Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhu, C. Articles by Ostrander, M. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Responses of ground water in the Black Mesa basin, northeastern Arizona, to paleoclimatic changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene

¹ HSI GeoTrans, Inc., 4888 Pearl East Circle, Suite 300E, Boulder, CO 80301

Paleorecharge and paleo-ground-water flow patterns are reconstructed for the past 31 k.y. for the N aquifer in the Black Mesa basin, northeastern Arizona, by ¹⁴C dating of groundwater and numerical simulation of ground-water flow and ¹⁴C transport. Paleorecharge rates varied significantly and correlate with ¹⁸O and D records of paleotemperatures in the N aquifer waters as well as other proxy records of regional paleoclimate and an atmospheric general circulation model. Recharge rates were two to three times higher than today during the late Wisconsin when inferred temperatures were 5–6 °C cooler, but about 50% lower during early to mid-Holocene when inferred summer temperatures were 2–4 °C warmer. The pulse of the highest estimated recharge between 14 and 17 ka may be related to the northward migration of the southern branch of the split jet stream. Model simulations suggest that thousands of years are required for water levels to fully respond to the changes in recharge, and that water levels fluctuated from 60 m higher to 6 m lower than today.