Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T17:52:59.541Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Last Interglacial to Glacial Transition, Togiak Bay, Southwestern Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Darrell S. Kaufman ,
William F. Manley ,
Alexander P. Wolfe ,
Feng Sheng Hu ,
Shari J. Preece ,
John A. Westgate  and
Steve L. Forman
Darrell S. Kaufman
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Department of Environmental Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011-4099, E-mail:Darrell.Kaufman@nau.edu
William F. Manley
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0450
Alexander P. Wolfe
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0450
Feng Sheng Hu
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, 505 Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois, 61801
Shari J. Preece
Affiliation:
Physical Sciences Division, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Ontario, MIC 1A4, Canada
John A. Westgate
Affiliation:
Physical Sciences Division, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Ontario, MIC 1A4, Canada
Steve L. Forman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, 60607-7059
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An 18-m-high coastal bluff at Togiak Bay (northwestern Bristol Bay, southwestern Alaska) exposes marine, lacustrine, fluvial, glacial, volcanic, and organic deposits that record the ∼50,000-year-long transition from the peak of the last interglaciation to the early Wisconsin glaciation. The base of the section is dominated by stratified sand and silt extending up to 4.3 m above sea level; marine diatoms are present, and pollen assemblages are characterized by relatively high percentages of Picea, Alnus, and Betula and low percentages of Poaceae and Cyperaceae. The marine sediment was probably deposited during the peak of marine oxygen-isotope stage (OIS) 5e. An infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) age of 151,000±13,000 yr from near the base of the exposure is permissive of this correlation. The marine sand and silt are overlain by 0.8 m of peaty silt with diatoms that record a transition from marine to lacustrine conditions. During this interval, Poaceae and Cyperaceae dominate the pollen assemblages, and Picea and shrubs are nearly absent, suggesting that herb tundra occupied the landscape. This interval probably encompasses OIS 5d on the basis of the herb tundra and an IRSL age of 119,000±10,000 yr from 60 cm below the marine/lacustrine transition. The organic mud is overlain by 3.1 m of stratified sand and organic silt that apparently record shallowing of the lake; reappearance of spruce and shrubs (=OIS 5c?); and subsequent deepening of the lake (=OIS 5b?); followed by aggradation of a floodplain (=OIS 5a?), which was dry at the time basaltic lava buried the site. Thermoluminescence analyses on lava-baked sediment indicate that the eruption occurred 70,000±10,000 yr ago. Sometime thereafter, but prior to 53,600 14C yr B.P. an outlet of the Ahklun Mountains ice cap advanced over the site and deposited ∼7 m of bouldery ice-contact drift. The sedimentary sequence contains at least four tephra beds. Major- and trace-element chemistry provide a basis for correlating two of the tephras with tephra beds at nearby sites. The tephras, luminescence ages, and correlations with marine isotope stages provide the geochronological control to place the Togiak Bay section into a global context. The site serves as an important new reference section for late Pleistocene paleoenvironmental change in eastern Beringia.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , March 2001 , pp. 190 - 202
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

Aitken, M.J, Bowman, S.G.E, (1975). Thermoluminescent dating: Assessment of alpha particle contribution. Archaeometry 17, 132–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aitken, M.J, Xie, J, (1992). Optical dating using infrared diodes: Young samples. Quaternary Science Reviews 11, 147–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, P.M, Brubaker, L.B, (1986). Modern pollen assemblages from northern Alaska. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 46, 273–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, S.J, Gorton, M.P, (1984). Trace element analysis by neutron activation with a low flux reactor (Slowpoke–II): Results for international reference rocks. Geostandards Newsletter 8, 17–23.Google Scholar
Battarbee, R.W, (1986). Diatom analysis. Berglund, B.E Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology Wiley, Chichester.527–570.Google Scholar
Berger, G.W, Péwé, T.L, Westgate, J.A, Preece, S.J, (1996). Age of Sheep Creek tephra (Pleistocene) in central Alaska from thermoluminescence dating of bracketing loess. Quaternary Research 45, 263–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brigham-Grette, J, Hopkins, D.M, (1995). Emergent marine record and paleoclimate of the last interglaciation along the northwest Alaskan coast. Quaternary Research 43, 159–173.Google Scholar
Brigham-Grette, J, Hopkins, D.M, Benson, S.L, Heiser, P, Ivanov, V.F, Basilyan, A, Pushkar, V, (2001). Last interglacial sea level record and Stage 5 glaciation of Chukotka Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 419–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briner, J.P, (1998). Late Pleistocene Glacial Chronology of the Western Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska. Utah State University, .Google Scholar
Briner, J.P, Kaufman, D.S, (2000). Late Pleistocene glacial history of the southwestern Ahklun Mountains, Alaska. Quaternary Research 53, 13–22.Google Scholar
Carter, L.D, Hamilton, T.D, Galloway, J.P, (1989). Late Cenozoic history of the interior basins of Alaska and the Yukon. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1026 114.Google Scholar
Chappell, J, Shackleton, N.J, (1986). Oxygen isotopes and sea level. Nature 324, 137–140.Google Scholar
Eyles, N, Miall, A.D, (1984). Glacial facies. Walker, R.G Facies Models 15–38.Google Scholar
Faegri, K, Kaland, P.E, Kryzywinski, K, (1992). Textbook of Pollen Analysis. Hafner, New York.Google Scholar
Foged, N, (1981). Diatoms in Alaska.Google Scholar
Gallant, A.L, Binnian, E.F, Omernik, J.M, Shasby, M.B, (1995). Ecoregions of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1567 .Google Scholar
Germain, H, (1981). Flore des diatomées, eaux douces et saumâtres du Massif Armoricain et des contrées voisines d'Europe occidentale. Société Nouvelle des éditions Boubée, Paris.Google Scholar
Grimm, E, (1987). CONISS: A Fortran 77 program for stratigraphically constrained cluster analysis by the method of incremental sum of squares. Computers and Geosciences 13, 13–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, T.D, Brigham-Grette, J, (1991). Quaternary International. 10–12, 49–71.Google Scholar
Hoare, J.M, Coonrad, W.L, (1961). Geologic map of the Goodnews Quadrangle, Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-339 .Google Scholar
Hoare, J.M, Coonrad, W.L, (1961). Geologic map of the Hagemeister Island Quadrangle, Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-321 .Google Scholar
Hoare, J.M, Coonrad, W.L, (1978). Geologic map of the Goodnews and Hagemeister Island quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 78-9-B .CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoare, J.M, Coonrad, W.L, (1978). A tuya in Togiak Valley, southwest Alaska. Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey 6, 193–201.Google Scholar
Hopkins, D.M, (1967). Quaternary marine transgressions in Alaska. Hopkins, D.M The Bering Land Bridge Stanford University Press, Stanford.47–90.Google Scholar
Hu, F.S, Brubaker, L.B, Anderson, P.M, (1995). Postglacial vegetation and climate change in the northern Bristol Bay region, southwestern Alaska. Quaternary Research 43, 382–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntley, D.J, Wintle, A.G, (1981). The use of alpha scintillation counting for measuring Th-230 and Pa-231 contents of ocean sediments. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 18, 419–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntley, D.W, Godfrey-Smith, D.I, Thewalt, M.L.W, (1985). Optical dating of sediments. Nature 313, 105–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntley, D.J, Berger, G.W, Bowman, S.G.E, (1988). Thermoluminescence responses to alpha and beta irradiations, and age determinations when the high dose response is non-linear. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements 105, 279–284.Google Scholar
Imbrie, J, (1984). The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate—Support from a revised chronology of the marine δ18O record. Berger, A Milankovitch and Climate, Part 1 269–305.Google Scholar
Jensen, H. E., and Prescott, J. R. (1983). The thick-source alpha particle counting technique: Comparisons with other techniques and solutions to the problem of overcounting . PACT 9, 25–35.Google Scholar
Jerlov, N.G, (1976). Marine Optics. Elsevier, New York.p. 231.Google Scholar
Kaufman, D.S, Forman, S.L, Lea, P.D, Wobus, C.W, (1996). Age of pre-late-Wisconsin glacial-estuarine sedimentation, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Quaternary Research 45, 59–72.Google Scholar
Kaufman, D.S, Manley, W.F, Forman, S, Layer, P, (2001). Pre-late-Wisconsin glacial history, coastal Ahklun Mountains, southwestern Alaska—New amino acid, thermoluminescence, and 40Ar/39Ar results. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 337–352.Google Scholar
Krammer, K., and Lange-Bertalot, H. (1986–1991). Bacillariophyceae 1 Teil: Naviculaceae 1986; 2 Teil: Bacillariaceae, Epithemiaceae, Surirellaceae 1988; 3 Teil: Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae 1991a; 4 Teil: Achnanthaceae, Kritische Ergänzungen zu Navicula (Lineolatae) und Gomphonema Gesamtliteraturverzeichnis 1991b . In Sübwasserflora von Mitteleuropa 2/1-4 Ettl, H., Gerloff, H., Heynig, H., and Mollenhauer, D., Eds., Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart. .Google Scholar
Lea, P.D, (1990). Pleistocene glacial tectonism and sedimentation on a macrotidal piedmont coast, Ekuk Bluffs, southwestern Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin 102, 1230–1245.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichti-Federovich, S, (1983). A Pleistocene diatom assemblage from Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories.Google Scholar
Manley, W.F, Kaufman, D.S, Briner, J.P, (2001). Late Quaternary glacial history of the southern Ahklun Mountains, southeast Beringia—Soil development, morphometric, and radiocarbon constraints. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 353–370.Google Scholar
Marquardt, D.W, (1963). An algorithm for least-squares estimation of non-linear parameters. Journal of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics 11, 431–441.Google Scholar
Martinson, D. G., Pisias, N. G., Hays, J. D., Imbrie, J., Moore, T. C., and Shackleton, N. J. (1987). Age dating and the orbital theory of the Ice Ages: Development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000 yr chronostratigraphy . Quaternary Research 27, 1–29.Google Scholar
Matthews, J. V. Jr, (1991)., Last interglacial in Arctic and subarctic: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions). July 9, 1991, p, 299.Google Scholar
Patrick, R, Reimer, C.W, (1966). The Diatoms of the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii.Google Scholar
Patrick, R, Reimer, C.W, (1975). The Diatoms of the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii.Google Scholar
Pearce, J.G, Perkins, W.T, Westgate, J.A, Gorton, M.P, Jackson, S.E, Neal, C.R, Chenery, S.P, (1997). A compilation of new and published major and trace element data for NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 glass reference materials. Geostandards Newsletter 21, 115–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Péwé, T.L, Berger, G.W, Westgate, J.A, Brown, P.M, Leavitt, S.W, (1997). Eva interglaciation forest bed, unglaciated east-central Alaska: Global warming 125,000 years ago. Geological Society of America Special Paper 319 .Google Scholar
Preece, S.J, Westgate, J.A, Stemper, B.A, Péwé, T.L, (1999). Tephrochronology of late Cenozoic loess at Fairbanks, central Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111, 71–90.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweger, C.E, Matthews, J.V Jr., (1991). The last (Koy-Yukon) interglaciation in the Yukon: Comparisons with Holocene and interstadial pollen records. Quaternary International 10–12, 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spooner, N.A, Aitken, M.J, Smith, B.W, Franks, M, McElroy, C, (1990). Archaeological dating by infrared-stimulated luminescence using a diode array. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 34, 83–86.Google Scholar
Westgate, J.A, Stemper, B.A, Péwé, T.L, (1990). A 3 m.y. record of Pliocene–Pleistocene loess in interior Alaska. Geology 18, 858–861.Google Scholar
Westgate, J.A, Walter, R.C, Pearce, G.W, Gorton, MP, (1985). Distribution, stratigraphy, petrochemistry, and paleomagnetism of the late Pleistocene Old Crow tephra in Alaska and the Yukon. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 22, 893–906.Google Scholar
Whitehead, D.R, Charles, D.F, Jackson, S.T, Smol, J.P, Engstrom, D.R, (1989). The developmental history of Adirondack (N.Y.) lakes. Journal of Paleolimnology 2, 185–206.Google Scholar
Wolfe, A.P, Härtling, J.W, (1996). The late Quaternary development of three ancient tarns on southwestern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada: Paleolimnological evidence from diatoms and sediment chemistry. Journal of Paleolimnology 15, 1–18.Google Scholar
Zazo, C, (1999). Interglacial sea levels. Quaternary International 55, 101–119.Google Scholar