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A Diatom-Based Reconstruction Of Drought Intensity, Duration, And Frequency From Moon Lake, North Dakota: A Sub-Decadal Record Of The Last 2,300 Years, Kathleen R. Laird, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Brian F. Cumming

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Diatom assemblages preserved in sediment cores from closed-basin lakes can provide high-resolution records of past hydrologic and climatic conditions, including long-term patterns in the intensity, duration, and frequency of droughts. At Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in eastern North Dakota, a comparison of diatom-inferred salinity and the precipitation-based Bhalme-Mooley Drought Index (BMDI) over the last 100 years was highly significant, suggesting that the diatom record contains a sensitive archive of past climatic conditions. A sub-decadal record of inferred salinity for the past 2300 years indicates that extreme droughts of greater intensity than those during the 1930s “Dust Bowl” were more …