ABSTRACT
Climate change models predict more instability of the climate system as greater levels of greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere. By looking at how the pollen composition has varied over time in Owens Lake sediments, the United States geological survey scientists hoped to deduce how climate has changed in the watershed. By examining the minerals present in the clay-size fraction of Owens Lake sediments, Survey geoscientists hoped to find alternations between glacial flour and soil clays, alternations that would tell when the Sierra Nevada had been glaciated. There are geological recorders of climatic change that do operate continuously Lakes constantly receive water and sediment from their surrounding watersheds, a circumstance making their bottom sediments ideal recorders of the conditions in the local environment. The lake water may become so concentrated in various ions that minerals begin to precipitate out of the water, forming crystal sediments on the lake floor.
