Coring Lead Lake
LEAD LAKE, CARSON SINK, WEST-CENTRAL NEVADA, U.S.A.
A 2,300-year core from Lead Lake in the Carson Sink east of Reno, Nevada provides evidence of the regional expansion of Single-needled Pine (Pinus
monophylla) into the northwestern part of the Great Basin. The pollen record in combination with macrofossil remains of piñon pine in woodrat nests
documenting the appearance of piñon pine in the area indicates that the piñon-juniper woodland that characterizes much of Nevada occurred within the
last 1,600 years in the northwestern corner of the state. This would suggest that the Washoe and Paiute peoples made their major shift to piñon nut
collection and use during the last 1,400 years. A sudden increase in the frequency of charcoal layers in the sediments of Horse Creek on the west slope
of the Clan Alpine Mountains after about 1,400 years ago seems to reflect a change in the local fire regime. Prior to 1,400 years ago a more open,
juniper woodland seems to have characterized the region. With the incursion of piñon, woodlands became more closely packed and the opportunity for
flames to hop from one tree crown to the next resulted in more wide-spread and devastating fires in the mountain ranges of northwestern Nevada.
Pollen of marsh plants reflects great variability rather than stability over the last 2,000 years. Deep water pond weeds alternated with shallow water
sedges and cat-tails. At times cat-tails, reflecting fresher water inputs into the Carson Sink, predominated while sedges became less dominant.
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