around Lake Alvord increased during this time and lasted even after the Neopluvial had ended there. Chronology The beginning of the Neopluvial occurred about 6,000 years before present, but did not occur everywhere at the same time: The Neopluvial occurred between 4,000 and 2,000 years before present in the Carson Sink. The Neopluvial in the Lake Lahontan basin ended about 2,000 years ago. In Fallen Leaf Lake, the Neopluvial occurred 3,700 years before present in Fallen Leaf Lake. The end occurred 3,650 years before present; after that point precipitation became more irregular until the onset of the Little Ice Age about 3,000 years later. Its occurrence is dated between 5,100 and 2,650 years before present in the central-northern Great Basin, In the Great Salt Lake, the Neopluvial commenced 5,000 years before present and water levels reached their maximum between 3,000 and 2,000 years before present. It took place between 3,000 and 4,000 years before present in Lake Cochise. It occurred between 4,000 and 2,500 years before present in the Mojave Desert. In Pyramid Lake, the Neopluvial commenced starting from 5,000 years before present and reached a maximum between 4,100 and 3,800 years before present in Pyramid Lake. High elevation lakes in the Rocky Mountains with small watersheds, particularly sensitive to a changing water balance, showed synchronous increase in lake levels from 6,000 to 5,000 years before present, centered at 5,700 years ago. In the Summer Lake area, the Neopluvial is dated to have occurred between 4,000 and 1,900 years ago. Rising water levels in Lake Tahoe drowned trees between 4,800 and 5,700 years before present. In Tulare Lake, the Neopluvial lasted between 4,500 and 2,800 years before present; after that a severe drought occurred. Related events The Neopluvial is in part correlative to the Neoglacial, and might have been caused by a change in winter conditions over the North Pacific. This cooling is primarily explained by steadily declining summer insolation, though synchronous patterns in hydrological responses at sub-millennial scales may be linked to atmospheric circulation shifts driven by factors such as internal variability in ocean-atmosphere teleconnections. Strengthening ENSO variability, a cooling of the North Pacific and a southward shift of the Pacific jet stream also coincided with the Neopluvial. The neopluvial resembles the Pluvial period that occurred in western North America during the late Last Glacial Maximum, but was much weaker than the LGM wet period. Terminology The term "neopluvial"