Initial Paleoenvironmental Evidence from the Outer Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska ...

• Main Author: Allen, Hunter T
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Massachusetts Amherst 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change; Kuskokwim; permafrost; Tundra; Alaska; Beringia; Yukon
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7275/35741283.0; https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1356

Southwestern Alaska is a critically understudied region of Beringia, highlighted by the lack of paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YK Delta). This sub-arctic region is a joint deltaic coastal lowland environment, home to 50 Yup’ik and Cup’ik communities. Anthropogenic climate change dramatically impacts the landscape. Increases in the intensity and occurrence of coastal flooding, the thaw of permafrost and tundra wildfire events have directly affected community resilience and their subsistence way of life. The YK Delta also contributes to the global atmospheric carbon budget as the region’s discontinuous permafrost thaws releasing stored carbon. These issues necessitate the filling of the regional paleoenvironmental knowledge to properly inform native populations and predict future changes to the landscape. Working with two communities on the outer YK Delta, namely, Kongiganak and Mekoryuk, this thesis presents initial paleoenvironmental studies which contribute to our ...