Core OL-92 from Owens Lake: Project rationale, geologic setting, drilling procedures, and summary

Several lines of evidence indicated that Owens Lake, a now-dry lake in southeast California, would probably yield a continuous and climatically informative sedimentary record. Also, the details of modern climate and runoff in the area are exceptionally well known, providing a firm basis for interpreting various types of evidence from a core in terms of past climates. Drilling was carried out in early 1992 to retrieve this record.

The resulting core, OL-92, was taken from the south-central part of the lake (lat 36°22.85′ N, long 117°57.95′ W). Lake surface elevation at the drill site is 1,085 m. The core’s length is 322.86 m, recovery was ~80%, and the age of its basal sediments is ~800 ka.

Study of the core has revealed lithologic, chemical, mineralogic, geophysical, and paleontologic evidence that reflects alternating periods of high- and low-volume runoff into Owens Lake. This volume presents these studies and summarizes their paleoclimatic significance.