A Possible Younger Dryas Record in Southeastern Alaska

A stratigraphic record of climatic cooling equal in timing and severity to the Younger Dryas event of the North Atlantic region has been obtained from lacustrine sediments in the Glacier Bay area of southeastern Alaska. Fossil pollen show that a late Wisconsin pine parkland was replaced about 10,800...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Engstrom, D. R., Hansen, B. C. S., Wright, H. E.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1990
Subjects:
Glacier Bay
Parkland
glacier
North Atlantic
Tundra
Alaska
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.250.4986.1383
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.250.4986.1383
Description
Summary:A stratigraphic record of climatic cooling equal in timing and severity to the Younger Dryas event of the North Atlantic region has been obtained from lacustrine sediments in the Glacier Bay area of southeastern Alaska. Fossil pollen show that a late Wisconsin pine parkland was replaced about 10,800 years ago by shrub- and herb-dominated tundra, which lasted until about 9,800 years ago. This vegetational change is matched by geochemical evidence for loss of organic matter from catchment soils and increased mineral erosion. If this event represents the Younger Dryas, then an explanation for a hemisphere-wide propagation of a North Atlantic climatic perturbation must be sought.

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