Late Quaternary Climatic and Vegetation History of the Alaskan North Slope: Part II, Analysis of Paleo Records

Linda B. Brubaker lbru@u.washington.edu  (Principal Investigator current)
Patricia M. Anderson  (Co-Principal Investigator current)

Abstract    

     Abstract  ATM-9423392  Brubaker,Linda B.  University of Washington  Title:
     Late Quaternary Climatic and Vegetation History of the          Alaskan North
     Slope: Part II, Analysis of Paleo Records    Beringia (far northwest Canada,
     Alaska, and northeast Siberia) is  an important region of paleoclimate study
     for the NSF program  Paleoclimate of Arctic Lakes and Estuaries (PALE) because
     it remained unglaciated during the late Quaternary and experienced  extensive
     changes in paleogeography due to changing sea levels.  This research is
     designed to describe the late Quaternary  climate  history of the North Slope
     (ca. 150,000 years BP to present)  through the analysis of proxy climate
     indicators in a suite of lake  sediment cores on the Alaskan North Slope.  The
     research will: 1)  describe temporal and spatial variations in the pollen,
     spores,  plant macrofossils and selected geochemical properties,   2) interpret
     variations in paleoclimate from proxy indicators  (using analytical approaches
     and large modern calibration data sets  for the interpretation of pollen data),
     and 3) infer potential  causes of paleoclimatic variations using a conceptual
     framework of  large scale controls of eastern Beringian climate and climate
     model  simulations as part of ongoing PALE paleoclimate projects.  Results  of
     the proposed research will contribute directly to PALE's goal of  documenting
     circumarctic paleoclimate variability.