Hansen, R., S. Bozarth, J. Jacob, Wahl D. and T. Schreiner (2002) “Climatic and Environmental Variability in the Rise of Maya Civilization.” Ancient Mesoamerica 13: 273-295.
David Wahl
David is a research scientist at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He received a PhD in Geography from UC Berkeley in 2005. Since joining the USGS in 2004, he has worked to understand drivers and impacts of Quaternary environmental change in North America. Now, his research focuses on reconstructing climate and anthropogenic environmental change.
Biography
After coming to the Menlo Park office of GMEG In 2004, David is currently focused on reconstructing climate and anthropogenic environmental change in the western US, Guatemala, and the central Pacific.
Professional Experience:
- 2004 - Present, Research Geographer, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
- 2011 - Present, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Geography Department, UC Berkeley
Education:
- Ph.D., Geography, University of California, Berkeley, 2005
- M.A., Geography, University of California, Berkeley, 2000
- B.A., History, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, 1996
Science and Products
Year Published: 2018
A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era
This study presents a synthesis of century-scale hydroclimate variations in North America for the Common Era (last 2000 years) using new age models of previously published multiple proxy-based paleoclimate data. This North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) examines regional hydroclimate patterns and related environmental indicators,...
Rodysill, Jessica R. ; Anderson, Lesleigh; Cronin, Thomas M.; Jones, Miriam C.; Thompson, Robert S.; Wahl, David B.; Willard, Debra A.; Addison, Jason A.; Alder, Jay R.; Anderson, Katherine H.; Anderson, Lysanna; Barron, John A.; Bernhardt, Christopher E.; Hostetler, Steven W.; Kehrwald, Natalie M.; Khan, Nicole; Richey, Julie N.; Starratt, Scott W.; Strickland, Laura E.; Toomey, Michael; Treat, Claire C.; Wingard, G. LynnAttribution: Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Water Resources, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Land Change Science Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, United States of America
Year Published: 2016
Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic impacts from Lago Paixban, a perennial wetland in Peten, Guatemala
Analyses of an ~ 6 m sediment core from Lago Paixban in Peten, Guatemala, document the complex evolution of a perennial wetland over the last 10,300 years. The basal sediment is comprised of alluvial/colluvial fill deposited in the early Holocene. The absence of pollen and gastropods in the basal sediments suggests intermittently dry conditions...
Wahl, David B.; Hansen, Richard D.; Byrne, Roger; Anderson, Lysanna; Schreiner, T.Attribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, , Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program
View Citation
Wahl, D., Hansen, R.D., Byrne, R., Anderson, L., 2015. Holocene Climate Variability and Anthropogenic Impacts from Lago Paixban, a Perennial Wetland in Peten, Guatemala. Global and Planetary Change 138, 70-81.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.09.011
Year Published: 2016
Two Holocene paleofire records from Peten, Guatemala: Implications for natural fire regime and prehispanic Maya land use
Although fire was arguably the primary tool used by the Maya to alter the landscape and extract resources, little attention has been paid to biomass burning in paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the Maya lowlands. Here we report two new well-dated, high-resolution records of biomass burning based on analysis of macroscopic fossil charcoal...
Anderson, Lysanna; Wahl, David B.
Year Published: 2015
Holocene environmental changes inferred from biological and sedimentological proxies in a high elevation Great Basin lake in the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, USA
Multi-proxy analyses were conducted on a sediment core from Favre Lake, a high elevation cirque lake in the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, and provide a ca. 7600 year record of local and regional environmental change. Data indicate that lake levels were lower from 7600-5750 cal yr BP, when local climate was warmer and/or drier than today....
Wahl, David B.; Starratt, Scott W.; Anderson, Lysanna; Kusler, Jennifer E.; Fuller, Christopher C.; Addison, Jason A.; Wan, ElmiraAttribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, , Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program
View Citation
Wahl, D., Starratt, S., Anderson, L., Kusler, J., Fuller, C., Addison, J., & Wan, E. (2015). Holocene environmental changes inferred from biological and sedimentological proxies in a high elevation Great Basin lake in the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, USA. Quaternary International, 387, 87-98
Year Published: 2015
Limiting age for the Provo shoreline of Lake Bonneville
Pluvial Lake Bonneville features a prominent shoreline at the Provo level, which has been interpreted as having formed during a period of threshold-stabilized overflow. The timing of Provo shoreline development is important for paleoclimate interpretations and for inferences on geomorphic process rates. Estimates for the timing of the shoreline...
Miller, David M.; Wahl, David B.; McGeehin, John; Rosario, Jose J.; Oviatt, Charles G.; Anderson, Lysanna; Presnetsova, Liubov S.Attribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, , Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center
View Citation
David M. Miller, David B. Wahl, John P. McGeehin, Jose Rosario, Charles G. Oviatt, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov Presnetsova, Limiting age for the Provo shoreline of Lake Bonneville, Quaternary International, Volume 387, 2015, Pages 99-105, ISSN 1040-6182, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.001.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618215000075)
Year Published: 2014
An 8700 year paleoclimate reconstruction from the southern Maya lowlands
Analysis of a sediment core from Lago Puerto Arturo, a closed basin lake in northern Peten, Guatemala, has provided an ∼8700 cal year record of climate change and human activity in the southern Maya lowlands. Stable isotope, magnetic susceptibility, and pollen analyses were used to reconstruct environmental change in the region....
Wahl, David B.; Byrne, Roger; Anderson, LysannaAttribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, , Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, United States of America
View Citation
Wahl, D., Byrne, R., & Anderson, L. (2014). An 8700 year paleoclimate reconstruction from the southern Maya lowlands. Quaternary Science Reviews, 103, 19-25.
Year Published: 2011
Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River
The Chemehuevi Formation forms a conspicuous, widespread, and correlative set of nonmarine sediments lining the valleys of the Colorado River and several of its larger tributaries in the Basin and Range geologic province. These sediments have been examined by geologists since J. S. Newberry visited the region in 1857 and are widely cited in the...
Malmon, Daniel V.; Howard, Keith A.; House, P. Kyle; Lundstrom, Scott C.; Pearthree, Philip A.; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Wan, Elmira; Wahl, David B.View Citation
Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River; 2011; PP; 1786; Malmon, Daniel V.; Howard, Keith A.; House, P. Kyle; Lundstrom, Scott C.; Pearthree, Philip A.; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Wan, Elmira ; Wahl, David B.
Year Published: 2011
Age, composition, and areal distribution of the Pliocene Lawlor Tuff, and three younger Pliocene tuffs, California and Nevada
The Lawlor Tuff is a widespread dacitic tephra layer produced by Plinian eruptions and ash flows derived from the Sonoma Volcanics, a volcanic area north of San Francisco Bay in the central Coast Ranges of California, USA. The younger, chemically similar Huichica tuff, the tuff of Napa, and the tuff of Monticello Road sequentially overlie the...
Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Deino, Alan L.; Fleck, Robert J.; McLaughlin, Robert J.; Wagner, David; Wan, Elmira; Wahl, David B.; Hillhouse, John W.; Perkins, MichaelAttribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, , Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center
View Citation
Age, composition, and areal distribution of the Pliocene Lawlor Tuff, and three younger Pliocene tuffs, California and Nevada; 2011; Article; Journal; Geosphere; Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M.; Deino, A. L.; Fleck, R. J.; McLaughlin, R. J.; Wagner, D.; Wan, E.; Wahl, D.; Hillhouse, J. W.; Perkins, M.
Year Published: 2007
Upper Neogene tephrochronologic correlations in the northern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico and southern Colorado
Slate, Janet L.; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Wan, Elmira; Koning, Daniel J.; Connell, Sean D.; Dethier, David P.; Wahl, David B.; Perkins, MichaelAttribution: Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
View Citation
Upper Neogene tephrochronologic correlations in the northern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico and southern Colorado; 2007; Abstract or summary; Conference publication; Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America; Slate, Janet L.; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Wan, Elmira ; Koning, Daniel J.; Connell, Sean D.; Dethier, David P.; Wahl, David B.; Perkins, Michael
Pre-USGS Publications
Wahl, D., R. Byrne, T. Schreiner and R. Hansen (2006) “Holocene Vegetation Change in the Northern Peten and its Implications for Maya Prehistory.” Quaternary Research 65:380-389.