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  3. A Two-Year Water-Column Time Series of Geochemical Data During a Limnological Shift in Mono Lake, California, 2017-2018

A Two-Year Water-Column Time Series of Geochemical Data During a Limnological Shift in Mono Lake, California, 2017-2018

Dates

Publication Date
Time Period
2017-05-23
Time Period
2017-06-22
Time Period
2017-09-19
Time Period
2018-05-08
Time Period
2018-06-13
Time Period
2018-10-09

Citation

Miller, L.G., Phillips, A.A., Sessions, A.L., and Baesman, S., 2020, A Two-Year Water-Column Time Series of Geochemical Data During a Limnological Shift in Mono Lake, California, 2017-2018: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9JJNEJ0.

Summary

Mono Lake is a hypersaline (~85 ppt), alkaline (pH 9.8), closed-basin lake located in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA (38°N, 119°W). Water enters the lake primarily from snowmelt and exits by evaporation (~1 m/yr). This hydrological condition, plus weathering reactions in the lake’s tributaries, produce the uniquely high salinity and pH characteristic of Mono Lake (Garrels & MacKenzie, 1967). These properties also tightly tie lake levels and water chemistry to climate, with modern and Pleistocene high stands correlated with wet Sierra Nevada conditions (Benson et al. 1998). Mono Lake is typically monomictic, with thermal-driven summer stratification that is disrupted by winter, wind-driven overturn. However, [...]

Contacts

Point of Contact :
Shaun M Baesman
Originator :
Laurence G Miller, Alexandra A Phillips, Alex L Sessions, Shaun M Baesman
Metadata Contact :
Shaun M Baesman
Distributor :
U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
SDC Data Owner :
Earth System Processes Division
USGS Mission Area :
Water Resources

Attached Files

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Mono Lake geochemical data 2017_2018.xml
Original FGDC Metadata
View 		26.58 KB application/fgdc+xml
CTD photo by L.G. Miller.JPG thumbnail 3.72 MB image/jpeg
Discrete_Water_Samples_2017-2018.csv 1.35 KB text/csv
Mono_Lake_CTD_ 2017-2018.csv 71.82 KB text/csv

Purpose

To document the onset of density stratification of the water column (meromixis) in Mono Lake resulting from elevated freshwater runoff due to very high precipitation the previous year (2016 El Nino). Density control of the water column mixing regime can profoundly impact the distribution of nutrients and biota in the lake. While the persistence and breakdown of meromixis has been previously documented, this is the first study to describe the initial development of this phenomenon.
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Type Scheme Key
DOI https://www.sciencebase.gov/vocab/category/item/identifier doi:10.5066/P9JJNEJ0

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