Century-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions from Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in the northern Great Plains Laird, K.R.; Fritz, S.C.; Grimm, E.C.; Mueller, P.G. Laird, K.R. Fritz, S.C. Grimm, E.C. Mueller, P.G. Other Hydroclimate Reconstruction earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|paleolimnology (salinity,diatom assemblage|lake water,null,gram per liter,null,climate reconstructions|paleolimnology,null,regression analysis,N,calibration data set: Northern Great Plains Fritz et al. 1993; weighted averaging regression) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|paleolimnology (age,null,null,radiocarbon year before present,null,climate reconstructions|paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|paleolimnology (depth,null,null,centimeter,null,climate reconstructions|paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Moon Lake, ND>LATITUDE 46.8575>LONGITUDE -98.15833) Estimates of past lake-water salinity from fossil diatom assemblages were used to infer past climatic conditions at Moon Lake, a climatically sensitive site in the northern Great Plains. A good correspondence between diatom-inferred salinity and historical records of mean annual precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-ET) strongly suggests that the sedimentary record from Moon Lake can be used to reconstruct past climatic conditions. Century-scale analysis of the Holocene diatom record indicates four major hydrological periods: an early Holocene transition from an open freshwater system to a closed saline system by 7300 BP, which corresponds with a transition from spruce forest to deciduous parkland to prairie and indicates a major shift from wet to dry climate; a mid-Holocene period of high salinity from 7300 to 4700 BP, indicating low effective moisture (P-ET); a transitional period of high salinity 4700 to 2200 BP, characterized by poor diatom preservation; and a late Holocene period of variable lower salinity during the past 2,200 years, indicating fluctuations in effective moisture. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Laird, K.R. Investigator : Fritz, S.C. Investigator : Grimm, E.C. Investigator : Mueller, P.G. 2003-04-01 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5477 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/greatplains/moonlake/moonlake_salinity_1996b.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/greatplains/moonlake/moonlake_salinity_1996b.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5477 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/greatplains/moonlake/moonlake_salinity_1996b.txt Laird, K., S.C. Fritz, E.C. Grimm, P.G. Mueller. 1996. Century-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions from Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in the northern Great Plains. Limnology and Oceanography Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 890-902 START YEAR: 11094 cal yr BP * END YEAR: 0 cal yr BP -98.15833 46.8575 -98.15833 46.8575