Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:48:46.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Holocene Vegetation History of the Prince William Sound Region, South-Central Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Calvin J. Heusser*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003 USA

Abstract

Vegetation history during the Holocene is interpreted from the pollen and sedimentary records of nine sections of peat deposits located in sedge tundra at sites in the northern and northwestern parts of the Prince William Sound region. Basal radiocarbon ages of the deposits are between 10,015 and 580 yr B.P. Modern surface pollen data from these and 25 additional sites, ranging from lowlands to an altitude of 675 m in the alpine tundra, were used to aid in the interpretation of the fossil records. Both frequency and influx pollen diagrams of the oldest section disclose a sequence of communities beginning with sedge tundra, containing thickets of willow and alder, followed by alder, which became predominant at about 8300 yr B.P. Later, alder declined, and an inferred growth of sedge tundra and the establishment of colonies of mountain hemlock and Sitka spruce with some western hemlock occurred about 2680 yr B.P. Finally, regrowth of sedge tundra accompanied by the development of forest communites took place over the past 2000 yr. The influence of glacier advances on the vegetation in the fjords occurred during Neoglacial episodes dated at 3200–2500 yr B.P. and during recent centuries. Regional Holocene tectonic activity was also an influential factor, especially at the time of the 1964 earthquake.

Type
Original Articles
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.)

References

Ager, T.A., Sims, J.D.. 1981. Late Quaternary pollen record from Hidden Lake, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. “Program and Abstracts” Amer. Assoc. Stratigraphic Palynologists 14. 89.Google Scholar
Bryson, R.A., Hare, F.K.. 1974. The climates of North America. Climates of North America. Bryson, R.A., Hare, F.K.. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 147.Google Scholar
Cooper, W.S.. 1942. Vegetation of the Prince William Sound region, Alaska, with a brief excursion into post-Pleistocene climatic history. Ecological Monographs 12. 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dachnowski-Stokes, A.P.. 1941. Peat Resources in Alaska. U.S. Department of AgricultureTechnical Bulletin 769.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., Karlén, W.K.. 1973. Holocene climatic variations—Their pattern and possible cause. Quaternary Research 3. 155205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faegri, K., Iversen, J.. 1975. Textbook of Pollen Analysis. Hafner, New York.Google Scholar
Field, W.O.. 1932. The glaciers of the northern part of Prince William Sound, Alaska. Geographical Review 22. 361388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, W.O.. 1937. Observations on Alaskan coastal glaciers in 1935. Geographical Review 27. 6381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funk, J.M.. 1973. Late Quaternary Geology of Cold Bay, Alaska, and Vicinity. M.S. thesis. University of Connecticut, Storrs.Google Scholar
Gilbert, G.K.. 1910. Glaciers and Glaciation. Smithsonian InstitutionHarriman Alaska Series III.Google Scholar
Grant, U.S., Higgins, D.F.. 1913. Coastal Glaciers of Prince William Sound and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 526.Google Scholar
Hare, F.K., Hay, J.E.. 1974. The climate of Canada and Alaska. Climates of North America. Bryson, R.A., Hare, F.K.. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 49192.Google Scholar
Heller, E.. 1910. Mammals of the 1908 Alexander Expedition. University of California, Berkeley, Publications in Zoology 5. 349360.Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J.. 1955. Pollen profiles from Prince William Sound and southeastern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Ecology 36. 185202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heusser, C.J.. 1960. Late-Pleistocene Environments of North Pacific North AmericaAmerican Geographical Society Special Publication 35.Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J.. 1983. Pollen diagrams from the Shumagin Islands and adjacent Alaska Peninsula. Boreasin press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hultén, E.. 1950. Flora of Alaska and Yukon. Gleerup 1941–1950 Lund.Google Scholar
Hultén, E.. 1968. Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories. Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Karlstrom, T.N.V.. 1964. Quaternary Geology of the Kenai Lowland and Glacial Record of the Cook Inlet RegionUnited States Geological Survey Professional Paper 443.Google Scholar
Mercer, J.H.. 1961. The response of fjord glaciers to changes in the firn limit. Journal of Glaciology 3. 850858.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, W.W.. 1968. On the ecology of Sitka alder in the subalpine zone of south-central Alaska. Biology of Alder. Trappe, J.M., Franklin, J.F., Tarrant, R.F., Hansen, G.M.. Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Portland. 4556.Google Scholar
Plafker, G.. 1965. Tectonic deformation associated with 1964 Alaskan earthquake. Science 148. 16751687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plafker, G.. 1969. Tectonics of the March 27, 1964, Alaska EarthquakeUnited States Geological Survey Professional Paper 543-I.Google Scholar
Plafker, G., Rubin, M.. 1967. Vertical tectonic displacements in south-central Alaska during and prior to the great 1964 earthquake. Journal of Geosciences Osaka City University 10. 5366.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., Denton, G.H.. 1967. Chronology of Neoglaciation in the North American cordillera. American Journal of Science 265. 177210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, A.. 1969. Distribution of surging glaciers in western North America. Journal of Glaciology 8. 229240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, A.. 1972. Periodic surge origin of folded medial moraines of Bering piedmont glacier, Alaska. Journal of Glaciology 11. 219226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, A.. 1975. Preliminary Hydrography and Historic Terminal Changes of Columbia Glacier, Alaska. United States Geological SurveyHydrographic Investigations Atlas 559.Google Scholar
Rymer, M.J., Sims, J.D.. 1982. Lake-sediment evidence for the date of deglaciation of the Hidden Lake area, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Geology 10. 314316.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirkin, L.A., Tuthill, S.. 1969. Late Pleistocene Palynology and Stratigraphy of Controller Bay Region, Gulf of Alaska 197208. Études sur le Quaternaire dans le Monde. VIIIe Congrès INQUA Paris.Google Scholar
Tarr, R.S., Martin, L.. 1914. Alaskan Glacier Studies. Nat. Geog. Soc, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1976. Climatological data. Alaska. Annual Summary 1976 62. 117.Google Scholar
Vancouver, G.. 1798. Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean in the Years 1790–1795 Vol. 3Printed for G. G. Robinson, J. Robinson, and J. Edwards, London.Google Scholar
Viereck, L.A.. 1968. Botanical dating of recent glacial activity in western North America. Arctic and Alpine Environments. Wright, H.E. Jr., Osborn, W.H.. Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington. 189204.Google Scholar
Viereck, L.A., Little, E.L. Jr.. 1972. Alaska Trees and Shrubs. U.S. Department of AgricultureForest Service Agriculture Handbook 410.Google Scholar
von Huene, R., Shor, G.G. Jr., Reimnitz, E.. 1967. Geological interpretation of seismic profiles in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin 78. 259268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, C.E.. 1974. The climate of Alaska. Climates of the States-Western States. van der Leeden, F., Troise, F.L. Vol. II. Water Information Center, Port Washington, N.Y. 481502.Google Scholar
Worley, I.A., Iwatsuki, Z.. 1970. A checklist of mosses of Alaska. Bryologist 73. 5971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar