, T. R. thesis, Univ. Arizona, Tucson (1973).
King, J. E. & Van Devender, T. R. Quat. Res. 8, 191–204 (1977).
Spaulding, W. G. Curr. Res. Pleistocene 2, 83–85 (1985).
Wells, P. V. & Woodcock, D. Madrono 32, 11–23 (1985).
Thompson, R. S. & Mead, J. I. Quat. Res. 17, 39–55 (1982).
Spaulding, W. G. in Eighth North American Forest Biology Workshop (ed. Lanner, R. M.) 42–69 (Utah State University, Logan, 1984).
Mifflin, M. D. & Wheat, M. M. Nevada Bur. Mines Geol Bull. 94 (1979).
Bryson, R. A. & Hare, F. K. in Climates of North America (eds Bryson, R. A. & Hare, F. K.) 1–48 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1974).
Kutzbach, J. E. & Wright, H. E., Jr Quat. Sci. Rev. (in the press).
Scott, W. E. et al. Quat. Res. 20, 261–285 (1983).
Thompson, R. S., Benson, L. V. & Hattori, E. M. Quat. Res. 25, 1–9 (1986).
Smith, G. I. U.S. Geol. Surv. prof. Pap. 1043 (1979).
Spaulding, W. G. Quat. Res. 19, 256–264 (1983).
Bryson, R. A. & Lowry, W. P. Bull. Amer. met. Soc. 36, 329–339 (1955).
Kutzbach, J. E. in Late Quaternary Environments of the United States Vol. 2 (ed. Wright, H. E. Jr) 271–277 (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1983).
Bryson, R. A. and Swain, A. M. Quat. Res. 16, 135–145 (1981).
Talbot, M. R. et al. in Palaeoecology of Africa Vol. 16 (eds Coetzee, J. A. & Van Zinderen Bakker, E. M.) 173–192 (Balkema, Rotterdam, 1984).
Richie, J. C., Eyles, C. H. & Haynes, C. V. Nature 314, 352–355 (1985).
Cole, K. L. Am. Nat. 125, 289–303 (1985).
Berger, A. L. Quat. Res. 9, 139–167 (1978).
Van Devender, T. R. & Wiseman, F. M. in Paleoindian Lifeways (ed. Johnson, E.) 13–27 (West Texas Museum Association, Lubbock, 1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Spaulding, W., Graumlich, L. The last pluvial climatic episodes in the deserts of southwestern North America. Nature 320, 441–444 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320441a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320441a0
This article is cited by
-
The Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene archaeology of the Great Basin
Journal of World Prehistory (1997)
-
Influence of atmospheric CO2 on the decline of C4 plants during the last deglaciation
Nature (1994)
-
Orbital history and seasonality of regional precipitation
Human Ecology (1994)
-
Long-term climate variability at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, southeastern New Mexico, USA
Environmental Management (1993)
-
Abrupt climate fluctuations in the tropics: the influence of Atlantic Ocean circulation
Nature (1990)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
