Holocene Glacial and Tree-Line Variations in the White River Valley and Skolai Pass, Alaska and Yukon Territory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24085404 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George H Denton (University of Maine), Wibjörn Karlén (University of Maine) |
| Year | 1977 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 63-111 |
| Publication date | 1977-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Quaternary Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/0033-5894(77)90014-x |
| OpenAlex | W1967193306 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 26 |
| References cited | 34 |
Complex glacier and tree-line fluctuations in the White River valley on the northern flank of the St. Elias and Wrangell Mountains in southern Alaska and Yukon Territory are recognized by detailed moraine maps and drift stratigraphy, and are dated by dendrochronology, lichenometry, 14 C ages, and stratigraphic relations of drift to the eastern (1230 14 C yr BP) and northern (1980 14 C yr BP) lobes of the White River Ash. The results show two major intervals of expansion, one concurrent with the well-known and widespread Little Ice Age and the other dated between 2900 and 2100 14 C yr BP, with a culmination about 2600 and 2800 14 C yr BP. Here, the ages of Little Ice Age moraines suggest fluctuating glacier expansion between ad 1500 and the early 20th century. Much of the 20th century has experienced glacier recession, but probably it would be premature to declare the Little Ice Age over. The complex moraine systems of the older expansion interval lie immediately downvalley from Little Ice Age moraines, suggesting that the two expansion intervals represent similar events in the Holocene, and hence that the Little Ice Age is not unique. Another very short-lived advance occurred about 1230 to 1050 14 C yr BP. Spruce immigrated into the valley to a minimum altitude of 3500 ft (1067 m), about 600 ft (183 m) below the current spruce tree line of 4100 ft (1250 m), at least by 8020 14 C yr BP. Subsequent intervals of high tree line were in accord with glacier recession; in fact, several spruce-wood deposits above current tree line occur bedded between Holocene tills. High deposits of fossil wood range up to 76 m above present tree line and are dated at about 5250, 3600 to 3000, and 2100 to 1230 14 C yr BP. St. Elias glacial and tree-line fluctuations, which probably are controlled predominantly by summer temperature and by length of the growing and ablation seasons, correlate closely with a detailed Holocene tree-ring curve from California, suggesting a degree of synchronism of Holocene summer-temperature changes between the two areas. This synchronism is strengthened by comparison with the glacier record from British Columbia and Mt. Rainier. Likewise, broad synchronism of Holocene events exists across the Arctic between the St. Elias Mountains and Swedish Lappland. Finally, two sequences from the Southern Hemisphere show similar records, in so far as dating allows. Hence, we believe that a preliminary case can be made for broad synchronism of Holocene climatic fluctuations in several regions, although further data are needed and several areas, particularly Colorado and Baffin Island, show major differences in the regional pattern.
Climate change · Dendrochronology · Geography · Geomorphology · Glacial period · Glacier · Holocene · Moraine · Physical geography · Tree line · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Oceanography · Paleontology
Regional atmospheric circulation change in the North Pacific during the Holocene inferred from lacustrine carbonate oxygen isotopes, Yukon Territory, Canada
Boreal temperature variability inferred from maximum latewood density and tree-ring width data, Wrangell Mountain region, Alaska
Reconstructed Summer Degree Days in Central Alaska and Northwestern Canada since 1524
Radiocarbon Dating of the Rate of Movement of Two Solifluction Lobes in the Ruby Range, Yukon Territory
Timing and cause of water level fluctuations in Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, over the past 5000 years
A Comparison of Evidence for Late Holocene Summer Temperature Variations in the Northern Hemisphere
Modern Pollen Assemblages and Vegetational History of the Moraines of the Klutlan Glacier and Its Surroundings, Yukon Territory, Canada
Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in the Middle Canadian Rocky Mountains
Late Holocene Climate Changes in Eastern North America Estimated from Pollen Data
Holocene Glacial and Tree-Line Variations in the White River Valley and Skolai Pass, Alaska and Yukon Territory
Regional atmospheric circulation change in the North Pacific during the Holocene inferred from lacustrine carbonate oxygen isotopes, Yukon Territory, Canada
Glacier Variations in the Sierra Nevada, California, as Related to a 1200-Year Tree-Ring Chronology
Holocene paleoenvironmental changes inferred from diatom assemblages in sediments of Kusawa Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada
A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska
Formation of the Neoglacial Surge Moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada
Evidence and Implications of Recent Climate Change in Northern Alaska and Other Arctic Regions
Palaeohydrology of the Southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, based on multiproxy analyses of lake sediment cores from a depth transect
Mid-Holocene glacier expansion between 7500 and 4000 cal. yr BP in the British Columbia Coast Mountains, Canada
Pre-`Little Ice Age' glacier fluctuations in Garibaldi Provincial Park, Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
High-altitude and high-latitude tree growth in relation to past, present and future global climate change
Tephrochronology, lichenometry and radiocarbon dating at Gulkana Glacier, central Alaska Range, USA
Portage Glacier and Portage Pass, Alaska
Ice Patch Archaeology in Global Perspective
Enhanced Late Holocene Enso/PDO expression along the margins of the eastern North Pacific
Neoglacial fluctuations and sedimentation of an iceberg-calving glacier resolved with tree rings (kenai Fjords national park, Alaska)
Revisiting the Timing of the Northern Lobe of the White River Ash Volcanic Event in Eastern Alaska and Western Yukon
Chronology of Cirque Glaciation, Colorado Front Range
Late Quaternary Glacial and Climatic History of Northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada
Late Pleistocene Glaciations of the Snag-Klutlan Area, Yukon Territory
Age of a Widespread Layer of Volcanic Ash in the Southwestern Yukon Territory
Radiocarbon geochronology of southern British Columbia
The Chisana-White River district, Alaska
Yale Natural Radiocarbon Measurements IX
Glacier Variations in Southern Patagonia
The Climate of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory
| Unique citing works | 26 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,54 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 2020 (43) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |