alanw
Well-known member
Climate history recorded in a calcite deposit in a southern Nevada cave indicates that the hot, arid southwestern United States experienced significant shifts in temperature and rainfall over the last 580,000 years.
The findings, just published in the journal Nature Communications, provide new insight into the region's hydroclimate and how it may evolve in the future, said Kathleen Wendt, an assistant research professor at Oregon State University and the study's lead author.
"What we see over this time span are glacial periods, when Nevada was cooler and wetter, followed by interglacial periods, when Nevada was hot and dry, like what we're experiencing today," Wendt said. "But midway through those interglacial periods, the available groundwater dropped sharply and vegetation plummeted."