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Stability of Holocene Climate Regimes in the Yellowstone Region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Cathy Whitlock ,
Patrick J. Bartlein  and
Kelli J. Van Norman
Cathy Whitlock*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1251
Patrick J. Bartlein
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1251
Kelli J. Van Norman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1251
*
1To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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Abstract

A 12,500-yr pollen record from Loon Lake, Wyoming provides information on the climate history of the southwestern margin of Yellowstone National Park. The environmental reconstruction was used to evaluate hypotheses that address spatial variations in the Holocene climate of mountainous regions. Loon Lake lies within the summer-dry/winter-wet climate regime. An increase in xerophytic pollen taxa suggests drier-than-present conditions between ca. 9500 and 5500 14C yr B.P. This response is consistent with the hypothesis that increased summer radiation and the expansion of the east Pacific subtropical high-pressure system in the early Holocene intensified summer drought at locations within the summer-dry/winter-wet regime. This climate history contrasts with that of nearby sites in the summer-wet/winter-dry region, which were under the influence of stronger summer monsoonal circulation in the early Holocene. The Loon Lake record implies that the location of contrasting climate regimes did not change in the Yellowstone region during the Holocene. The amplitude of the regimes, however, was determined by the intensity of circulation features and these varied with temporal changes in the seasonal distribution of solar radiation.

Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , May 1995 , pp. 433 - 436
Copyright
University of Washington

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