Lake Level Reconstruction
The water level in lakes fluctuates with changes in moisture balance (precipitation minus evaporation) within the lake basin. In closed basin lakes, particularly in arid regions, lake level fluctuations can be dramatic, resulting in fossil shoreline deposits and other features indicative of past lake levels. A history of moisture balance and climate in the basin can then be derived.
Obtaining Data at the World Data Center
Search Datasets
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Google Earth Map
Locate and download lake level studies using a Google Earth map interface. Google Earth must be installed to use this search tool. -
Interactive Map
Select study locations by region, proximity to a point, or text-based attributes. -
Search All Paleoclimatology Data
Access a free text search of our entire study archive. -
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Catalog Service for the Web
Harvest paleoclimate study metadata records using an OGC web service.
Browse Datasets
- List of Lake Level Datasets by Title and Investigator
- Lake Level Datasets from Our FTP Site
- Global Lake Level Status Grids, Viau and Gajewski 2001
- Oxford Global Lake Level Database and Description, Street-Perrott et al. 1989
- Former Soviet Union and Mongolia Lake Level Histories and Description, Tarasov et al. 1996
- Lake Level Histories for Europe and Description, Yu et al. 1995
- Aral Sea and Caspian Sea Extent and Description, Harrison et al. 1991
- Owens Lake California Lake Level History and Description, Benson et al. 1996
- Peace-Athabasca Lake Levels and Description, Stockton and Fritts 1973
- Athabasca Lake Level and Supplementary Information (1.4MB), Meko 2002, 2006
- Crooked Pond, Massachusetts Lake Level and Hydrogen Isotope Data, Text or Excel
- Lake Erie 265 Year Lake Level Reconstruction, Text or Excel
Contributing Data
Investigators who wish to contribute their data to our lake level archive can find information on contributing below. Data and study description information can be contributed by emailing your data to paleo@noaa.gov.
Other Data Archives
Additional sources of NCDC data and information on lake level histories.
