Pigati, J.S. Miller, D.M., 2008, Late Pleistocene wetland deposits at Valley Wells, eastern Mojave Desert, California: initial results. In Trough to trough: the Colorado River and the Salton Sea - 2008 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings, R.E. Reynolds (Ed.), California State University, Desert Studies Consortium, and LSA Associates, Inc., 138-142.
Jeff Pigati
Biography
I grew up in central Illinois and didn't travel much as a child. In fact, I never even saw a mountain in person until I attended summer field camp in Red Lodge, Montana at the age of 20 (no joke!). Needless to say, I was hooked immediately and have spent the last couple of decades making up for lost time. I am currently doing research all over the southwestern U.S., the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the Middle East (Jordan), and the California Channel Islands. My work focuses primarily on using geologic deposits associated with springs and wetlands to understand the hydrologic response of small desert watersheds to past episodes of abrupt climate change. I also develop and test new and innovative methods for dating various materials by radiocarbon, including gastropod shells, old charcoal, tufa, and concentrated organic matter.
Science and Products
Date published: November 10, 2020
Status: Active Quaternary Hydroclimate Records of Spring Ecosystems
Desert springs and wetlands are among the most biologically productive, diverse, and fragile ecosystems on Earth. They are home to thousands of rare, endemic, and endangered plants and animals and reflect the availability and health of emergent groundwater. Despite the ecological importance of these wetlands, our knowledge of how they might respond to predicted future climate change is limited...
Attribution: Climate Research and Development Program
Date published: July 14, 2017
Status: Active Geologic Records of High Sea Levels
This project studies past high sea levels on coastlines that preserve fossil coral reefs or marine terraces. We ascertain the magnitudes of sea-level high stands by field mapping, stratigraphic measurements, and precise elevation measurements. Geochronology is accomplished by radiocarbon dating of mollusks (for Holocene-to-last-glacial deposits), uranium-series dating of corals (for high-sea...
Date published: July 14, 2017
Status: Active Paleohydrology of Desert Wetlands
Springs and wetlands are among the most highly threatened ecosystems on Earth. Although geographically limited, they support more than 20% of all the threatened and endangered species in the United States. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey are examining the rock record to determine how springs and wetlands responded to abrupt climate change during prehistoric times and the recent...
Date published: May 20, 2021
Data release for Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest
Recent studies have shown the oxygen isotopic composition (delta18O) of modern terrestrial gastropod shells is determined largely by the delta18O of precipitation. This implies that fossil shells could be used to reconstruct the delta18O of paleo-precipitation as long as the hydrologic pathways of the local watershed and the shell isotope systematics are well understood.
Date published: February 25, 2021
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.
Year Published: 2021
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...
Goldstein, Harland L.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Reheis, Marith C.; Skipp, Gary L.
Year Published: 2021
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...
Rech, Jason A.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Bosch, Stephanie; Nekola, Jeffrey C.; Yanes, Yurena
Year Published: 2020
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-...
Springer, Kathleen B.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.
Year Published: 2019
Fluvial sedimentary history of Arlington Canyon, Channel Islands National Park, California
Arlington Canyon, in the northwest part of Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, has been the setting for important scientific discoveries over the past half century, including the oldest human remains in North America, several vertebrate fossil sites, and purported evidence of a catastrophic extinction event at the end of...
Schumann, R. Randall; Pigati, Jeffrey S.
Year Published: 2019
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...
Honke, Jeffrey S.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Wilson, J.; Bright, J.; Goldstein, H.L.; Skipp, Gary L.; Reheis, M.C.; Havens, J. C.
Year Published: 2019
Overview of the oxygen isotope systematics of land snails from North America
Continental paleoclimate proxies with near-global coverage are rare. Land snail δ18O is one of the few proxies abundant in Quaternary sediments ranging from the tropics to the high Arctic tundra. However, its application in paleoclimatology remains difficult, attributable in part to limitations in published calibration studies. Here we present...
Yanes, Yurena; Al-Qattan, Nasser M.; Rech, Jason A.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Dodd, Justin P.; Nekola, Jeffrey C.
Year Published: 2018
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...
Springer, Kathleen B.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Manker, Craig R.; Mahan, Shannon A.Attribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
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Springer, K.B., Pigati, J.S., Manker, C.R., and Mahan, S.A., 2018, The Las Vegas Formation: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1839, 62 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1839.
Year Published: 2018
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,...
Springer, Kathleen B.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Scott, EricAttribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
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Springer, K.B., Pigati, J.S., and Scott, E., 2018, The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2018–3038, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20183038.
Year Published: 2018
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...
Gray, Harrison J.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.
Year Published: 2018
Juke Box trench: A valuable archive of late Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphy in the Bonneville basin, Utah
A backhoe trench in deposits of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville and Holocene wetlands below the mouth of Juke Box Cave, near Wendover, Utah, provides an excellent view of the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic history of the area. The following stratigraphic units are exposed (ascending): preBonneville gravel (fluvial or lacustrine) and oolitic...
Oviatt, Charles G.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Madsen, David B.; Rhode, David E.; Bright, Jordon
Year Published: 2018
Origin of last-glacial loess in the western Yukon-Tanana Upland, central Alaska, USA
Loess is widespread over Alaska, and its accumulation has traditionally been associated with glacial periods. Surprisingly, loess deposits securely dated to the last glacial period are rare in Alaska, and paleowind reconstructions for this time period are limited to inferences from dune orientations. We report a rare occurrence of loess deposits...
Muhs, Daniel R.; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Budahn, James R.; Skipp, Gary L.; Bettis, E. Arthur; Jensen, BrittaAttribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
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Muhs, D.R., Pigati, J.S., Budahn, J.R., Skipp, G.L., Bettis, E.A. III, Jensen, B., 2018. Origin of last-glacial loess in the western Yukon-Tanana Upland, central Alaska, USA. Quaternary Research, v. 89, p. 797-819.
Year Published: 2018
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...
Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Honke, Jeffrey S.Attribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
View Citation
Pigati, J.S., Springer, K.B., Honke, J.S., 2018, Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA. Quaternary Research. Available online.
Pre-USGS Publications
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Wilson, J., Jull, A.J.T., Lifton, N.A., 2007, Development of low-background vacuum extraction and graphitization systems for 14C dating of old (40-60 ka) samples. Quaternary International 166, 4-14.
Felton, A.A., Russell, J.M., Cohen, A.S., Baker, M.E., Chesley, J., Lezzar, K.E., McGlue, M.M., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Stager, J.C., 2007, Paleolimnological evidence for the onset and termination of glacial aridity from Lake Tanganyika, East Tropical Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252, 405-423.
Shanahan, T.S., Overpeck, J.T., Beck, J.W., Wheeler, C.W., Pigati, J.S., Talbot, M.R., Scholz, C.A., Peck, J., King, J.W., 2006, Paleoclimatic variations in West Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 242 (3-4), 287-302.
Shanahan, T.M., Pigati, J.S., Dettman, D.L., Quade, J., 2005, Isotopic variability in the aragonite shells of freshwater gastropods living in springs with nearly constant temperature and isotopic composition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69 (16), 3949-3966.
Pigati, J.S., Lifton, N.A., 2004, Geomagnetic effects on time-integrated cosmogenic nuclide production with emphasis on in-situ 14C and 10Be. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 226, 193-205. (Elsevier Top 50 Most Cited Papers 2004-2007 Award).
Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Shanahan, T.M., Haynes, C.V. Jr., 2004, Radiocarbon dating of minute gastropods and new constraints on the timing of late Quaternary spring-discharge deposits in southern Arizona, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 204 (1-2), 33-45.
Rech, J.A., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Betancourt, J.L., 2003, Re-evaluation of mid-Holocene wetland deposits at Quebrada Puripica, northern Chile. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194, 207-222.
Pigati, J.S., 2002, On correcting 14C ages of gastropod shell carbonate for fractionation. Radiocarbon 44(3), 755-760.
Stiner, M.C., Achyuthan, H., Arsebuk, G., Howell, F.C., Josephson, S.C., Juell, K.E., Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., 1998, Reconstructing cave bear paleoecology from skeletons: A cross-disciplinary study of middle-Pleistocene bears from Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey. Paleobiology 24, 74-96.
Date published: May 30, 2016
Hydrologic response to climate change in the Las Vegas Valley
This article is part of the Spring 2016 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Attribution: Climate Research and Development Program