Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska
Abstract The “upper pit” at the Lost Chicken placer gold mine in east central Alaska contains fossils that provide information on the flora and insect fauna of interior Alaska just before the onset of global cooling at 2.5 myr. Fossils come from sediments interbedded with the Lost Chicken tephra (da...
Published in: | Quaternary Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2003
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400012229 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 2024-06-23T07:56:08+00:00 Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska Matthews, John V. Westgate, J. A. Ovenden, Lynn Carter, L. David Fouch, Thomas 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400012229 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Quaternary Research volume 60, issue 1, page 9-18 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 journal-article 2003 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 2024-06-05T04:04:35Z Abstract The “upper pit” at the Lost Chicken placer gold mine in east central Alaska contains fossils that provide information on the flora and insect fauna of interior Alaska just before the onset of global cooling at 2.5 myr. Fossils come from sediments interbedded with the Lost Chicken tephra (dated at 2.9 ± 0.4 myr—early Late Pliocene) and portray the floodplain and valley of a small creek within a region dominated by a coniferous forest richer in genera and species than the present one. Climate was wetter and less continental, and there was probably little or no permafrost. At least one other Pliocene tephra (the Fortymile tephra) occurs at the site and is also associated with plant and insect fossils. Among these fossils are extinct plants and insects like those found at other Tertiary sites in northern Canada and Alaska. The Lost Chicken sequence is the same age as the Beaufort Formation on Meighen Island, more than 1000 km to the north. Like Lost Chicken, Meighen Island sediments contain fossils representing a diverse boreal environment. This shows that the latitudinal climate gradient during early Late Pliocene time was shallower than at present and the boreal forest had a far greater latitudinal span than now. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Alaska Cambridge University Press Canada Meighen Island ENVELOPE(-99.503,-99.503,79.919,79.919) Quaternary Research 60 1 9 18 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The “upper pit” at the Lost Chicken placer gold mine in east central Alaska contains fossils that provide information on the flora and insect fauna of interior Alaska just before the onset of global cooling at 2.5 myr. Fossils come from sediments interbedded with the Lost Chicken tephra (dated at 2.9 ± 0.4 myr—early Late Pliocene) and portray the floodplain and valley of a small creek within a region dominated by a coniferous forest richer in genera and species than the present one. Climate was wetter and less continental, and there was probably little or no permafrost. At least one other Pliocene tephra (the Fortymile tephra) occurs at the site and is also associated with plant and insect fossils. Among these fossils are extinct plants and insects like those found at other Tertiary sites in northern Canada and Alaska. The Lost Chicken sequence is the same age as the Beaufort Formation on Meighen Island, more than 1000 km to the north. Like Lost Chicken, Meighen Island sediments contain fossils representing a diverse boreal environment. This shows that the latitudinal climate gradient during early Late Pliocene time was shallower than at present and the boreal forest had a far greater latitudinal span than now. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matthews, John V. Westgate, J. A. Ovenden, Lynn Carter, L. David Fouch, Thomas |
spellingShingle |
Matthews, John V. Westgate, J. A. Ovenden, Lynn Carter, L. David Fouch, Thomas Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
author_facet |
Matthews, John V. Westgate, J. A. Ovenden, Lynn Carter, L. David Fouch, Thomas |
author_sort |
Matthews, John V. |
title |
Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
title_short |
Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
title_full |
Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the Lost Chicken gold mine: new information on the late Pliocene environment of east central Alaska |
title_sort |
stratigraphy, fossils, and age of sediments at the upper pit of the lost chicken gold mine: new information on the late pliocene environment of east central alaska |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589403000875?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400012229 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-99.503,-99.503,79.919,79.919) |
geographic |
Canada Meighen Island |
geographic_facet |
Canada Meighen Island |
genre |
permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Quaternary Research volume 60, issue 1, page 9-18 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0033-5894(03)00087-5 |
container_title |
Quaternary Research |
container_volume |
60 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
9 |
op_container_end_page |
18 |
_version_ |
1802649031140179968 |