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Research about Upper Klamath Lake

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Upper Klamath Lake.

70 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
USGS2004

Record of late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological evidence from lacustrine sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, southern Oregon

Petrological and textural properties of lacustrine sediments from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, reflect changing input volumes of glacial flour and thus reveal a detailed glacial history for the southern Cascade Range between about 37 and 15 ka. Magnetic properties vary as a result of mixing different amounts of the highly magnetic, glacially generated detritus with less magnetic, more weathered detritus derived from unglaciated parts of the large catchment. Evidence that the magnetic properties record glacial flour input is based mainly on the strong correlation between bulk sediment particle size and parameters that measure the magnetite content and magnetic mineral freshness. High magnetization corresponds to relatively fine particle size and lower magnetization to coarser particle size. This relation is not found in the Buck Lake core in a nearby, unglaciated catchment. Angular silt-sized volcanic rock fragments containing unaltered magnetite dominate the magnetic fraction in the late Pleistocene sediments but are absent in younger, low magnetization sediments. The finer grained, highly magnetic sediments contain high proportions of planktic diatoms indicative of cold, oligotrophic limnic conditions. Sediment with lower magnetite content contains populations of diatoms indicative of warmer, eutrophic limnic conditions. During the latter part of oxygen isotope stage 3 (about 37-25 ka), the magnetic properties record millennial-scale variations in glacial-flour content. The input of glacial flour was uniformly high during the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 21 and 16 ka. At about 16 ka, magnetite input, both absolute and relative to hematite, decreased abruptly, reflecting a rapid decline in glacially derived detritus. The decrease in magnetite transport into the lake preceded declines in pollen from both grass and sagebrush. A more gradual decrease in heavy mineral content over this interval records sediment starvation with the growth of marshes at the margins of the lake and dilution of detrital material by biogenic silica and other organic matter.

Oregon↗
USGS2004

Limnological and climatic environments at Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon during the past 45 000 years

Upper Klamath Lake, in south-central Oregon, contains long sediment records with well-preserved diatoms and lithological variations that reflect climate-induced limnological changes. These sediment archives complement and extend high resolution terrestrial records along a north-south transect that includes areas influenced by the Aleutian Low and Subtropical High, which control both marine and continental climates in the western United States. The longest and oldest core collected in this study came from the southwest margin of the lake at Caledonia Marsh, and was dated by radiocarbon and tephrochronology to an age of about 45 ka. Paleolimnological interpretations of this core, based upon geochemical and diatom analyses, have been augmented by data from a short core collected from open water environments at nearby Howards Bay and from a 9-m core extending to 15 ka raised from the center of the northwestern part of Upper Klamath Lake. Pre- and full-glacial intervals of the Caledonia Marsh core are characterized and dominated by lithic detrital material. Planktic diatom taxa characteristic of cold-water habitats (Aulacoseira subarctica and A. islandica) alternate with warm-water planktic diatoms (A. ambigua) between 45 and 23 ka, documenting climate changes at millennial scales during oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 3. The full-glacial interval contains mostly cold-water planktic, benthic, and reworked Pliocene lacustrine diatoms (from the surrounding Yonna Formation) that document shallow water conditions in a cold, windy environment. After 15 ka, diatom productivity increased. Organic carbon and biogenic silica became significant sediment components and diatoms that live in the lake today, indicative of warm, eutrophic water, became prominent. Lake levels fell during the mid-Holocene and marsh environments extended over the core site. This interval is characterized by high levels of organic carbon from emergent aquatic vegetation (Scirpus) and by the Mazama ash (7.55 ka), generated by the eruption that created nearby Crater Lake. For a brief time the ash increased the salinity of Upper Klamath Lake. High concentrations of molybdenum, arsenic, and vanadium indicate that Caledonia Marsh was anoxic from about 7 to 5 ka. After the mid-Holocene, shallow, but open-water environments returned to the core site. The sediments became dominated (>80%) by biogenic silica. The open-water cores show analogous but less extreme limnological and climatic changes more typical of mid-lake environments. Millennial-scale lake and climate changes during OIS 3 at Upper Klamath Lake contrast with a similar record of variation at Owens Lake, about 750 km south. When Upper Klamath Lake experienced cold-climate episodes during OIS 3, Owens Lake had warm but wet episodes; the reverse occurred during warmer intervals at Upper Klamath Lake. Such climatic alternations apparently reflect the variable position and strength of the Aleutian Low during the mid-Wisconsin.

Oregon↗
USGS2004

The history of recent limnological changes and human impact on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake has been studied for almost 50 years to evaluate the nature, cause, and effects of its very productive waters. Mitigation of undesirable effects of massive cyanobacterial blooms requires understanding their modern causes as well as their history. Knowledge of the pre-settlement natural limnology of this system can provide guidelines for lake restoration and management of land and water use strategies to maximize the benefits of this aquatic resource. This investigation uses a paleolimnological approach to document the nature and chronology of limnological and biological changes in Upper Klamath Lake for the past 200 years, covering the time when the lake was first described until today. A 45-cm gravity core, dated by 210 Pb and diatom correlations, was analyzed for diatoms, pollen, akinetes (resting spores) of the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae , reworked tephra shards, and sediment magnetic characteristics. Pollen profiles show little vegetation change during this time. In contrast, diatoms indicative of increased nutrient fluxes (P and Si) increase moderately, coinciding with the settlement of the region by Euro-Americans. Numerous settlement activities, including draining of lake-margin marshes, upstream agriculture and timber harvest, road construction, and boat traffic, may have affected the lake. Magnetic properties and reworked tephra suggest riparian changes throughout the basin and increased lithogenic sediment delivery to the lake, especially after 1920 when the marshes near the mouth of the Williamson River were drained and converted to agricultural and pasture land. Drainage and channelization also decreased the ability of the marshes to function as traps and filters for upstream water and sediments. Akinetes of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae record progressive eutrophication of Upper Klamath Lake beginning in the 20th century and particularly after 1920 when lake-margin marsh reclamation more than doubled. The coincidence of limnological changes and human activities following European settlement suggests a major impact on the Upper Klamath Lake ecosystem, although ascribing specific limnological changes to specific human activities is difficult.

Oregon↗
USGS2004

Chronology of sediment deposition in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

A combination of tephrochronology and 14C, 210Pb, and 137Cs measurements provides a robust chronology for sedimentation in Upper Klamath Lake during the last 45 000 years. Mixing of surficial sediments and possible mobility of the radio-isotopes limit the usefulness of the 137Cs and 210Pb data, but 210Pb profiles provide reasonable average sediment accumulation rates for the last 100-150 years. Radiocarbon ages near the top of the core are somewhat erratic and are too old, probably as a result of detrital organic carbon, which may have become a more common component in recent times as surrounding marshes were drained. Below the tops of the cores, radiocarbon ages in the center of the basin appear to be about 400 years too old, while those on the margin appear to be accurate, based on comparisons with tephra layers of known age. Taken together, the data can be combined into reasonable age models for each site. Sediments have accumulated at site K1, near the center of the basin, about 2 times faster than at site CM2, on the margin of the lake. The rates are about 0.10 and 0.05 cm/yr, respectively. The chronological data also indicate that accumulation rates were slower during the early to middle Holocene than during the late Holocene, consistent with increasing wetness in the late Holocene.

Oregon↗
USGS2004

Paleolimnology and paleoclimate studies in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

The subsiding Upper Klamath Lake Basin contains sediments that were continuously deposited in a shallow, freshwater lake for more than 40 000 years. Well dated by radiometric methods and containing volcanic ashes of known age, these sediments constitute a valuable paleoclimate record. Sediment constituents and properties that reflect past climatic conditions in the area include pollen, diatoms, sediment geochemistry, and sediment magnetic properties. Many of these proxy measurements are also useful for comparing natural conditions in the lake to conditions following human settlement. Because of its location, the paleoclimate record from Upper Klamath Lake is valuable for comparisons to offshore marine records and as part of latitudinal transects of paleoclimate records along the west coast of the Americas.

Oregon↗
USGS2000

Post-Mazama (7 KA) faulting beneath Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles (3.5 kHz) show that a distinctive, widespread reflection occurs in the sediments beneath Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Coring reveals that this reflection is formed by Mazama tephra (MT), about 7 ka in age. The MT horizon is faulted in many places and locally displaced by as much as 3.1 m. Differential displacement of multiple horizons indicates recurrent fault movement, perhaps three episodes since deposition of the Mazama. The pattern of faulting indicates northeast-southwest extension beneath the lake basin.

Oregon↗
USGS1999

Effects of ambient water quality on the endangered Lost River sucker in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Populations of the Lost River sucker Deltistes luxatus have declined so precipitously in the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California that this fish was recently listed for federal protection as an endangered species. Although Upper Klamath Lake is a major refuge for this species, fish in the lake occasionally experience mass mortalities during summer and early fall. This field study was implemented to determine if fish mortalities resulted from degraded water quality conditions associated with seasonal blooms of phytoplankton, especially Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. Our results indicated that fish mortality did not always increase as water temperature, pH, and un-ionized ammonia concentration increased in Upper Klamath Lake. Little or no mortality occurred when these water quality variables attained their maximum values. On the other hand, an inverse relation existed between fish mortality and dissolved oxygen concentration. High mortality (>90%) occurred whenever dissolved oxygen concentrations decreased to 1.05 mg/L, whereas mortality was usually low (< 10%) when dissolved oxygen concentrations equaled or exceeded 1.58 mg/L. Stepwise logistic regression also indicated that the minimum concentration of dissolved oxygen measured was the single most important determinant of fish mortality.

Oregon↗
USGS1996

Upper Klamath basin nutrient-loading study: Estimate of wind-induced resuspension of bed sediment during periods of low lake elevation

At low lake elevations for Upper Klamath Lake (below 4,140 feet, Bureau of Reclamation datum), 75 percent or more of the areal extent of the lake is affected by resuspension of bed sediment, under prevailing summer wind conditions when critical water quality conditions occur. At the minimum lake elevation of 4,137 feet, 89 percent of the lake is affected. Winds of 10 miles per hour or greater from the northwest can createa bottom shear stress great enough to resuspend bed sediment in Upper Klamath Lake. Winds of this speed occurred for more than 1 hour on 101 days out of 153 days from May to October 1991 at a weather station located at Agency Lake. At a wind speed of 10 miles per hour from the northwest, on Upper Klamath Lake, mean bottom shear stress is approximately four times greater for a lake elevation of 4,137 feet than for a lake elevation of 4,140 feet. Using relations developed between shear stress and resuspension rates for other lake studies as a guide, resuspension rates will be more than an order of magnitude greater for the lower lake elevation. In Upper Klamath Lake, resuspension of bottom sediment may be a major source of the internal phosphorus loading. It is estimated that the contributing phosphorous load sorbed on suspended sediment resuspended from a single wind episode occurring October 26-27, 1991 ranged from 330-1,800 tons with a median of 780 tons. Need for further study is indicated by our inability to predict (1) overall phosphorous- loading conditions, (2) the contribution of phosphorous load from the release of interstitial water in the lake bed sediment during resuspension, and (3) a more narrow range in calculation of phosphorous loading for single wind episodes.

Oregon↗
USGS1993

A review of possible causes of nutrient enrichment and decline of endangered sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Upper Klamath Lake, and the connecting Agency Lake, is a large (140 square mile) lake in south-central Oregon. The lake has a recent history of long-duration, near-monoculture, blue-green algal blooms of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae . Typically, the algal bloom causes nuisance and detrimental conditions, including a deep-green "pea soup" appearance, from mid-May to late October. Accompanying the blooms are foul odors, extremely high pH, widely varied dissolved-oxygen concentrations of supersaturation or near depletion, occasional but extensive fish kills, and elevated levels of toxic ammonia. In 1988, the Lost River sucker ( Deltistes luxatus ) and shortnose sucker ( Chasmistes brevirostris ), long-term inhabitants of Upper Klamath Lake, were placed on the Federal endangered-species list. The endangering of the sucker species in recent years is hypothesized to be caused by degraded lake-water-quality conditions. Upper Klamath Lake has been eutrophic since it was first discovered. However, increases in algal abundance and changes in algal type over relatively recent years are evident, and can be correlated with agricultural development of the basin. The most common cause for an increased abundance of algae in lakes is increased enrichment of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. Ten possible causes for this excessive enrichment in nutrients are described. Three of these hypotheses are suggested for immediate testing because of large-scale changes in nutrient loading that may have occurred as a result of man&rsquo;s activities. These three hypotheses relate nutrient enrichment to (1) conversion of marshland to agricultural land, (2) agricultural drainage from the basin, and (3) reservoir regulation. Eleven possible hypothetical causes for the decline in sucker populations also are described. The decline in sucker population may be related to excessive nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) of the lake.

Oregon↗