Late Quaternary paleoclimate of western Alaska inferred from fossil chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories
Quaternary Science Reviews
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Abstract
Fossil Chironomidae assemblages (with a few Chaoboridae and Ceratopogonidae) from Zagoskin and Burial Lakes in western Alaska provide quantitative reconstructions of mean July air temperatures for periods of the late-middle Wisconsin (~39,000-34,000 cal yr B.P.) to the present. Inferred temperatures are compared with previously analyzed pollen data from each site summarized here by indirect ordination. Paleotemperature trends reveal substantial differences in the timing of climatic warming following the late Wisconsin at each site, although chronological uncertainty exists. Zagoskin Lake shows early warming beginning at about 21,000 cal yr B.P., whereas warming at Burial Lake begins ~4000 years later. Summer climates during the last glacial maximum (LGM) were on average ~3.5C° below the modern temperatures at each site. Major shifts in vegetation occurred from ~19,000 to 10,000 cal yr B.P. at Zagoskin Lake and from ~17,000 to 10,000 cal yr B.P. at Burial Lake. Vegetation shifts followed climatic warming, when temperatures neared modern values. Both sites provide evidence of an early postglacial thermal maximum at ~12,300 cal yr B.P. These chironomid records, combined with other insect-based climatic reconstructions from Beringia, indicate that during the LGM: (1) greater continentality likely influenced regions adjacent to the Bering Land Bridge and (2) summer climates were, at times, not dominated by severe cold.
Suggested Citation
Kurek, J., Cwynar, L.C., Ager, T.A., Abbott, M.B., Edwards, M., 2009, Late Quaternary paleoclimate of western Alaska inferred from fossil chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 28, no. 9-10, p. 799-811, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.001.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Late Quaternary paleoclimate of western Alaska inferred from fossil chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories |
| Series title | Quaternary Science Reviews |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.001 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 9-10 |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Publisher location | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Contributing office(s) | Geology and Environmental Change Science Center |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Quaternary Science Reviews |
| First page | 799 |
| Last page | 811 |