Elias OPP-00-02362 Edwards OPP-00-02361 Berger

This is a collaborative proposal with Principal Investigators from the Universities of Colorado, Alaska, and the Desert Research Institute. Large portions of Siberia, Alaska, and northwestern Canada formed an unglaciated land-mass during the late Pleistocene known as Beringia. Previous Beringian paleoclimatic studies have yielded only qualitative temperature estimates. There is a need to develop quantitative estimates to gain a better understanding of the magnitude and regional expression of climate change. The Principal Investigators will attempt to quantify the paleotemperatures through the analysis of fossil insects, pollen, and plant macrofossils using thermoluminescence (TL) dating. They will use the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) method of fossil beetle analysis and paleobotanical studies to produce estimates of mean temperatures of the warmest (TMAX) and coldest months (TMIN), as well as estimates of mean annual temperature (MAT). They will reconstruct past environments at the five study sites in central and northern Alaska with sediments ranging in age from the end of isotope stage 6 to the Holocene. The Principal Investigators will focus on samples from just before and during the last interglacial interval. They will date sediments from 140-50 thousand years by TL and its newer variant, photon-stimulated-luminescence.

Two research themes will be addressed. The first theme is to study the nature of the climatic transition of stage 6 to stage 5 and to determine where the Old Crow tephra fits in this sequence. The second research theme is to determine the nature of climatic amelioration in Beringia during the last interglacial period.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Polar Programs (PLR)
Application #
0002362
Program Officer
Jane V. Dionne
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2000-05-15
Budget End
2004-04-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$55,988
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Fairbanks
State
AK
Country
United States
Zip Code
99775