Paleoclimatic Inferences from an Isotopic Investigation of Groundwater in the Central San Juan Basin, New Mexico
- 1 September 1986
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Quaternary Research
- Vol. 26 (2) , 179-193
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(86)90103-1
Abstract
Groundwater from the Ojo Alamo and Nacimiento aquifers in the central San Juan Basin. New Mexico, has yielded 14C ages ranging from modern to 35,000 yr B.P. The Pleistocene-age samples are characterized by a stable isotope content about 25‰ lighter in D and 3‰ lighter in 18O than modern precipitation and groundwater. We attribute this difference to a colder mean annual temperature and perhaps increased winter precipitation. Consideration of various factors controlling the stable isotope composition of the groundwater allows estimation of a 5° to 7°C temperature decrease during the late Wisconsin, accompanied by increased effective precipitation. A similar estimate of the temperature change is obtained from noble-gas paleothermometry. These data support a model of moderately cooler late Pleistocene climate in the American Southwest characterized by summers with less precipitation than today, but wetter winters.Keywords
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