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Hydroclimate of the Pliocene

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Black and white image of mountains and landscape

Our original work on the warm Pliocene used oxygen isotope records of paleosols and lacustrine sediments to demonstrate that western US was wetter than modern (Winnick et al., 2013, Climates of the Past). Moreover, the isotopic changes in the late Pliocene match El Nino-like years. Following, this work Ibarra et al. (2018) demonstrated that western US has two dual wet-states - one during  warmer-than-modern and colder-than-modern conditions. During these times large lakes covered much of the west. We are evaluating the climatic conditions that provide enough water to support lakes in such opposing climate states. See our work in Geology comparing lake dynamics of the Last Glacial Maximum and Mid-Pliocene (Ibarra et al., 2018).