ORNDORFF, R. L., J. G. VAN HOESEN, AND M. SAINES. 2003. IMPLICATIONS OF NEW EVIDENCE FOR LATE QUATERNARYGLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, SOUTHERN NEVADA. JOURNAL OF THE ARIZONA-NEVADA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE36(1):37-45. ©2003 RICHARD L. ORNDORFF, JOHN G. VAN HOSEN, AND MARVIN SAINES.

Figure 1. Location of the Spring Mountains, southernNevada.

IMPLICATIONS OF NEW EVIDENCE FOR LATE QUATERNARY GLACIATION INTHE SPRING MOUNTAINS, SOUTHERN NEVADA

RICHARD L. ORNDORFF, Department of Geology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney WA 99004-2439;JOHN G. VAN HOESEN, Department of Environmental Studies, Green Mountain College, Poultney VT 05764;and MARVIN SAINES, Civil Works Inc., Las Vegas NV 89139

ABSTRACTThe Spring Mountains of southern Nevada rise to an elevation of 3650 m above sea level and lie parallel to the west-

ern edge of the Las Vegas Valley. For many decades scientists have questioned whether this mountain range was glaci-ated during the Late Quaternary. To date, however, no one has presented compelling evidence for or against the presenceof alpine glaciers in the Spring Mountains. We have identified several glacial deposits in the Spring Mountains northwestof the town of Mt. Charleston and due east of Mt. Charleston peak. The deposits contain faceted and striated clasts, vary-ing in size from gravel to large boulders. As expected in a glacial deposit, the consistency of a preferred orientation forstriations increases with increasing clast size and elongation. These deposits bear the hallmark features of a glacial prov-enance and indicate that the Spring Mountains were the southernmost glaciated range in the Great Basin during the latePleistocene. Existing regional correlations between latitude and full-glacial equilibrium line altitude indicate that theSpring Mountains should not have been glaciated during the last glacial maximum, approximately 20,000 years ago. Thescarcity of depositional evidence seems to indicate that glaciation in the Spring Mountains occurred earlier in the Pleisto-cene, perhaps corresponding to Tenaya (37,000 years BP), Tahoe (118,000-56,000 years BP), or Mono Basin (older than136,000 years BP) stages observed in the Sierra Nevada. This range may have benefited from regional recycling of waterfrom upwind pluvial lakes, resulting in a great deal more precipitation than was previously thought to be the case.

INTRODUCTION Geologists have discussed the possibility of Ple-istocene glaciers in the Spring Mountains (Fig. 1)for at least 70 years. The lack of diagnostic evidenceof glaciation has resulted in an ongoing debate.Blackwelder (1931:913), states “much more obscureand doubtful indications of glacial action, probablyof the Tahoe stage, have been observed by thewriter in the Sweetwater, Spring Mountain, SchellCreek, Toyabe, Humboldt, Onequi, and BeaverRanges of Nevada and Utah.” Blackwelder (1934)reiterated the possibility of Spring Mountain glacia-tion and suggested the range was too far south toproduce Tioga-age glaciers, although canyon mor-phology led him to believe that glaciers may haveexisted there during Tahoe or Sherwin stages. Flint(1947) references Blackwelder (1934) in stating thatthe Spring Mountains held one or more alpine gla-ciers during the Pleistocene. Flint (1957, 1971)references personal communication with C. W.Longwell to again support the presence of glaciershere, however Longwell et al. (1965) make nomention of deposits or erosional features of glacialorigin in the Spring Mountains. Finally, Piegat(1980) states that while no distinct glacial depositshave been found on this range, several landforms atthe head of Kyle Canyon appear to be degradedcirques, supporting Blackwelder's 1934 observa-tions. He referenced Burchfiel et al. (1974) whoused aerial photographs to map several small

alluvial deposits on the east side of Mt. Charleston(located near what appear to be the heads of twodegraded cirques) and suggested they may have aglacial origin, but never investigated the sites. Webelieve two recently discovered unsorted deposits atthe head of Kyle Canyon are glacial tills, thusending this long-standing debate (Van Hoesen andOrndorff 2000, Van Hoesen et al. 2000). Evidenceof glaciation in the Spring Mountains impacts our

38 EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES

Figure 2. Location of two till deposits near the head ofKyle Canyon.

current understanding of regional trends in latePleistocene equilibrium line altitudes (ELA) in theGreat Basin and supports the ideas of local recy-cling of moisture and nonuniform climate change.

METHODSBetween the spring of 2000 and the summer of

2002, we investigated the valleys and ridges aboveKyle Canyon for evidence of glaciation. Thisincluded fieldwork and interpretation of aerialphotography, both black and white at a scale of1:24,000 and true color at a scale of 1:19,900. Thislengthy examination yielded two deposits that webelieve to be glacial till (Fig. 2). Bulk sedimentsamples were collected from the deposits for tex-tural analysis following the guidelines of Gee andBauder (1986) and Shoenberger et al. (1998). Lime-stone clasts were collected from the tills for macro-scale analysis and microtextural analysis using aJEOL 5600 scanning electron microscope in theElectron Microanalysis and Imaging Laboratory inthe Department of Geoscience at the University ofNevada, Las Vegas. Orientations of surface stria-tions were analyzed using the method outlined byVan Hoesen and Orndorff (2003). Land surfaceanalysis was conducted using GIS to identify areaswith the greatest potential for perennial snowaccumulation.

EVIDENCE FOR GLACIATIONFieldwork and interpretation of aerial photo-

graphs support previous interpretations suggestingthe high valleys of Kyle Canyon contain degradedbowl-shaped features that may be cirques. The pres-ence of these large-scale erosional landforms andseveral unsorted, unstratified deposits with striatedclasts supports our hypothesis that the SpringMountains experienced Pleistocene glaciation.

Erosional FeaturesMany of the early scientists who hypothesized

a glacial history for the Spring Mountains basedtheir reasoning on the presence of broad valleys andbowl-shaped depressions at the heads of thosevalleys. The most prominent and well-preservedsuch feature is located above the Big Falls nickpointat approximately 3100 m above sea level. It facesnortheast and exhibits a steplike morphology. Thebedrock headwall itself lacks unequivocal evidenceof glaciation such as striations, chatter marks, andcrescentic gouges. There is also an absence of gla-cial deposits in the upper valley. The upper sectionof this valley exhibits a U-shaped morphology typi-cal of glaciated terrain. This U-shaped morphologyends abruptly at Big Falls, a nickpoint that we hy-pothesize to be the retreating margin of a hangingvalley. Below Big Falls, the valley exhibits a classicv-shaped morphology that we attribute to fluvialentrenchment.

There are other cirque-like features located atthe head of Kyle Canyon. They are not as well pre-served and appear to have been exposed to greaterrates of weathering and erosion than the Big Fallscirque. There are no striations, chatter marks, orcrescentic marks preserved in the bedrock. How-ever, these valleys do exhibit the typical bowl-shaped morphology of glacial cirques. These fea-tures are located at approximately 2900 m above sealevel, slightly lower than the elevation of Big Falls.

Kyle Canyon TillThe first deposit occurs in a northeast facing

exposed cutbank in Kyle Canyon, Spring Mountains(Fig. 3). The cutbank, which we believe to be a re-cent feature resulting from flood runoff within thelast several years, is found at the base of a steepnorth-facing cliff and is at the distal end of a valleythat terminates in a stream drainage. It is approxi-mately 14 m thick and extends downslope forapproximately 50 m. The lowest portion of thedeposit exhibits little evidence of bedding or stratifi-cation and contains poorly sorted limestone clastsranging in size from 0.5 cm to 1 m. Textural analy-sis of a bulk sediment sample from the face of thedeposit indicates it is silt with lenses of gravellysand.

Most of the limestone clasts contain facets andstriations independent of clast size. Thirty clastswere collected from the exposed face of the tilldeposit, and striation orientations from 15 of theseclasts were measured and entered into rose diagramsusing the methodology of Van Hoesen and Orndorff(2003). These plots indicate distinct preferredorientations that are parallel to sub-parallel with theprimary axes of the clasts (Fig. 4a-c). The consis

EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES 39

Figure 3. Till deposit at the junction of Big FallsCanyon and Kyle Canyon. Unsorted, unstratifiedmaterial is visible on the exposed face of the deposit.

tency of a preferred orientation for the striationsincreases as clast size and length increases. Longerstriations are also preferentially more consistent intheir orientation than shorter striations.

We see an upward trend toward vague stratifi-cation within the central portion of the deposit,perhaps indicating reworking of emplaced till bylocalized mass wasting or erosion. The deposit iscapped by a 2.2 m sequence that is well sorted andstratified, containing limestone clasts ranging in sizefrom 0.5 to 6 cm. We interpret this to be glacioflu-vial in origin. A moderately developed soil (incepti-sol) covers the upper meter of this sequence.

Hanging Canyon TillThere is not much that can be said about the

Hanging Canyon deposit except for the fact that it isthere. The till is visible in a landslide scar on thenorth wall in lower Big Falls Valley. The unsorted,unstratified material rests on bedrock and liesbeneath a layer of alluvium. We found this depositonly after seeing faceted and stratified clasts in slidedebris at the base of the wall. The wall itself is veryunstable, and the exposure is rather limited, approxi-mately 10 m wide by 3 m tall.

Microtextural Evidence of GlaciationPrevious research concerning the micromor-

phology of tills primarily focused on individualquartz grains (Mahaney et al. 1991, Mahaney 1995,Mahaney and Kalm 1995, Mahaney et al. 1996,Mahaney and Kalm 2000). Surface textures fromthese quartz grains were used to determine local icetransport vectors, ice thickness, and depositionalenvironment. Prior studies established that sedimentaffected by glacial erosion, transport, and depositionexhibits distinct microtextural characteristics. How-ever, these textures are not isolated to glaciallyderived quartz grains. Almost all of the limestoneclasts sampled from the Kyle Canyon till exhibitstrongly polished and faceted surfaces containingmicro-scale chatter marks, conchoidal fractures,crushing steps, and micro-striations.

Chatter marks are rare but present on thestriated clasts. They are visible with both a stereo-microscope and scanning electron microscope (Fig.4d-g). They are typically oriented parallel to thec-axis, but do occur with a sub-parallel to perpen-dicular orientation. They are preserved in smalllenses of micrite and on surfaces of well-polishedclasts. Conchoidal fractures are common on allsampled clasts. Crushing features are the most com-mon microtexture seen on the sampled clasts. Theyexhibit a strong step-like morphology with little evi-dence of dissolution and weathering.

SPATIAL ANALYSISThe Spring Mountain tills indicate that at least

two glaciers were present in the Spring Mountainsduring the late Pleistocene. The exact extent of theglaciers that deposited this material is not known,though spatial analysis provides some clues as topotential locations. Analysis of a conjoined USGSDEM (digital elevation model) with a 30-m grid cellspacing indicates the presence of cirque-like depres-sions at the head of the main valley and several ofits tributaries, features noticed by early researcherswho proposed a glacial history for the Spring Moun-tains. We used GIS to analyze characteristics of thelandscape that may have played a role in the accum-ulation and preservation of perennial snow and ice.This analysis allowed us to predict probable loca-tions for glaciers based on the co-occurrence offavorable topographic characteristics (Orndorff andVan Hoesen 2001). We used GIS to determineslope, aspect (facing direction), and curvature (thesecond derivative of surface elevation) from theDEM. Large-scale orography itself is an importantcontrol because high elevations in a given localityexperience cooler temperatures and greater precipi-tation than lower elevations. This leads to the pres-

40 EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES

Figure 4. Polished, faceted clasts (a-c) from the Kyle Canyon till with rose diagrams illustrating preferredorientation of striations. Microscale features (d-g) on clast surfaces. Structures of glacial provenance includemicrostriations, crushing steps, crescentic gouges, and chattermarks.

EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES 41

Figure 5. GIS overlays of study area: (a) slope computed from DEM(varies from 0° in white to 75° in black), (b) aspect with north, northwest,and northeast facing slopes in darker shades of gray, (c) curvature withconvex surfaces in black and concave surfaces in white, and (d) concave,north-facing slopes less than 35°.

ence of modern snowbanks in Kyle Canyon, whichoverlooks the extremely arid Las Vegas basin, intol a t e J u n e a n d e v e n e a r l y J u l y.

At the head of Kyle Canyon, slope varies from0° to 75°. Figure 5a shows a large, curvilinear ridge(which includes Mt. Charleston) defining what maybe an ancient cirque. The very steep slopes in thecenter of the valley outline recent stream incisioninto the older hypothesized glacial trough. At thevery head of the incised portion of the valley we seean east-facing amphitheater and a south-facingamphitheater, separated from one another by aheadward-eroding channel; these may be two smallcirques and may be related to the Kyle Canyon till.At the head of Big Falls Valley we see two steppedamphitheaters; Big Falls itself represents the upperlimit of modern stream incision.

North, northeast, and northwest-facing slopesare shown in darker shades of gray in Figure 5b. At

36° N latitude, these surfaces receive the least solarenergy and thus represent optimal zones for pre-serving snowpack. During the accumulation seasonin glacial stages, insolation would have been low,presumably leading to deep, compact, perennialsnowfields. Of the two bowl-shaped depressions atthe head of the incised channel, the east-facingdepression lies within the shaded zone, hence it ismore likely to have preserved perennial snow andice than the south-facing depression. Big Falls Can-yon lies entirely within the shaded zone. Positivecurvature values delineate convex features, and neg-ative curvature values delineate concave features.Figure 5c shows convex peaks and ridges (in black)from which snow is removed by wind and gravityand the concave hollows (in white) into which itcollects. Big Falls Valley and the head of the incisedchannel in Kyle Canyon are concave features thatserve as stable catchments for falling snow. The

42 EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES

Figure 6. Correlations between equilibrium line altitude (ELA) and latitudefor the central Great Basin from Pelto (1992) and Dohrenwend (1984). KyleCanyon contains evidence of glaciation, yet the valley floor lies below thethreshold elevation necessary for glaciation as indicated by the two regionalcorrelations.

high, sharp ridge that borders Kyle Canyon is a con-vex feature. Winds between 30° and 60° N latitudeblow predominantly from the southwest, hencesnow that falls on the high ridge is most likely to becarried into Kyle Canyon by strong winds, whichincrease in velocity with increased elevation, andsubsequent avalanches.

Figure 5d shows the logical intersection offavorable criteria for preserving snow and ice inwhite, superimposed on the DEM. White areas areconcave, north-facing slopes less than 35°. The headof Kyle Canyon, the stepped bowls in Big FallsCanyon, and Hanging Canyon all have favorablecharacteristics for collection and preservation ofperennial snow. GIS analysis illustrate a surfacetopography that is not inconsistent with an inferredhistory of glaciation followed by fluvial incision.

REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS Dohrenwend (1984) presented correlations for

modern and last glacial maximum nivation thres-hold altitude (NTA) and equilibrium line altitude(ELA) versus latitude for a Great Basin transectcentered on 117° W longitude (Fig. 6). This corre-lation indicates that the LGM ELA for the SpringMountains (36° N latitude, 118° W longitude) was3700 m above sea level. Mount Charleston, the tall-est peak in the Spring Mountains, is 3658 m abovesea level; based on the regional correlation no gla-ciers should have formed in this range 20,000 years

ago. Pelto (1992) connected late Pleistocene cirque-floor elevations to draw maritime and continentalELA transects from northern North America tosouthern South America. His continental transectindicates a late Wisconsin ELA of approximately3500 m above sea level at 36° N latitude; thehypothesized cirque floor in Kyle Canyon lies at2600 m above sea level, once again too low to hostLGM glaciers based on regional trends in ELA (Fig.6). Based on these correlations it seems unlikely thatglaciers formed in the Spring Mountains during thelatest Pleistocene.

The nature of the deposits certainly seems toindicate old age; no organic material was found inthe limited exposures for direct C-14 dating. Yountand La Pointe (1997) discuss the geomorphology ofglacial moraines in the Sierra Nevada with respectto glacial stages in the late Pleistocene. Tioga-age(25,000 BP to 10,000 BP) glacial deposits featureintact terminal moraines with only minor streamerosion. Tenaya-age (37,000 BP) terminal morainesare less prominent than Tioga moraines and areoften breached by streams, while Tahoe-age(118,000 BP to 56,000 BP) terminal moraines havebeen mostly removed with remaining sectionsheavily gullied. Mono Basin (131,000 BP) terminalmoraines are found only where later glaciersfollowed different paths, and Sherwin-age (760,000BP) glacial deposits are described as surface erraticsand shapeless till remnants. We have two recogni-zable glacial deposits, one that is marginal to the

EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES 43

Figure 7. Upwind pluvial lakes (only major basins areshown) that may have contributed moisture to theSpring Mountains during the late Pleistocene.

floor of Kyle Canyon and a second that is buried byalluvium at the mouth of a hanging valley. We seenone of the distinctive crests of terminal morainesleft behind by Tioga and Tenaya glaciers in theSierra Nevada. Our lower deposit is likely the distalremnant of a terminal moraine that has been mostlyremoved by stream erosion; we see so little of theupper deposit that it is hard to make any statementsabout its shape. The Spring Mountain tills best fitthe descriptions of Tahoe and Mono Basin depositsin the Sierra Nevada. It seems unlikely to us that theSpring Mountain deposits are remnants of Sherwin-age glaciers based on the fine state of preservationof striations on individual limestone clasts.

Zielinski and McCoy (1987) developed relation-ships between modern snowpack and late Pleisto-cene ELA in formerly glaciated Great Basin moun-tain ranges. Full glacial ELA values predicted frommodern snowpack failed to accurately portray actualELA values, leading the authors to conclude thattemperature and precipitation did not change uni-formly across the Great Basin during the late Plei-stocene. The Spring Mountains are very dry com-pared to most other ranges of equivalent size in theGreat Basin; annual precipitation averages only 48cm per year, less than half the annual precipitationof Yosemite Valley, CA. The Spring Mountainsmay be an area where regional trends in climate failto accurately portray late Pleistocene climatechange. Perhaps there is another source of water thatenhanced moisture in the Spring Mountains andproduced glaciers during Tahoe or Mono Basinstages.

During the late Pleistocene, the jet stream wassplit by the Laurentide Ice Sheet with the southernarm carrying abundant moisture into the northernGreat Basin (Bartlein et al. 1998). Hostetler et al.(1994) discussed lake/atmosphere feedback effectsin the Bonneville and Lahontan basins at 18 ka,roughly equivalent to the last glacial maximum.They conducted GCM (Global Climate Model)simulations of 18 ka climate assuming (a) lakeswere not present and (b) lakes were present to assessimpacts of Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan onlocal temperature, precipitation, and evaporation.Results demonstrated that atmospheric conditionswere strongly influenced by the presence of thesebodies of water. At 18 ka, Lake Bonneville had asurface area of 47,800 km2, and Lake Lahontan hada surface area of 14,700 km2. Hostetler et al. (1994)showed that both basins saw more equable seasonaltemperatures with lakes than without them. Thelakes produced much greater evaporation in bothsummer and winter than did a landscape bare oflakes. The impact of local recycling of water backinto the lake was greater in the Bonneville Basin

due to catchment and runoff from the downwindWasatch Range. Evaporated water from Lake La-hontan did little to help maintain the lake as it wascarried eastward by predominantly westerly winds.

The Spring Mountains may have benefittedfrom local recycling of evaporative moisture fromupwind pluvial lakes. At 36° N latitude, this moun-tain range is south of many of the ranges that havebenefitted most directly from southern deflection ofthe jet stream, and it lies far west and north of thosethat have received appreciable moisture from GulfCoast monsoons. However, it lies east of numerousbasins that held large bodies of water at varioustimes during the late Pleistocene (Fig. 7). At the lastglacial maximum, the Owens River system con-sisted of Owens Lake, a lake that filled both Chinaand Searles Basins, and a small lake in PanamintValley. This cascading system, with a combinedsurface area of about 1,900 km2 at about 18 ka(these lakes were significantly larger during severalpre-LGM pluvial stages), received the majority ofits moisture as orographic precipitation from theSierra Nevada. These low elevation and low latitudebasins may have produced greater rates of evapora-tion per unit area than the more northern Lahontanand Bonneville basins due to their higher averagetemperatures. Atmospheric moisture would havetraveled eastward until trapped as orographic pre-cipitation by mountain ranges in Nevada, the firstand largest of which is the Spring Mountains. Otherbasins west and southwest of the Spring Mountains

44 EVIDENCE OF GLACIATION IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, NEVADA g ORNDORFF, VAN HOESEN, AND SAINES

held large pluvial lakes that may have contributedmoisture to air masses traveling to the northeast.These include Lake Tecopa, Manix Lake, and LakeMojave.

There is evidence of greatly increased moisturein the Spring Mountains during the late Pleistocene.Szabo et al. (1994) discuss a 120,000-year record ofclimate change in Devils Hole, Nevada, a submer-ged cave system in the Ash Meadows basin(approximately 12,000 km2). The principle contrib-utors of recharge to this system are thought to be theSpring Mountains and the White River groundwaterflow system. Uranium-series dating of calcitedeposits in a cave chamber called Browns Roomindicate that the water table was 5 to 9 m higherthan the present level between 44 ka and 20 ka. Thewater table was at least 5 m above the modern watertable from 116 ka to 53 ka; the authors supplied aminimum increase for this time period and statedthat they were uncertain as to the maximum watertable rise due to methodological limitations. Quadeand Pratt (1989) and Quade (1986) studied strati-graphy of valley deposits east of the SpringMountains and found evidence of increased ground-water discharge and marsh formation from 60 ka to40 ka and from 30 ka to 15 ka. Periodic increases inwater supply in the valleys east and west of theSpring Mountains support the idea that the SpringMountains were intercepting substantial quantitiesof atmospheric water during the late Pleistocene.

CONCLUSIONS Most of the glacial record in the Spring Moun-tains has been destroyed or buried over time throughfluvial and mass wasting activity. However, fluvio-glacial material covering the Kyle Canyon till mayhave been responsible for preservation of the re-maining fraction of the overall deposit, just as allu-vium has protected the Hanging Canyon till. We hy-pothesize that the glacier that deposited the KyleCanyon till formed at the head of Kyle Canyon it-self, which explains the southwesterly dip (awayfrom the central axis of the valley) of the cappingfluvioglacial deposits. The presence of the ice andassociated deposits forced drainage to the outside ofthe valley, resulting in the inactive channel that liesbetween the deposit and the western valley wall.Later drainage breached the deposit and returned theactive channel to the central valley. We do not ruleout the possibility that small glaciers also formedcontemporaneously within higher valleys above BigFalls. Evidence for glaciation in the Spring Mountainsindicates that this range represents the southernmostextent of late Quaternary glaciation in the Great

Basin and ends the long-standing debate overwhether the range was in fact glaciated. Based onexisting ELA correlations, the Spring Mountains aretoo low to have experienced LGM glaciation. Poorpreservation of the deposits is consistent with anearlier episode of glaciation, perhaps of Tahoe orMono Basin age. We present the potential forregional recycling of moisture from upwind pluviallakes as a mode of creating and sustaining glaciersin this southern Nevada mountain range.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Dr. Gerald Osborn for hismany useful comments. This project was supported by agrant from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas (UNLV)Office of Research and a grant from the UNLV GraduateStudent Association. SEM imaging was conducted at theUNLV Electron Microanalysis and Imaging Laboratory(EMIL). Thanks also to Kuwanna Dyer for assisting withfield work.

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