ABSTRACT Newark Valley lies between the two largest pluvial lake systems in the Great Basin, Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. Soils and geomorphology, stratigraphic interpretations, radiocarbon ages, and amino acid racemization geochronology analyses were employed to interpret the relative and numerical ages of lacustrine deposits in the valley. The marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 2 beach barriers are characterized by well-preserved morphology and deposits with youthful soil development, with Bwk horizons and maximum stage I+ carbonate morphology. Radiocarbon ages of gastropods and tufas within these MIS 2–age deposits permit construction of a latest Pleistocene lake-level curve for Newark Valley, including a maximum limiting age of 13,780 ± 50 14 C yr B.P. for the most recent highstand, and they provide a calibration point for soil development in lacustrine deposits in the central Great Basin. The MIS 8–age to MIS 4–age beach barriers are higher in elevation and represent a larger lake than existed during MIS 2. The beach barriers have subdued morphology, are only preserved in short segments, and have stronger soil development, with Bkm and/or Bkmt horizons and maximum stage III+ to IV carbonate morphology. Newark Lake reached elevations higher than the MIS 2 highstand during at least two additional pluvial periods, MIS 16 and MIS 12, 10, or 8. These oldest lacustrine deposits do not have preserved shoreline features and are represented only by gravel lags, buried deposits, and buried soils with similar strong soil development. This sequence of middle and latest Pleistocene shorelines records a long-term pluvial history in this basin that remained internally drained for the last four or more pluvial cycles. Obtaining numerical ages from material within lacustrine deposits in the Great Basin can be challenging. Amino acid D/L values from gastropod shells and mollusk valves proved to be a valuable tool to correlate lacustrine deposits within Newark Valley. Comparison of soils and geomorphology results to independent 36 Cl cosmogenic nuclide ages from a different study indicated unexpected changes in rates of soil development during the past ~200,000 yr and suggested that common stratigraphic changes in lake stratigraphy could obscure incremental changes in soil development and/or complicate 36 Cl cosmogenic nuclide age estimates.

ABSTRACT Extensive glaciers covered the High Atlas mountains in Morocco during the late Pleistocene. On the northern escarpments of the Marrakech High Atlas, a series of cirques perched at ~3000–3500 m above sea level (asl) fed their valley glaciers that, in some cases, extended to as low as 2000 m asl. Cosmogenic exposure dating with 10 Be and 36 Cl has shown that at least three phases of glaciation are preserved in glacial deposits over the last glacial cycle at 50, 22, and 12 ka, which appear to correlate with marine isotope stage (MIS) 3, the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and the Younger Dryas chronozone. This geochronological framework is sufficiently robust to allow for time-constrained glacier-climate reconstructions. The glaciers associated with these three phases of advance had equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) of 2761 m asl (ca. 50 ka), 2919 m asl (ca. 22 ka), and 3213 m asl (ca. 12 ka). Glacier-climate modeling suggests that all of these phases were driven by both colder temperatures and wetter conditions than today. The dominant moisture supply to these glaciers in all phases would have been sourced from Atlantic depressions. The influence of an extended and enhanced West African monsoon on glacier development during African Humid Periods is unlikely to have been a significant influence on glacier dynamics. The climate conditions associated with the three glacier phases indicate sustained moisture supply to the highest mountain areas when records from other areas, such as the Middle Atlas lakes and marine sediment cores offshore, indicate marked aridity.

ABSTRACT Glaciers in central Asia that developed under a range of climatic conditions from arid to humid provide an excellent opportunity to test glacial responses to changes in climate. To do this, we mapped and dated glacial deposits at 11 sites spread over five mountain ranges in central Asia: the Altai, Tian Shan, Altyn Tagh, Qilian Shan, and Kunlun. The glacial chronologies for these sites were determined from new 10 Be and 26 Al exposure ages for the mapped moraines, in addition to 10 Be ages available in the literature. Paleo–equilibrium-line altitudes were estimated for past glacier extents from the dated moraines. The equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) were also estimated for existing glaciers to characterize the spatial pattern in modern climate across the study region. Differences between the modern and paleo-ELAs (∆ELAs) were used to explore the climatic reasons for variations in the glacier sensitivities and responses to past changes in climate. The results show that the glaciers in more humid regions advanced to their maximum during marine oxygen-isotope stage (MIS) 3–2 with ΔELAs of ~1100–600 m. However, glaciers in the arid interior of central Asia, in the rain shadows of the Karakorum and Pamir ranges and in the Gobi Desert ranges, reached their maximum between MIS 6 and 4, and glacier extents during the subsequent colder/drier MIS 3–2 were significantly smaller or did not extend beyond their cirques. Comparisons of our results and the sensitivity analysis of modern glaciers suggest that depression of air temperature was the primary driver of glacier advances in central Asia but that precipitation played a major role in shaping the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of glacier advances. Precipitation was especially important in hyperarid conditions. Therefore, inferences about paleoclimate parameters from past glacial extents must be made after careful consideration of the climatic setting in which the glaciers are found, as well as their sensitivity to climatic factors.