Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:55:28.580Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael G. Loso ,
Robert S. Anderson ,
Suzanne P. Anderson  and
Paula J. Reimer
Michael G. Loso*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
Robert S. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
Suzanne P. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
Paula J. Reimer
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected] (M.G. Loso).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We present a varve thickness chronology from glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake in the southern Alaska icefields. Radiogenic evidence confirms that laminations are annual and record continuous sediment deposition from A.D. 442 to A.D. 1998. Varve thickness is positively correlated with Northern Hemisphere temperature trends, and more strongly with a local, ∼600 yr long tree ring width chronology. Varve thickness increases in warm summers because of higher melt, runoff, and sediment transport (as expected), but also because shrinkage of the glacier dam allows shoreline regression that concentrates sediment in the smaller lake. Varve thickness provides a sensitive record of relative changes in warm season temperatures. Relative to the entire record, temperatures implied by this chronology were lowest around A.D. 600, warm between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1300, cooler between A.D. 1500 and A.D. 1850, and have increased dramatically since then. Combined with stratigraphic evidence that contemporary jökulhlaups (which began in 1999) are unprecedented since at least A.D. 442, this record suggests that 20th century warming is more intense, and accompanied by more extensive glacier retreat, than the Medieval Warm Period or any other time in the last 1500 yr.

Keywords

AlaskaArctic climateClimatic historyGlacial lakesGlacial sedimentsGlaciation fluctuationsLittle Ice AgeMedieval Warm PeriodStratigraphyVarves
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , July 2006 , pp. 12 - 24
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1 Present address: Department of Geological Sciences and INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
2 Present address: Department of Geography and INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
3 Present address: 14Chrono Centre Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland BT71NN UK.

References

ACIA Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. (2004). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Anderson, S.P., Walder, J.S., Anderson, R.S., Kraal, E.R., Cunico, M., Fountain, A.G., and Trabant, D.C. Integrated hydrologic and hydrochemical observations of Hidden Creek Lake jökulhlaups, Kennicott Glacier, Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, F1 (2003). 6003 Google Scholar
Arendt, A.A., Echelmeyer, K.A., Harrison, W.D., Lingle, C.S., and Valentine, V.B. Rapid wastage of Alaska glaciers and their contribution to rising sea level. Science 297, (2002). 382–386.Google Scholar
Ashley, G.M., Shaw, J., and Smith, N.D. Glacial Sedimentary Environments. SEPM Short Course vol. 13, (1985). Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Tulsa, OK. 246 Google Scholar
Björnsson, H. Jökulhlaups in Iceland: prediction, characteristics and simulation. Hooke, R.L. Symposium on Mountain Glaciology relating to Human Activity. (1992). International Glaciological Society, Lanzhou, China. 95–107.Google Scholar
Bouma, A.H. Introduction to submarine fans and related turbidite systems. Bouma, A.H., Normark, W.R., and Barnes, N.E. Submarine Fans and Related Turbidite Systems. (1985). Springer-Verlag, New York, NY. 4–17.Google Scholar
Calkin, P.E., Wiles, G.C., and Barclay, D.J. Holocene coastal glaciation of Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, (2001). 449–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowley, T.J. Causes of climate change over the past 1000 years. Science 289, (2000). 270–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Arrigo, R.D., Jacoby, G.C., Free, M., and Robock, A. Northern Hemisphere temperature variability for the last three centuries: tree-ring and model estimates. Climatic Change 42, (1999). 663–675.Google Scholar
Davi, N.K., Jacoby, G.C., and Wiles, G.C. Boreal temperature variability inferred from maximum latewood density and tree-ring width data, Wrangell Mountain region, Alaska. Quaternary Research 60, (2003). 252–262.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., and Karlén, W. Holocene glacial and tree-line variation in the White River Valley and Skolai Pass, Alaska and Yukon Territory. Quaternary Research 7, (1977). 63–111.Google Scholar
Doig, R. A method for determining the frequency of large-magnitude earthquakes using lake sediments. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 23, (1986). 930–937.Google Scholar
ESRI, (1999). ArcGIS. Release 9.0 [software]. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.Google Scholar
Fulton, H. Changes, pp. Art and photo exhibition. (1999). Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK.Google Scholar
Gilbert, R., and Desloges, J.R. Sediments of ice-dammed self-draining Ape Lake, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24, (1987). 1735–1747.Google Scholar
Hallet, B., Hunter, L., and Bogen, J. Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: a review and field data and their implications. Global and Planetary Change 12, (1996). 213–235.Google Scholar
Hardy, D.R., Bradley, R.S., and Zolitschka, B. The climatic signal in varved sediments from Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology 16, (1996). 227–238.Google Scholar
Houghton, J.T. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate. (2001). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. 944 Google Scholar
Hu, F.S., Ito, E., Brown, T.A., Curry, B.B., and Engstrom, D.R. Pronounced climatic variations in Alaska during the last two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 19, (2001). 10552–10556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, G.C., D'Arrigo, R., and Juday, G. Tree-ring indicators of climate change at northern latitudes. World Resources Review 11, (1999). 21–29.Google Scholar
Jaeger, J.M., Nittrouer, C.A., Scott, N.D., and Milliman, J.D. Sediment accumulation along a glacially impacted mountainous coastline: North-east Gulf of Alaska. Basin Research 10, (1998). 155–173.Google Scholar
Jirikowic, J.L., and Sonett, C.P. “Varve” counting vs. tephrochronology and 137Cs and 210Pb dating: a comparative test at Skilak Lake, Alaska: comment and reply. Geology 21, (1993). 763–764.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamb, B., Englehardt, E., Fahnestock, M.A., Humphrey, N.F., Meier, M.F., and Stone, D. Mechanical and hydrologic basis for the rapid motion of a large tidewater glacier: 2. Interpretation. Journal of Geophysical Research 99, (1994). 15231–15244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlén, W., and Matthews, J.A. Reconstructing Holocene glacier variations from glacial lake sediments: studies from Nordvestlandet and Jostedalsbreen-Jotunheimen, southern Norway. Geografiska Annaler 74A, (1992). 327–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, M.A., and Anderson, R.S. Testing a numerical glacial hydrological model using spring speed-up events and outburst floods. Geophysical Research Letters 31, (2004). 1–5.Google Scholar
Koppes, M.N., and Hallet, B. Influence of rapid glacial retreat on the rate of erosion by tidewater glaciers. Geology 30, (2002). 47–50.Google Scholar
Lamoureux, S.F. Embedding unfrozen lake sediments for thin section preparation. Journal of Paleolimnology 10, (1994). 141–146.Google Scholar
Leemann, A., and Niessen, F. Varve formation and the climatic record in an Alpine proglacial lake: calibrating annually laminated sediments against hydrological and meteorological data. The Holocene 4, (1994). 1–8.Google Scholar
Leonard, E.M. Glaciological and climatic controls on lake sedimentation, Canadian Rocky Mountains. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie 21, (1985). 35–42.Google Scholar
Leonard, E.M. The relationship between glacial activity and sediment production: evidence from a 4450-year varve record of neoglacial sedimentation in Hector Lake, Alberta, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology 17, (1997). 319–330.Google Scholar
Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., and Anderson, S.P. Post-Little Ice Age record of coarse and fine clastic sedimentation in an Alaskan proglacial lake. Geology 32, (2004). 1065–1068.Google Scholar
Mann, M.E., Ammann, C., Bradley, R.S., Briffa, K., Jones, P., Osborn, T., Crowley, T., Hughes, M., Oppenheimer, M., Overpeck, J., Rutherford, S., Trenberth, K., and Wigley, T. On past temperatures and anomalous late-20th century warmth. Eos 84, (2003). 255–257.Google Scholar
Mann, M.E., and Jones, P.D. Global surface temperatures over the past two millennia. Geophysical Research Letters 30, (2003). 1820–1823.Google Scholar
Mayo, L.R. Annual runoff rate from glaciers in Alaska: a model using the altitude of glacier mass balance equilibrium. Kane, D.L. Cold Regions Hydrology Symposium. (1986). American Water Resources Association, Bethesda, MD. 509–517.Google Scholar
Milliman, J.D., and Syvitski, J.P.M. Geomorphic tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. Journal of Geology 100, (1992). 525–544.Google Scholar
Molnia, B.F. Assessing the response of Alaska's glaciers to post-Little Ice Age climate change. EOS, Transactions, AGU 82, (2001). (Abstract IP41A-03) Google Scholar
Morner, N.A. Liquefaction and varve deformation as evidence of paleoseismic events and tsunamis. The autumn 10,430 BP case in Sweden. Quaternary Science Reviews 15, (1997). 939–948.Google Scholar
Oerlemans, J. Extracting a climate signal from 169 glacier records. Science 308, (2005). 675–677.Google Scholar
Overpeck, J., Hughen, K., Hardy, D., Bradley, R., Case, R., Douglas, M., Finney, B., Gajewski, K., Jacoby, G.C., Jennings, A., Lamoureux, S., Lasca, A., MacDonald, G., Moore, J., Retelle, M., Smith, S.C., Wolfe, A., and Zielinski, G. Arctic environmental change of the last four centuries. Science 1997, (1997). 1251–1256.Google Scholar
Pavlis, T.L., and Sisson, V.B. Structural history of the Chugach metamorphic complex in the Tana River region, eastern Alaska: a record of Eocene ridge subduction. Geological Society of America Bulletin 107, (1995). 1333–1355.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, W., Cambray, R.S., and Fisher, E.M. Observations on lake sediments using fallout 137Cs as a tracer. Nature 242, (1973). 324–326.Google Scholar
Perkins, J.A., and Sims, J.D. Correlation of Alaskan varve thickness with climatic parameters, and use in paleoclimatic reconstruction. Quaternary Research 20, (1983). 308–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plafker, G., Moore, J.C., and Winkler, G.R. Geology of the southern Alaska margin. Plafker, G., and Berg, H.C. The Geology of Alaska. (1994). Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO. 389–449.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C. Pattern and forcing of Northern Hemisphere glacier variations during the last millennium. Quaternary Research 26, (1986). 27–48.Google Scholar
Powell, R.D., and Molnia, B.F. Glacialmarine sedimentary processes, facies, and morphology of the south-southeast Alaska shelf and fjords. Marine Geology 85, (1989). 359–390.Google Scholar
Rampton, V.N. Neoglacial fluctuations of the Natazhat and Klutlan Glaciers, Yukon Territory, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 7, (1970). 1236–1263.Google Scholar
Stihler, S.D., Stone, D.B., and Beget, J.E. “Varve” counting vs. tephrochronology and 137Cs and 210Pb dating: a comparative test at Skilak Lake, Alaska. Geology 20, (1992). 1019–1022.Google Scholar
Stone, K.H. Alaskan Ice-dammed lakes. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 53, (1963). 332–349.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, (1993). 215–230.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Spurk, J., and van der Plicht, M. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, (1998). 1041–1083.Google Scholar
USGS Bering Glacier (D-6), Alaska. (1984). US Geological Survey, Denver, CO.Google Scholar
Verosub, K.L. Varve dating. Noller, J.S., Sowers, J.M., and Lettis, W.R. Quaternary Geochronology: Methods and Applications. (2000). American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC. 21–24.Google Scholar
Viereck, L.A. Botanical dating of recent glacial activity in western North America. Wright, H.E., and Osburn, W.H. Arctic and Alpine Environments. (1967). Indiana Univ. Press, Indianapolis, IN. 189–204.Google Scholar
Whalley, W.B. Observations of the drainage of an ice-dammed lake-Strupvatnet, Troms, Norway. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 25, (1971). 165–174.Google Scholar
Wiles, G.C., Jacoby, G.C., Davi, N.K., and McAllister, R.P. Late Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, (2002). 896–908.Google Scholar
Wiles, G.C., Post, A., Muller, E., and Molnia, B.F. Dendrochronology and Late Holocene history of Bering Piedmont Glacier, Alaska. Quaternary Research 52, (1999). 185–195.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Loso et al. Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Loso et al. Supplementary Material(File)
File 571.4 KB