Late Pleistocene - early Holocene plant macrofossils and pollen from the Yukon Flats, central Alaska
Dates
Year
2007
Citation
Robinson, Simon Christopher, 2007, Late Pleistocene - early Holocene plant macrofossils and pollen from the Yukon Flats, central Alaska: University of Alberta (Canada).
Summary
Dramatic climate changes and expansion of new biomes characterize the late Pleistocene - early Holocene of eastern Beringia. Analysis of plant macrofossils and pollen from three different sites in the Yukon Flats, central Alaska, record the past vegetation during the late Pleistocene - early Holocene (ca. 11,500-6,900 14 C yrs BP) transition. The first paper deals with plant macrofossils associated with one of the earliest post glacial beaver dams (ca. 9,300 14 C yrs BP) found in central Alaska. Vegetation reconstruction suggests a warmer than modern climate during the early Holocene. The second paper examines eight paleosols and their associated plant macrofossils and pollen within eolian deposits at two sites ranging from 11,500-6,900 [...]
Summary
Dramatic climate changes and expansion of new biomes characterize the late Pleistocene - early Holocene of eastern Beringia. Analysis of plant macrofossils and pollen from three different sites in the Yukon Flats, central Alaska, record the past vegetation during the late Pleistocene - early Holocene (ca. 11,500-6,900 14 C yrs BP) transition. The first paper deals with plant macrofossils associated with one of the earliest post glacial beaver dams (ca. 9,300 14 C yrs BP) found in central Alaska. Vegetation reconstruction suggests a warmer than modern climate during the early Holocene. The second paper examines eight paleosols and their associated plant macrofossils and pollen within eolian deposits at two sites ranging from 11,500-6,900 14 C yrs BP in the Yukon Flats. Spruce macrofossils were found in a paleosol dated at 10,700 14 C yrs BP. High spruce pollen percentages (26%) were also recorded near the paleosol. This is the earliest post-LGM evidence for spruce in Alaska. Comparison with other post-glacial spruce records in Alaska, Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories suggests a spruce refugium during the late Wisconsinan glaciation, perhaps in northwestern Canada.
