Lichenometric dating of holocene moraines at Mount Edith Cavell, Jasper, Alberta

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1809-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. H. Luckman
Keyword(s):  
Growth Curve ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Linear Phase ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Rhizocarpon Geographicum ◽  
Maximum Estimate ◽  
Glacial Advance

A preliminary growth curve for the lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum over a 250 year period was determined on moraines of quartzite debris at Mount Edith Cavell and Penstock Creek, Jasper National Park, Alberta. The dating control was obtained by dendrochronology and from documentary and photographic sources. The average growth over this period is 25 mm/century but the curve appears to be exponential in form and can he subdivided into 42 mm/century for the first 110 years and 11.4 mm/century for the subsequent 140 years. The latter figure gives a maximum estimate for the linear phase of Rhizocarpon geographicum in this area.Four "Little Ice Age" moraines are identified and dated as 1705 ± 5, 1720 ± 5, 1858 ± 7, and 1888 ± 7 AD at Mount Edith Cavell, and 1765 ± 5, 1810 ± 5, 1876 ± 5, and 1907 ± 5 AD at Penstock Creek. Recession of Cavell Glacier averaged about l6m/yearfrom 1927–1963 and 6–8 m/year from 1963–1975. Angel Glacier shows a similar pattern but has maintained its frontal position since 1962. Remnants of at least three "pre-Little Ice Age" moraines occur in two small areas at Mount Edith Cavell. The minimum lichenometric age for the oldest moraine is about 1800 BP. The presence of Bridge River Ash in the soils in front of the 1705 moraine indicate s no greater glacial advance in the last 2600 years. Thus although several glacial advances occurred at this site during the Holocene they were of similar or smaller extent than the "Little Ice Age" maximum.

IMPENDING LOSS OF LITTLE ICE AGE GLACIERS IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg M. Stock ◽  
◽  
Robert S. Anderson ◽  
Thomas H. Painter ◽  
Brian Henn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Yosemite National Park

scholarly journals Prehistoric Irrigation in Central Utah: Chronology, Agricultural Economics, and Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Simms ◽  
Tammy M. Rittenour ◽  
Chimalis Kuehn ◽  
Molly Boeka Cannon
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Agricultural Economics ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Irrigation Canal ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Cultural Affiliation ◽  
Original Construction

In 1928, Noel Morss was shown “irrigation ditches” along Pleasant Creek on the Dixie National Forest near Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, by a local guide who contended they were ancient. We relocated the site and mapped the route of an unusual mountain irrigation canal. We conducted excavations and employed OSL and AMS 14C showing historic irrigation, and an earlier event between AD 1460 and 1636. Geomorphic evidence indicates that the canal existed prior to this time, but we cannot date its original construction. The canal is 7.2 km long, originating at 2,450 m asl and terminating at 2,170 m asl. Less than half of the system was hand constructed. We cannot ascribe the prehistoric use-event to an archaeological culture, language, or ethnic group, but the 100+ sites nearby are largely Fremont in cultural affiliation. We also report the results of experimental modeling of the capital and maintenance costs of the system, which holds implications for irrigation north of the Colorado River and farming during the Little Ice Age. The age of the prehistoric canal is consistent with a fragmentary abandonment of farming and continuity between ancient and modern tribes in Utah.

scholarly journals Dendroglaciological Dating of a Little Ice Age Glacial Advance at Moving Glacier, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Smith ◽  
Colin P. Laroque
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Terminal Moraine ◽  
Glacier Advance ◽  
Glacial Advance

ABSTRACT Dendrochronological investigations at Moving Glacier provide the first calendar-dating of a Little Ice Age glacier advance on Vancouver Island. In 1931, Moving Glacier was within 30 to 50 m of a distinct trimline and terminal moraine marking its maximum Little Ice Age extent. A reconnaissance of the site in 1993 revealed the presence of sheared in situ stumps and detrital trunks inside the 1931 ice limit. Sampling in 1994 showed the site was covered by a mature subalpine forest prior to the glacial advance which overrode the site after 1718 A.D. Following this period of expansion, which saw Moving Glacier expand to its maximum Little Ice Age position after 1818 A.D., the glacier apparently experienced only minimal retreat prior to first being photographed in 1931.

scholarly journals Recent Debris-Flow and Flash-Flood History of Northeastern Yellowstone National Park

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Joshua Landis ◽  
Grant Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Flow Activity

An understanding of the ecological health of stream systems and riparian areas in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) requires knowledge of their response to climatic and hydrological influences; intrinsic factors such as relief and geological materials are important influences as well (e.g., O'Hara and Meyer 1995). Recent studies of southwestern (Ely et al. 1993) and midwestern U.S. rivers (Knox 1993) have shown that relatively minor climatic changes in the late Holocene are associated with large fluctuations in flood magnitude and frequency. In small, steep drainage basins of northeastern YNP (Figure 1), Meyer et al. (1992, 1995) associated increased fire-related debris-flow activity with decadal to millennial-scale cycles of drought over the Holocene. Observations of modern events indicate that debris-flow and flash floods are also produced in the absence of fire in this rugged mountainous region, primarily by intense summer thunderstorm precipitation. Although a correlation between drought severity and fire magnitude in Yellowstone is clear (Balling et al. 1992a, 1992b), the relationship hypothesized by Meyer et al. (1992,1995) between warm, drought-prone climatic episodes and debris-flow activity in this region requires further investigation. Therefore, we use relatively high-resolution lichenometric and tree­ring dating methods to construct a 250-year history of major hydrologic events in small, steep tributary basins of Soda Butte Creek in northeastern Yellowstone. This period spans the transition from the generally cooler global climate of the Little Ice Age to the present (e.g., Grove 1988). Although the Little Ice Age was not uniformly cold in either a spatial or temporal sense (Jones and Bradley 1995), and YNP climate is not well known in the earlier part of this interval, trends toward increasing summer temperatures and decreasing winter precipitation in YNP over the last ~100 yr are consistent with this transition (Balling et al. 1992a).

scholarly journals Anthropogenic and natural effects on the coastal lagoons in the southwest of Spain (Doñana National Park)

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1508-1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Sousa ◽  
Pablo García-Murillo ◽  
Julia Morales ◽  
Leoncio García-Barrón
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Underground Water ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Doñana National Park ◽  
Anthropogenic Effect ◽  
Marine Sand ◽  
Mobile Dune

Abstract Sousa, A., García-Murillo, P., Morales, J., and García-Barrón, L. 2009. Anthropogenic and natural effects on the coastal lagoons in the southwest of Spain (Doñana National Park). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1508–1514. The Doñana peridunal lagoons, located in the southwest of Spain, have been well studied, because their conservation is of great interest. Since 1965, they have also been affected by the extraction of underground water for local coastal tourist resorts. A reconstruction of the evolution of this series of coastal lagoons reveals that, along with the anthropogenic effect, there was a natural effect resulting from the reactivation of mobile dune fronts that have blocked and filled the original lagoon complex—in the period 1920–1987, the lagoons were reduced by 70.7%. These fronts might have been fed by deposits of marine sand during the climatically driest phases of the Little Ice Age in Andalusia, Spain. Therefore, if the frequency and duration of dry periods increase, as well as droughts as a whole, because of global warming, the desiccation and disappearance of the lagoons could become more widespread, not only at this site in southwestern Europe, but in other Mediterranean coastal ecosystems as well.

scholarly journals “Little Ice Age” glaciers in Kamchatka, northeastern Russia

1995 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 240-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. N. Solomina ◽  
Ya.D. Muravyev ◽  
L. I. Bazanova
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Kamchatka Peninsula ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Northeastern Russia ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Accuracy Test ◽  
Rhizocarpon Geographicum ◽  
Data Points

Lichenometry was used to date “Little Ice Age” moraines in the Kamchatka peninsula, northeastern Russia. The Rhizocarpon geographicum growth-rate curve was based on seven data points from lava flows and moraines, dated using historical records or tephrochronology (15–300 BP). No reduction in growth rate due to decreasing lichen age was observed, so a linear approximation was used. Accuracy test results yield differences between real and calculated dates up to, but not exceeding, five years. From eight “Little Ice Age” (LIA) moraines it was established that Kamchatka glaciers advanced in the 1690s, 1850–70 and 1910–20. Only one moraine clearly corresponded to the 1690s advance. The maximum stage of the LIA was during the mid- to late 19th century when glacier fronts were generally 100–200 m lower than at present. Glacier termini with ash and moraine layers, covered by lichens and vascular plants, have been preserved for 150–300 years, judging by the lichen sizes.

Holocene Glacier Advances in the Headwaters of Sredniaya Avacha, Kamchatka, Russia

1999 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oxana S. Savoskul
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Rhizocarpon Geographicum ◽  
Geomorphic Features

Holocene glacial deposits in Sredniya Avacha headwaters are subdivided into three age groups (events A, B, and C) based upon geomorphic features, tephrochronology, and lichenometry. Tephras of Opala volcano (1400–1500 yr B.P.), Ksudach volcano (1700–1800 and 6000 yr B.P.), and Zavaritskiy volcano (2800 yr B.P.) are used as stratigraphic markers. Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC and Rhizocarpon section Alpicola growth curves are established using tephrochronologically dated and historical surfaces. The age of event A (pre-Hypsitermal?) moraines is constrained by an age of 6000 yr B.P. for overlying Ksudach-2 tephra and an age of 7200 (?) lichenometric (L) yr B.P. Event B (Neoglaciation) had a multiple nature, with the most prominent advances at 4300–3500, 3300–2800, 2600–2100, 1800–1400, and 1300–1100 (L) yr B.P.; the culmination occurred before 2800 yr B.P., as suggested by a date for Zavaritskiy volcano tephra found on the glacial and outwash deposits. Less-extensive glacier advances of event C (“Little Ice Age”), occurred at 800–600, 500–200, 180–110, and 90–40 (L) yr B.P. The ELA depression was 200–250, 100–150, 30–70 m during the culmination of events A, B, and C, respectively.

scholarly journals Little Ice Age glacial activity in Peter Lougheed and Elk Lakes provincial parks, Canadian Rocky Mountains

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 579-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Smith ◽  
Daniel P. Mccarthy ◽  
Margaret E. Colenutt
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Glacial Chronology ◽  
Provincial Parks ◽  
Glacial Expansion ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Glacial Advance

Dendrochronological, lichenometric, and 14C studies at 14 glacier sites in Peter Lougheed and Elk Lakes provincial parks were used to develop a chronology of Little Ice Age glacial events. The earliest indications of glacial activity are represented by moraines deposited prior to the 16th century. A major glacial expansion in the 17th century is recorded at three sites, where I4C dates show glaciers reached their maximum down-valley positions. Lichenometric dates and tree growth suppression records show a phase of glacial activity early in the 18th century, for which there is only sparse morainic evidence. Most moraines in the area date from a glacial advance culminating in the mid-19th century, and moraine formation was complete everywhere by the late 1800's. Recessional moraines are rare in the study area and indicate that ice-front retreat has been relatively continuous since the 19th century. The glacial chronology developed in this work is comparable to that reconstructed for both the Main Ranges of the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Ranges of the southern Cordillera.

scholarly journals Preliminary Report on the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Diatoms of Swamp Lake, Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT W. STARRATT ◽  
R. SCOTT ANDERSON
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Yosemite National Park ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Diatom Assemblages ◽  
Climate Anomaly ◽  
Varved Sediments ◽  
Freeze Core ◽  
Large Fluctuations

Swamp Lake, Yosemite National Park, is the only known lake in California containing long sequences of varved sediments and thus has the potential to provide a high-resolution record of climate variability. This preliminary analysis of the diatom assemblages from a 947-cm-long composite sediment core (freeze core FZ02–05; 0–67 cm, Livingstone core 02–05; 53–947 cm) shows that the lake has been freshwater, oligotrophic, and circumneutral to alkaline throughout its ~16,000-year-long history. The first sediments deposited in the lake show that the vegetation in the watershed was sparse, allowing organic matter-poor silt and clay to be deposited in the basin. The basin filled quickly to a depth of at least 5 m and remained at least that deep for most of the sediment record. Several short intervals provided evidence of large fluctuations in lake level during the Holocene. The upper 50 cm of the core contains evidence of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age.

Holocene climatic change, 14 C wiggles and variations in solar irradiance

1990 ◽  
Vol 330 (1615) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Maunder Minimum ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Gas Concentration ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Glacial Advance

Evidence from the advances and retreats of alpine glaciers during the Holocene suggests that there were at least 14 century-timescale cool periods similar to the recent Little Ice Age. Here, we examine the hypothesis that these cool periods were caused by reductions in solar irradiance. A statistically significant correlation is found between the global glacial advance and retreat chronology of Röthlisberger and variations in atmospheric 14 C concentration. A simple energy-balance climate model is used to show that the mean reduction of solar irradiance during times of maximum 14 C anomaly like the Maunder Minimum would have to have been between 0.22 and 0.55 % to have caused these cool periods. If a similar solar irradiance perturbation began early in the 21st century, the associated climate effects would be noticeable, but still considerably less than those expected to result from future greenhouse gas concentration increases.

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