Integrated Hydrologic History of the American Southwest
Active
By Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
April 20, 2026
Springs and wetlands in arid environments are bellwethers of aquifer health and water availability. These water-obligate ecosystems were dynamically sensitive to climatic fluctuations in the recent geologic past, especially to centennial- and decadal-scale warming events. Extreme events such as severe drought are projected to become more common throughout the Southwest in the coming years, resulting in water scarcity and unprecedented social and economic losses. This project builds upon and augments our previous research and will integrate hydrologic, stratigraphic, chronologic, geochemical, and paleoenvironmental data spanning the late Pleistocene to modern to document the responsiveness of water-dependent ecosystems to megadroughts throughout the southwestern U.S. We will combine fundamental framework observations and data with innovative analytical techniques and climate modeling to quantify critical temperature and precipitation thresholds of arid land ecosystems and advance our understanding of the range of potential outcomes to biomes and human activities in the event they are crossed in the wake of future drought.
Listed below are other science activities associated with the Integrated Hydrologic History of the American Southwest project.
Listed below are data releases associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 13
Data release for Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Data release for Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The Eglington fault is one of several intrabasinal faults in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA, and is the only one recognized as a source for significant earthquakes. Its broad warp displaces Late Pleistocene spring deposits of the Las Vegas Formation, which record hydrologic fluctuations that occurred in response to millennial- and submillennial-scale climate oscillations throughout...
Listed below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 28
Aeolian sediments in paleowetland deposits of the Las Vegas Formation Aeolian sediments in paleowetland deposits of the Las Vegas Formation
The Las Vegas Formation (LVF) is a well-characterized sequence of groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits exposed in and around the Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada. Nearly monolithologic bedrock surrounds the valley, which provides an excellent opportunity to test the hypothesis that GWD deposits include an aeolian component. Mineralogical data indicate that the LVF sediments are...
Authors
Harland L. Goldstein, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Marith C. Reheis, Gary L. Skipp
Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest
Recent studies have shown the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of modern terrestrial gastropod shells is determined largely by the δ18O of precipitation. This implies that fossil shells could be used to reconstruct the δ18O of paleo-precipitation as long as the isotopic system, including the hydrologic pathways of the local watershed and the gastropod systematics, is well understood...
Authors
Jason A. Rech, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Stephanie Bosch, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Yurena Yanes
Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Eglington fault is one of several intrabasinal faults in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada and is the only one recognized as a source for significant earthquakes. Its broad warp displaces late Pleistocene paleo-spring deposits of the Las Vegas Formation, which record hydrologic fluctuations that occurred in response to millennial and submillennial-scale climate oscillations throughout the...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA) Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA)
Sediment cores taken near extant springs along the western margin of Soda Lake playa, as well as from the playa center, reveal dramatic hydrologic changes that occurred in the central Mojave Desert during the late Quaternary. Results of stratigraphic, chronologic, physical, chemical, and microfossil analyses of seven cores, ranging in length from 5 to 23 m, help refine the timing and...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Honke, Jeffrey S. Pigati, J. Wilson, J. Bright, H.L. Goldstein, Gary L. Skipp, M.C. Reheis, J. C. Havens
The Las Vegas Formation The Las Vegas Formation
The Las Vegas Formation was established in 1965 to designate the distinctive light-colored, fine-grained, fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits exposed in and around the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. In a coeval designation, the sediments were subdivided into informal units with stratigraphic and chronologic frameworks that have persisted in the literature. Use of the Las Vegas Formation name...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Craig R. Manker, Shannon A. Mahan
The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada
On December 19, 2014, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, located in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada, was established by Congress as the 405th unit of the National Park Service to “conserve, protect, interpret, and enhance for the benefit of present and future generations the unique and nationally important paleontological, scientific, educational, and recreational...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Examining the relationship between portable luminescence reader measurements and depositional ages of paleowetland sediments, Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Examining the relationship between portable luminescence reader measurements and depositional ages of paleowetland sediments, Las Vegas Valley, Nevada
Portable luminescence readers are exciting new tools that have the potential to rapidly determine the age structure of late Quaternary stratigraphic columns. This is important because high-resolution age profiling can reveal details about the temporal dynamics of climate cause and ecosystem effect, often while researchers are still in the field. In this paper, we compare new portable...
Authors
Harrison J. Gray, Shannon A. Mahan, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA
One of the enduring questions in the field of paleohydrology is how quickly desert wetland ecosystems responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. Recent investigations in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada have revealed that wetlands expanded and contracted on millennial and sub-millennial timescales in response to changes in climate during the late Quaternary. Here, we...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke
The Great Acceleration and the disappearing surficial geologic record The Great Acceleration and the disappearing surficial geologic record
The surficial geologic record is the relatively thin veneer of young (
Authors
Jason A. Rech, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
The Tule Springs local fauna: Rancholabrean vertebrates from the Las Vegas Formation, Nevada The Tule Springs local fauna: Rancholabrean vertebrates from the Las Vegas Formation, Nevada
A middle to late Pleistocene sedimentary sequence in the upper Las Vegas Wash, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, has yielded the largest open-site Rancholabrean vertebrate fossil assemblage in the southern Great Basin and Mojave Deserts. Recent paleontologic field studies have led to the discovery of hundreds of fossil localities and specimens, greatly extending the geographic and temporal...
Authors
Eric Scott, Kathleen B. Springer, James C. Sagebiel
Vertebrate paleontology, stratigraphy, and paleohydrology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada (USA) Vertebrate paleontology, stratigraphy, and paleohydrology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada (USA)
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley (Nevada, USA). TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much of the valley during the late Quaternary. The GWD...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffery S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA. TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much of the valley during the late Quaternary. The GWD...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Listed below are partners associated with this project.
Springs and wetlands in arid environments are bellwethers of aquifer health and water availability. These water-obligate ecosystems were dynamically sensitive to climatic fluctuations in the recent geologic past, especially to centennial- and decadal-scale warming events. Extreme events such as severe drought are projected to become more common throughout the Southwest in the coming years, resulting in water scarcity and unprecedented social and economic losses. This project builds upon and augments our previous research and will integrate hydrologic, stratigraphic, chronologic, geochemical, and paleoenvironmental data spanning the late Pleistocene to modern to document the responsiveness of water-dependent ecosystems to megadroughts throughout the southwestern U.S. We will combine fundamental framework observations and data with innovative analytical techniques and climate modeling to quantify critical temperature and precipitation thresholds of arid land ecosystems and advance our understanding of the range of potential outcomes to biomes and human activities in the event they are crossed in the wake of future drought.
Listed below are other science activities associated with the Integrated Hydrologic History of the American Southwest project.
Listed below are data releases associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 13
Data release for Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Data release for Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The Eglington fault is one of several intrabasinal faults in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA, and is the only one recognized as a source for significant earthquakes. Its broad warp displaces Late Pleistocene spring deposits of the Las Vegas Formation, which record hydrologic fluctuations that occurred in response to millennial- and submillennial-scale climate oscillations throughout...
Listed below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 28
Aeolian sediments in paleowetland deposits of the Las Vegas Formation Aeolian sediments in paleowetland deposits of the Las Vegas Formation
The Las Vegas Formation (LVF) is a well-characterized sequence of groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits exposed in and around the Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada. Nearly monolithologic bedrock surrounds the valley, which provides an excellent opportunity to test the hypothesis that GWD deposits include an aeolian component. Mineralogical data indicate that the LVF sediments are...
Authors
Harland L. Goldstein, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Marith C. Reheis, Gary L. Skipp
Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest
Recent studies have shown the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of modern terrestrial gastropod shells is determined largely by the δ18O of precipitation. This implies that fossil shells could be used to reconstruct the δ18O of paleo-precipitation as long as the isotopic system, including the hydrologic pathways of the local watershed and the gastropod systematics, is well understood...
Authors
Jason A. Rech, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Stephanie Bosch, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Yurena Yanes
Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada Climatically driven displacement on the Eglington fault, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Eglington fault is one of several intrabasinal faults in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada and is the only one recognized as a source for significant earthquakes. Its broad warp displaces late Pleistocene paleo-spring deposits of the Las Vegas Formation, which record hydrologic fluctuations that occurred in response to millennial and submillennial-scale climate oscillations throughout the...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA) Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA)
Sediment cores taken near extant springs along the western margin of Soda Lake playa, as well as from the playa center, reveal dramatic hydrologic changes that occurred in the central Mojave Desert during the late Quaternary. Results of stratigraphic, chronologic, physical, chemical, and microfossil analyses of seven cores, ranging in length from 5 to 23 m, help refine the timing and...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Honke, Jeffrey S. Pigati, J. Wilson, J. Bright, H.L. Goldstein, Gary L. Skipp, M.C. Reheis, J. C. Havens
The Las Vegas Formation The Las Vegas Formation
The Las Vegas Formation was established in 1965 to designate the distinctive light-colored, fine-grained, fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits exposed in and around the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. In a coeval designation, the sediments were subdivided into informal units with stratigraphic and chronologic frameworks that have persisted in the literature. Use of the Las Vegas Formation name...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Craig R. Manker, Shannon A. Mahan
The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada
On December 19, 2014, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, located in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada, was established by Congress as the 405th unit of the National Park Service to “conserve, protect, interpret, and enhance for the benefit of present and future generations the unique and nationally important paleontological, scientific, educational, and recreational...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Examining the relationship between portable luminescence reader measurements and depositional ages of paleowetland sediments, Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Examining the relationship between portable luminescence reader measurements and depositional ages of paleowetland sediments, Las Vegas Valley, Nevada
Portable luminescence readers are exciting new tools that have the potential to rapidly determine the age structure of late Quaternary stratigraphic columns. This is important because high-resolution age profiling can reveal details about the temporal dynamics of climate cause and ecosystem effect, often while researchers are still in the field. In this paper, we compare new portable...
Authors
Harrison J. Gray, Shannon A. Mahan, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA
One of the enduring questions in the field of paleohydrology is how quickly desert wetland ecosystems responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. Recent investigations in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada have revealed that wetlands expanded and contracted on millennial and sub-millennial timescales in response to changes in climate during the late Quaternary. Here, we...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke
The Great Acceleration and the disappearing surficial geologic record The Great Acceleration and the disappearing surficial geologic record
The surficial geologic record is the relatively thin veneer of young (
Authors
Jason A. Rech, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati
The Tule Springs local fauna: Rancholabrean vertebrates from the Las Vegas Formation, Nevada The Tule Springs local fauna: Rancholabrean vertebrates from the Las Vegas Formation, Nevada
A middle to late Pleistocene sedimentary sequence in the upper Las Vegas Wash, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, has yielded the largest open-site Rancholabrean vertebrate fossil assemblage in the southern Great Basin and Mojave Deserts. Recent paleontologic field studies have led to the discovery of hundreds of fossil localities and specimens, greatly extending the geographic and temporal...
Authors
Eric Scott, Kathleen B. Springer, James C. Sagebiel
Vertebrate paleontology, stratigraphy, and paleohydrology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada (USA) Vertebrate paleontology, stratigraphy, and paleohydrology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada (USA)
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley (Nevada, USA). TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much of the valley during the late Quaternary. The GWD...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffery S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA. TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much of the valley during the late Quaternary. The GWD...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
Listed below are partners associated with this project.