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Late Holocene storm-trajectory changes inferred from the oxygen isotope composition of lake diatoms, south Alaska

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Abstract

The oxygen isotope ratios of diatoms (δ18Odiatom), and the oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of lake water (δW) of lakes in south Alaska provide insight into past changes in atmospheric circulation. Lake water was collected from 31 lakes along an elevation transect and diatoms were isolated from lake sediment from one lake (Mica Lake) in south Alaska. In general, δW values from coastal lakes overlap the global meteoric water line (GMWL). δW values from interior lakes do not lie on the GMWL; they fall on a local evaporation line trajectory suggesting source isotopes are depleted with respect to maritime lakes. Sediment cores were recovered from 58 m depth in Mica Lake (60.96° N, 148.15° W; 100 m asl), an evaporation-insensitive lake in the western Prince William Sound. Thirteen calibrated 14C ages on terrestrial macrofossil samples were used to construct an age-depth model for core MC-2, which spans 9910 cal years. Diatoms from 46, 0.5-cm-thick samples were isolated and analyzed for their oxygen isotope ratios. The analyses employed a newly designed, stepwise fluorination technique, which uses a CO2 laser-ablation system, coupled to a mass spectrometer, and has an external reproducibility of ±0.2‰. δ18Odiatom values from Mica Lake sediment range between 25.2 and 29.8‰. δ18Odiatom values are relatively uniform between 9.6 and 2.6 ka, but exhibit a four-fold increase in variability since 2.6 ka. High-resolution sampling and analyses of the top 100 cm of our lake cores suggest large climate variability during the last 2000 years. The 20th century shows a +4.0‰ increase of δ18Odiatom values. Shifts of δ18Odiatom values are likely not related to changes in diatom taxa or dissolution effects. Late Holocene excursions to lower δ18Odiatom values suggest a reduction of south-to-north storm trajectories delivered by meridional flow, which likely corresponds to prolonged intervals when the Aleutian Low pressure system weakened. Comparisons with isotope records of precipitation (δP) from the region support the storm-track hypothesis, and add to evidence for variability in North Pacific atmospheric circulation during the Holocene.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Henderson for his knowledge and assistance with isolating diatoms. N. McKay, T. Daigle, C. Kassel, E. Helfrich, and P. Foletta assisted us in core recovery from Mica Lake and H. Roop and K. Kathan, provided assistance during water sampling. We thank K. Wallace for help with tephra identification and logistical support in Anchorage. D. Fisher provided valuable insight and permission to publish the Mt. Logan data. This project is a contribution to the ARCSS 2 kyr project and was funded by the National Science Foundation (ARC 0455043 and ATM-0318341), the Geological Society of America, the USGS/Alaska Volcano Observatory, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011-4099, USA

    Caleb J. Schiff & Darrell S. Kaufman

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2E3

    Alexander P. Wolfe

  3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA

    Justin Dodd & Zachary Sharp

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  1. Caleb J. Schiff
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  2. Darrell S. Kaufman
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Correspondence to Darrell S. Kaufman.

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This is one of fourteen papers published in a special issue dedicated to reconstructing late Holocene climate change from Arctic lake sediments. The special issue is a contribution to the International Polar Year and was edited by Darrell Kaufman.

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Schiff, C.J., Kaufman, D.S., Wolfe, A.P. et al. Late Holocene storm-trajectory changes inferred from the oxygen isotope composition of lake diatoms, south Alaska. J Paleolimnol 41, 189–208 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-008-9261-z

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