Lakes have a great capacity to hold records of climate archived in various sedimentary proxies. Coring is the primary method used to access the sedimentary archive layers to assess paleoclimates. These methods rely on proxies related to microfossils, macrofossils, isotopic composition and sedimentary changes that relate to specific environmental conditions. The use of proxies is constrained by preservation potential and ability of proxies to record environmental changes of interest. However, the recorded changes rarely reflect lake levels. Imaging the architecture of lake fill sediments provides a direct measurement of lake levels through the lifespan of the basin. In small, shallow lakes, ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been utilized to assess sediment thickness and paleoshorelines related former lake surfaces. While GPR alone cannot answer the questions related to changes in paleoclimate, adding stratigraphic context to core locations and direct observation of lake levels can be a crucial component of understanding.
