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Lake Manly
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Lake Manly
Lake Manly was a pluvial lake in Death Valley, California. It forms occasionally in Badwater Basin after heavy rainfall, but at its maximum extent during the so-called "Blackwelder stand," ending approximately 120,000 years before present, the lake covered much of Death Valley with a surface area of 1,600 square kilometers (620 sq mi). Water levels varied through its history, and the chronology is further complicated by active tectonic processes that have modified the elevations of the various shorelines of Lake Manly; during the Blackwelder stage they reached 47–90 meters (154–295 ft) above sea level. The lake received water mainly from the Amargosa River and at various points from the Mojave River and Owens River. The lake and its substantial catchment favored the spread of a number of aquatic species, including some lizards, pupfish and springsnails. The lake probably supported a substantial ecosystem, and a number of diatoms developed there.
In Death Valley, lakes existed during different times in the geological past. After some poorly defined lake stages during the Miocene, Pliocene and early Pleistocene, the first large lake stage occurred about 185,000–128,000 years ago during the Tahoe glacial stage and formed the Blackwelder shorelines. This lake was the largest known extent of Lake Manly; theories that the lake merged with Lake Mojave farther south or even overflowed into the Colorado River close to Ludlow and across several other basins are, however, questionable. After the drying of this lake a later lake stage occurred 35,000–10,000 years ago during the Tioga/Wisconsin glaciation; this lake was smaller than the Blackwelder lake. During the Holocene, the lake disappeared; today only ephemeral lakes occur in Death Valley during strong floods.
This lake is one among many major lakes that formed in the Great Basin, the best researched of which are Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. Decreasing temperatures and thus decreased evaporation rates as well as increased precipitation rates during the ice ages were responsible for the formation of these lake systems. Lake Manly collected the overflow from a number of lakes including Lake Tecopa, Mono Lake, Owens Lake, Searles Lake, Lake Panamint, Lake Mojave, Lake Dumont and Lake Manix. Not all of them existed or drained into Lake Manly simultaneously.
The existence of large ancient lakes in the Great Basin of the United States was already proposed by the end of the 19th century, when the existence of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville was first described. The possibility of a former lake in Death Valley was also considered during that time, though at first it was not universally accepted as a large lake. The first evidence for it was described in 1924 by geologist Levi F. Noble. Earlier in 1890 another geologist, Grove Karl Gilbert, already assumed a lake existed in Death Valley, although his lake was considerably larger than actual Lake Manly.
Evidence for the lake's existence includes wavecut terraces observed by geologists in 1925, pebbles and tufa, layers of clay and salt on its former lake bed, and calcium carbonate deposits that were probably formed by algae in the lake. These clues are dispersed across Death Valley, especially within the more researched areas of Beatty Junction and Desolation Canyon.
While the deposits were once attributed to a single lake stand, later evidence was found of various lake cycles going back to the Pliocene. The history of Lake Manly is not as well understood as that of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville, the two largest pluvial lakes recorded in the Great Basin. More recently, renewed scientific interest has stemmed from the fact that Lake Manly formerly drained the area of Yucca Mountain, a proposed nuclear waste repository.
The lake was named in honor of William Lewis Manly, who rescued his traveling party stranded in Death Valley in 1849. The name "Lake Rogers" for a potential northern lake in Death Valley was derived from a compatriot of Manly, John Rogers. The name "Lake Manly" was coined in 1932, and is sometimes spelled as "Manley", which is a misspelling. Other names for the lakes in Death Valley are "Death Valley Pleistocene lakes" and "Death Valley Lake", a name first used in a publication of 1902.
The name is used for the lakes that occupied Death Valley in the past, but occasionally the name "Lake Manly" is used only for the most recent, the middle Pleistocene lake stage or general late Pleistocene lake stages.
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Lake Manly
Lake Manly was a pluvial lake in Death Valley, California. It forms occasionally in Badwater Basin after heavy rainfall, but at its maximum extent during the so-called "Blackwelder stand," ending approximately 120,000 years before present, the lake covered much of Death Valley with a surface area of 1,600 square kilometers (620 sq mi). Water levels varied through its history, and the chronology is further complicated by active tectonic processes that have modified the elevations of the various shorelines of Lake Manly; during the Blackwelder stage they reached 47–90 meters (154–295 ft) above sea level. The lake received water mainly from the Amargosa River and at various points from the Mojave River and Owens River. The lake and its substantial catchment favored the spread of a number of aquatic species, including some lizards, pupfish and springsnails. The lake probably supported a substantial ecosystem, and a number of diatoms developed there.
In Death Valley, lakes existed during different times in the geological past. After some poorly defined lake stages during the Miocene, Pliocene and early Pleistocene, the first large lake stage occurred about 185,000–128,000 years ago during the Tahoe glacial stage and formed the Blackwelder shorelines. This lake was the largest known extent of Lake Manly; theories that the lake merged with Lake Mojave farther south or even overflowed into the Colorado River close to Ludlow and across several other basins are, however, questionable. After the drying of this lake a later lake stage occurred 35,000–10,000 years ago during the Tioga/Wisconsin glaciation; this lake was smaller than the Blackwelder lake. During the Holocene, the lake disappeared; today only ephemeral lakes occur in Death Valley during strong floods.
This lake is one among many major lakes that formed in the Great Basin, the best researched of which are Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. Decreasing temperatures and thus decreased evaporation rates as well as increased precipitation rates during the ice ages were responsible for the formation of these lake systems. Lake Manly collected the overflow from a number of lakes including Lake Tecopa, Mono Lake, Owens Lake, Searles Lake, Lake Panamint, Lake Mojave, Lake Dumont and Lake Manix. Not all of them existed or drained into Lake Manly simultaneously.
The existence of large ancient lakes in the Great Basin of the United States was already proposed by the end of the 19th century, when the existence of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville was first described. The possibility of a former lake in Death Valley was also considered during that time, though at first it was not universally accepted as a large lake. The first evidence for it was described in 1924 by geologist Levi F. Noble. Earlier in 1890 another geologist, Grove Karl Gilbert, already assumed a lake existed in Death Valley, although his lake was considerably larger than actual Lake Manly.
Evidence for the lake's existence includes wavecut terraces observed by geologists in 1925, pebbles and tufa, layers of clay and salt on its former lake bed, and calcium carbonate deposits that were probably formed by algae in the lake. These clues are dispersed across Death Valley, especially within the more researched areas of Beatty Junction and Desolation Canyon.
While the deposits were once attributed to a single lake stand, later evidence was found of various lake cycles going back to the Pliocene. The history of Lake Manly is not as well understood as that of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville, the two largest pluvial lakes recorded in the Great Basin. More recently, renewed scientific interest has stemmed from the fact that Lake Manly formerly drained the area of Yucca Mountain, a proposed nuclear waste repository.
The lake was named in honor of William Lewis Manly, who rescued his traveling party stranded in Death Valley in 1849. The name "Lake Rogers" for a potential northern lake in Death Valley was derived from a compatriot of Manly, John Rogers. The name "Lake Manly" was coined in 1932, and is sometimes spelled as "Manley", which is a misspelling. Other names for the lakes in Death Valley are "Death Valley Pleistocene lakes" and "Death Valley Lake", a name first used in a publication of 1902.
The name is used for the lakes that occupied Death Valley in the past, but occasionally the name "Lake Manly" is used only for the most recent, the middle Pleistocene lake stage or general late Pleistocene lake stages.
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