A palynological investigation of true-moss (Bryidae) spores: morphology and occurrence in modern and late Quaternary lake sediments of Alaska

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 2145-2157 ◽  
Author(s):  
L B Brubaker ◽  
P M Anderson ◽  
B M Murray ◽  
D Koon

This study describes (i) spore morphology of 121 Alaskan species of true moss (Bryidae) and (ii) percentages of Bryidae and Sphagnum spores in mud-water interface samples from 46 Alaskan lakes and a late-Quaternary sediment core from Idavain Lake in southwestern Alaska. Bryidae spores were collected from herbarium specimens, prepared by standard palynological chemical treatment and described under light microscopy. An identification key based on spore shape, wall structure, and size recognized 11 major morphological groups. Although family, genus, or species identifications were not possible for most groups, spores of a few genera and species were distinctive. Bryidae spores occurred in 80% of the modern sediment samples, representing boreal forest and three areas of tundra (North Slope, Seward Peninsula, and southwestern Alaska). Bryidae and Sphagnum spore percentages showed greatest differences between the North Slope tundra and other vegetation types, whereas pollen percentages distinguished boreal forest from tundra regions as a group. Bryidae spores were present throughout the Idavain Lake record but were most common in late-glacial sediments. Variations in the abundance of Bryidae spores are consistent with or enhance paleoenvironmental interpretations based on pollen and other spore types.Key words: Bryidae, palynology, spores, Alaska, Quaternary, paleoenvironment.

1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 947-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. de Vries ◽  
C. D. Bird

Bryophyte and associated macro-subfossils were recovered from a kettle located in prairie southwest of Moose Jaw in the Missouri Coteau of southern Saskatchewan. The higher plants were discussed in an earlier paper.Three samples taken from the organic layer gave C14 datings ranging from 11,650 ± 150 to 10,270 ± 150 B.P.Sixteen species and one variety of Musci were recovered. Eleven of these were found in the lowermost zone at a depth of 510–450 cm. This zone was composed of bryophytes and higher plants characteristic of a modern Picea forest. Fifteen bryophyte taxa were recovered from the middle zone at a depth of 450–290 cm. The macro-subfossils in this zone are typical of a present-day Populus–Picea forest. No bryophytes were found in the upper layer, 290–280 cm characterized by higher plant macro-subfossils and pollen typical of a modern Picea forest.All bryophytes recovered belong to present-day taxa; however, many of the boreal species are not now found in the region as the southern margin of the boreal forest is now 200 miles to the north.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Zanchetta ◽  
Adriano Ribolini ◽  
Matteo Ferrari ◽  
Monica Bini ◽  
Ilaria Isola ◽  
...  

Ground wedge structures of cryogenic origin are common in the Quaternary sediments along the coast of the Patagonia, and their formation is related to climatic cold events experienced by this area in the Late Quaternary. The infilling sediments of two wedges generations were analyzed in the area of Puerto Deseado. Bulk chemistry (major elements), X-ray diffraction (XRD), morphoscopic observations with Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) and chemical analyses of volcanic glass shards were undertaken to provide indications about infilling sediment provenience, along with chronological constraint for wedge formation. Bulk chemistry and XRD patterns indicate a significant SiO2-enriched composition of the sediment infilling compared to the most of the loess deposits of the North Argentina and the present day dust originated in Patagonia. This was interpreted as due to the nature of the bedrock present over the Deseado Massif. SEM morphoscopic characteristics of glass shards evidence typical aeolian reworking features, with impact structures and indented edges of the volcanic fragments. Chemical analyses of the glass shards indicate that they were probably generated by the H0 eruption (17,300-17,400 cal yr BP) of the Hudson volcano. Volcanological data indicate that H0 eruption dispersed toward NE, but volcanic glasses were available for reworking due to a WNW component in the western wind direction. Over the Deseado Massif structural high the glass shards mixed with sediments enriched in SiO2, and were eventually deflated further to SE reaching the present coastal area and infilling the frost cracks. The age of the glass shards (17,300-17,400 cal yr BP) and that of the sandy layer affected by cryogenic structures (14,670±750 yr BP) well constrain to the Late Glacial both wedge generations.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Zech ◽  
Ch. Kull ◽  
P. W. Kubik ◽  
H. Veit

Abstract. Surface exposure dating (SED) is an innovative tool already being widely applied for moraine dating and for Late Quaternary glacier and climate reconstruction. Here we present exposure ages of 28 boulders from the Cordillera Real and the Cordillera Cochabamba, Bolivia. Our results indicate that the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Eastern Cordilleras occurred at ~22–25 ka and was thus synchronous to the global temperature minimum. We were also able to date several Late Glacial moraines to ~11–13 ka, which likely document lower temperatures and increased precipitation ("Coipasa" humid phase). Additionally, we recognize the existence of older Late Glacial moraines re-calculated to ~15 ka from published cosmogenic nuclide data. Those may coincide with the cold Heinrich 1 event in the North Atlantic region and the pronounced "Tauca" humid phase. We conclude that (i) exposure ages in the tropical Andes may have been overestimated so far due to methodological uncertainties, and (ii) although precipitation plays an important role for glacier mass balances in the tropical Andes, it becomes the dominant forcing for glaciation only in the drier and thus more precipitation-sensitive regions farther west and south.


Recent coastal erosion has cut into the filling of a former inter-drumlin lake and exposed an excellent sequence of Late-glacial deposits. These have been investigated by pollen analyses, identification of seeds, Mollusca, ostracods, and Algae; by stratigraphic studies and by radiocarbon dating. The coincidence of all this evidence strongly confirms that the greater part of the depositional sequence embraces the north-west European Late-glacial stages of the Older and Younger Dryas or Salix herbacea clays, with the intervening milder Allerod oscillation. This sequence is overlain by a small thickness of Post-glacial peat. The Late- and Post-glacial filling is shown to be sandwiched between deposits laid down during two phases of marine submergence; the earlier transgression is represented by a red marine clay which had a widespread occurrence on the Co. Down coast, and the later transgression is represented by the local development of the Postglacial raised beach. The pollen analyses from the close sampling of the organic Allerød phase muds have yielded unusually detailed data on vegetational conditions in the Late-glacial period. The radiocarbon dates, while fully confirming the age attribution, have not enough precision to give a close measure of the duration of the Allerød phase. The pollen evidence on vegetation and climate is augmented and clarified by identifications of seeds, shells, ostracods and Algae. The ostracods confirm the marine character of the early red clay, and freshwater shells were found in the overlying Allerød mud. The algal species from the Late-glacial layers have been compared with recent algal floras from Ireland, and with those found in Late- and Inter-glacial sediments elsewhere. The most notable feature is the prominence of species representative of a base-rich habitat.


2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Ross ◽  
Michel Parent ◽  
Beatriz Benjumea ◽  
James Hunter

The Quaternary sediments of previously unstudied buried valleys and sections near Montréal are analyzed and other sites are revisited to further develop the stratigraphic framework of the St. Lawrence Lowland and to establish regional glacial and deglacial models. The southwest-trending buried valleys were investigated by stratigraphic drilling and high-resolution seismic profiling. The Quaternary succession consists, from base to top, of proximal glaciolacustrine sediments, two superposed till sheets (Argenteuil and Oka tills) of inferred Late Wisconsinan age, and Champlain Sea sediments. The glacial sediments of this sequence record an ice advance toward south (Argenteuil Till) followed by an abrupt ice-flow shift toward the southwest (Oka Till). Compositional and geomorphic data indicate that Oka Till is ubiquitous and is associated with a regional set of glacial landforms. The analysis of a regional digital elevation model in combination with published ice-flow indicators shows convergent flow patterns from the Ottawa–Montréal–Adirondack regions toward the Lake Ontario basin. Landforms produced by the inferred ice stream are locally crosscut by southward-trending ice-flow features. Hence southward flow in the upper St. Lawrence Valley seemingly took place in two distinct contexts: (1) during full glacial conditions, as ice margins stood at or near the late glacial maximum limits, and (2) during late deglaciation, as a post-ice stream reequilibration mechanism. Early deglacial events in the study area were also characterized by subglacial meltwater channelling and erosion along the valleys, subaquatic outwash deposition in glacial Lake Candona, and rapid infill of the valleys during the early stages of the ensuing Champlain Sea.


1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gilbert ◽  
John Shaw

A deep channel in bedrock extending to more than 25 m below sea level occurs along the north shore of the otherwise uniformly shallow Kingston basin of Lake Ontario. Bathymetric and subbottom acoustic data are used to map the topography of the channel and to reconstruct its late glacial and postglacial sedimentary history. The results are interpreted as showing that the large channel and smaller channels nearby were created by high-velocity subglacial meltwater flow. Acoustic facies assemblages of sediments deposited in the channels record patchy deposition, or deposition followed by partial erosion, of glacial sediments on the bedrock of the channel floor, followed by deposition and episodic erosion of glaciolacustrine sediment in a high-energy, ice-proximal lake. Palaeoslope analysis confirms that the early Holocene low-water phase of Lake Ontario resulted in the development of a fluvial system in part of the channel. Water level was controlled by a sill at Kingston. Kingston basin, the Bay of Quinte, and possibly, for a short time, a much larger area of the upper Great Lakes drained through the channel. However, for most of the period, until it was flooded by the rising waters of Lake Ontario, the channel was occupied by a small river on a wide floodplain or it was flanked by broad marshes.


1999 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hotchkiss ◽  
James O. Juvik

A pollen record from Ka‘au Crater, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i contains evidence for changes in vegetation and climate since about 28,000 14C yr B.P. Zone 1 (ca. 28,100–ca. 22,800 14C yr B.P.) has pollen of dry to mesic forest species, including Pipturus-type, Dodonaea viscosa, Acacia koa, Chenopodium oahuense, Claoxylon sandwicense, Myrsine, and Metrosideros-type. In zone 2 (ca. 22,800–ca. 16,200 14C yr B.P.) Myrsine and Coprosma increase, with herbs, fern allies, and Grammitidaceae suggesting open canopies. Zone 3 (ca. 16,200–ca. 9700 14C yr B.P.) has pollen of wet forest species, including Freycinetia arborea, abundant Pritchardia, and Metrosideros-type. Zone 4 (ca. 9700–ca. 7000 14C yr B.P.) is similar, with less Pritchardia and more Metrosideros-type.Climate reconstruction was based on modern climatic ranges of flowering plants and an index derived from abundance of pollen in surface samples. Both methods agree on a qualitative reconstruction, although the ages are poorly constrained: 28,000–25,000 14C yr B.P. cool and dry; 25,000–23,000 14C yr B.P. dry and warmer; 23,000–20,000 14C yr B.P. moderately dry with declining temperature; 20,000–16,000 14C yr B.P. moderately dry and cool; 16,000–9000 14C yr B.P. warm and wet; 9000–7000 14C yr B.P. warm and possibly drier. Lower precipitation at Ka‘au Crater during the late glacial period and last glacial maximum is consistent with the interpretation that the North Pacific subtropical anticyclone was south of its present position. The pollen-derived temperature index yields an estimate of 3°–5°C temperature depression during the last glacial maximum.


2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
XianJiao Ou ◽  
ZhongPing Lai ◽  
ShangZhe Zhou ◽  
LanHua Zeng

AbstractIt is highly debated whether glacial advances on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) occurred as a response to temperature cooling, or whether they were forced by an increase in moisture brought by the intensive Indian summer monsoon. We here report a case study investigating this issue. Multiple moraine series in the Yingpu Valley, Queer Shan ranges of the Hengduan Mountains, and eastern QTP, provide an excellent archive for examining the timing and trigger mechanism of glacier fluctuations. Twenty-seven optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples of glacial sediments were collected from this valley. The quartz OSL ages show that the moraine series of Y-1, I, M and O were formed during the Late Holocene, Late Glacial, the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (likely mid-MIS-3). The youngest Y-2 moraines probably formed during the Little Ice Age (LIA). The oldest H moraines formed before MIS-3. We found that glacial advances during the late Quaternary at the Yingpu Valley responded to cold stages or cold events rather than episodes of enhanced summer monsoon and moisture. As a result, glaciers in the monsoonal Hengduan Mountains were mainly triggered by changes in temperature. Millennial time scale temperature oscillations might have caused the multiple glacial advances.


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