Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington
Abstract An assemblage of fossil sockeye salmon was discovered in Pleistocene lake sediments along the South Fork Skokomish River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. The fossils were abundant near the head of a former glacial lake at 115 m elevation. Large adult salmon are concentrated in a sequence of...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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crcambridgeupr:10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.007 2024-06-09T07:46:49+00:00 Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington Smith, Gerald R. Montgomery, David R. Peterson, N. Phil Crowley, Bruce 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.007 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589407000403?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589407000403?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400014162 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Quaternary Research volume 68, issue 2, page 227-238 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 journal-article 2007 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.007 2024-05-15T13:07:37Z Abstract An assemblage of fossil sockeye salmon was discovered in Pleistocene lake sediments along the South Fork Skokomish River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. The fossils were abundant near the head of a former glacial lake at 115 m elevation. Large adult salmon are concentrated in a sequence of death assemblages that include individuals with enlarged breeding teeth and worn caudal fins indicating migration, nest digging, and spawning prior to death. The specimens were 4 yr old and 45–70 cm in total length, similar in size to modern sockeye salmon, not landlocked kokanee. The fossils possess most of the characteristics of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka , but with several minor traits suggestive of pink salmon, O. gorbuscha . This suggests the degree of divergence of these species at about 1 million yr ago, when geological evidence indicates the salmon were deposited at the head of a proglacial lake impounded by the Salmon Springs advance of the Puget lobe ice sheet. Surficial geology and topography record a complicated history of glacial damming and river diversion that implies incision of the modern gorge of the South Fork Skokomish River after deposition of the fossil-bearing sediments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet Pink salmon Cambridge University Press Sockeye ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) South Fork ENVELOPE(161.250,161.250,-77.567,-77.567) Quaternary Research 68 2 227 238 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract An assemblage of fossil sockeye salmon was discovered in Pleistocene lake sediments along the South Fork Skokomish River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. The fossils were abundant near the head of a former glacial lake at 115 m elevation. Large adult salmon are concentrated in a sequence of death assemblages that include individuals with enlarged breeding teeth and worn caudal fins indicating migration, nest digging, and spawning prior to death. The specimens were 4 yr old and 45–70 cm in total length, similar in size to modern sockeye salmon, not landlocked kokanee. The fossils possess most of the characteristics of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka , but with several minor traits suggestive of pink salmon, O. gorbuscha . This suggests the degree of divergence of these species at about 1 million yr ago, when geological evidence indicates the salmon were deposited at the head of a proglacial lake impounded by the Salmon Springs advance of the Puget lobe ice sheet. Surficial geology and topography record a complicated history of glacial damming and river diversion that implies incision of the modern gorge of the South Fork Skokomish River after deposition of the fossil-bearing sediments. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, Gerald R. Montgomery, David R. Peterson, N. Phil Crowley, Bruce |
spellingShingle |
Smith, Gerald R. Montgomery, David R. Peterson, N. Phil Crowley, Bruce Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
author_facet |
Smith, Gerald R. Montgomery, David R. Peterson, N. Phil Crowley, Bruce |
author_sort |
Smith, Gerald R. |
title |
Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
title_short |
Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
title_full |
Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
title_fullStr |
Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spawning sockeye salmon fossils in Pleistocene lake beds of Skokomish Valley, Washington |
title_sort |
spawning sockeye salmon fossils in pleistocene lake beds of skokomish valley, washington |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.007 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589407000403?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589407000403?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400014162 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) ENVELOPE(161.250,161.250,-77.567,-77.567) |
geographic |
Sockeye Glacial Lake South Fork |
geographic_facet |
Sockeye Glacial Lake South Fork |
genre |
Ice Sheet Pink salmon |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet Pink salmon |
op_source |
Quaternary Research volume 68, issue 2, page 227-238 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.007 |
container_title |
Quaternary Research |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
227 |
op_container_end_page |
238 |
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1801376814068662272 |