Rare earth element (REE) release from weathering of accessory monazite [(REE)PO4] since the last glacial maximum at 18.1 ka was investigated in sediment recovered from an outlet lake within the glaciated Loch Vale watershed, Colorado, USA. Labile REEs in the sediments reveal monazite weathering increased during the Younger Dryas chronozone (YDC) 13.2 to 11.1 ka when alpine glaciers advanced as climate cooled and bedrock comminution increased. Monazite dissolution peaked at approximately the Pleistocene-Holocene transition ~10.5 ka. During the Holocene, REE concentrations decline, reflecting a reduction in monazite weathering. The REE cerium (Ce) may occur as trivalent or tetravalent cations, and the Ce anomaly (Cen/Ce*n) in sediment permits interpretations of paleoredox conditions. The Cen/Ce*n decreases from 18.1 ka to the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. Initially, oxidizing conditions within the watershed increased because of enlargement of the proglacial area as the ice retreated. At the onset of the YDC, oxidation further escalated in response to enhanced chemical weathering associated with glacial advance. A more stable Holocene climate and landscape resulted in relatively small changes in Cen/Ce*n values. Slightly decreasing Cen/Ce*n values over the last several hundred years are consistent with present-day stream water values and may reflect the onset of present-day hydrobiogeochemical conditions.

The last glacial-interglacial transition (LGIT; 19–9 ka) was characterized by rapid climate changes and significant ecosystem reorganizations worldwide. In western Colorado, one of the coldest locations in the continental US today, mountain environments during the late-glacial period are poorly known. Yet, archaeological evidence from the Mountaineer site (2625 m elev.) indicates that Folsom-age Paleoindians were over-wintering in the Gunnison Basin during the Younger Dryas Chronozone (YDC; 12.9–11.7 ka). To determine the vegetation and fire history during the LGIT, and possible explanations for occupation during a period thought to be harsher than today, a 17-ka-old sediment core from Lily Pond (3208 m elev.) was analyzed for pollen and charcoal and compared with other high-resolution records from the southern Rocky Mountains. Widespread tundra and Picea parkland and low fire activity in the cold wet late-glacial period transitioned to open subalpine forest and increased fire activity in the Bølling–Allerød period as conditions became warmer and drier. During the YDC, greater winter snowpack than today and prolonged wet springs likely expanded subalpine forest to lower elevations than today, providing construction material and fuel for the early inhabitants. In the early to middle Holocene, arid conditions resulted in xerophytic vegetation and frequent fire.

Skeletal remains of the extinct American mastodon have often been found with deposits of short, decorticated twigs intermixed with plant fragments presumed to be gastrointestinal or fecal material. If such deposits are digesta, paleobotanical evidence may be used to analyze mastodon foraging strategy, with implications for assessing habitat selection, ecological roles, and response to environmental change. To identify components of mastodon diet in mid-latitude late-Pleistocene boreall forests of eastern North America, plant macrofossils and pollen from a molar socket (Hyde Park site, New York) were compared with dispersed deposits associated with skeletal remains (Hiscock and Chemung sites, New York). Similar macrofossil condition and twig morphology among samples, but difference from a modern boreal fen analog, confirmed the deposits were digesta. Comparison of twigs with material from other paleontological sites and modern elephants suggested dimensions generally indicative of digesta. Picea formed the bulk of each sample but Pinus may have been locally important. Wintertime browsing of Salix and Populus, and springtime consumption of Alnus, were indicated. Evidence for Cyperaceae, Gramineae, and Compositae was ambiguous. If conifers, broadleaf trees, shrubs, and herbs were necessary to fulfill dietary requirements, mastodons would have been nutritionally stressed by rapid late-Pleistocene decrease in vegetational diversity.