Late Quaternary Variations in the Level of Paleo-Lake Malheur, Eastern Oregon

Abstract

The highest shoreline features of paleo-Lake Malheur are undated gravelly barrier beaches south of Harney Lake that lie ca. 3.5 m higher than the hydrographic outlet of Harney Basin at Malheur Gap (1254 m). The earliest Quaternary record for Lake Malheur consists of occurrences of water-deposited tephra dated to ca. 70,000–80,000 yr ago. The next identified lake interval is dated by shells with ages of ca. 32,000 and 29,500 yr B.P. No dates are available for the terminal-Pleistocene Lake Malheur. Lake(s) were present between ca. 9600 and 7400 yr B.P., although periodic low levels or desiccation are suggested by a paleosol dated as ca. 8000 yr B.P. The lake system probably dried further after 7400 yr B.P., although dates are lacking for the period between ca. 7400 and 5000 yr B.P. Dune deposits on the lake floor are ca. 5000 yr old and indicate generally dry conditions. Fluctuating shallow lakes have probably characterized the last 2000 years. A date of 1000 yr B.P. gives a maximum age for beach deposits at 1254 m, near the basin threshold elevation. Thus, the Malheur Lake system may have drained to the Pacific Ocean by way of Malheur Gap during the latest Holocene.