Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironments of the North Pacific coast

Constraints on regional drivers of relative sea-level change around Cordova, Alaska

“…The date fits with a regional chronology of retreat of ice in the south central Chugach Mountains and ice free conditions in Prince William Sound from 14,000 cal yr BP (Kaufman and Manley, 2004;Mann and Hamilton, 1995) and a similar age for Bering…”

“…A date at the base of a lacustrine sequence near Port Valdez, Prince William Sound, indicates ice free conditions from before 12,000 cal yr BP (Reger, 1991). Similarly, ice had retreated from the lower part of the Copper River Delta prior to 14,000 cal yr BP (Huesser, 1960;Sirkin and Tuthill, 1987) and from Cabin Lake at the south of the Chugach Mountains by 11,300 cal yr BP (Zander et al, 2013 (Mann and Hamilton, 1995). In the Matanuska Valley, interior northern Chugach, deglaciation was underway prior to 13,200 cal yr BP (Yu et al, 2008).…”

“…During the Last Glacial Maximum, the western extension of the North American Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered south central Alaska, with ice covering 727,800 km 2 , including areas of the continental shelf (Hamilton and Thorson, 1983;Kaufman and Manley, 2004;Molnia and Post, 1995). The region was largely deglaciated by some time prior to approximately 14--12,000 cal yr BP (Huesser, 1960;Kaufman and Manley, 2004;Mann and Hamilton, 1995;Sirkin and Tuthill, 1987). By the start of the Holocene, ice margins were at or behind their modern positions (Barclay et al, 2009).…”

The last deglaciation of Alaska

“…However, several efforts thus far have yielded results that have provided some general information on the maximum LGM extent and of the history of subsequent deglaciation. Previous overviews of glaciation in Southeast Alaska discuss how poorly the region's glacial history is understood (Mann, 1986;Mann and Hamilton, 1995). Much of the discussion centered on the timing and extent of LGM ice onto the continental shelf, but was based on little evidence.…”

An Introduction to the Biocomplexity of Sanak Island, Western Gulf of Alaska

“…The archaeology of the western Alaska Note: Shading highlights periods recording important changes in air and sea-surface temperature, storminess, and enhanced ocean productivity reconstructed from various climatic proxies for the North Pacific and Gulf of Alaska (Huesser et al 1985, Mason and Jordan 1993, Mann and Hamilton 1995, Calkin et al 2001, Hu et al 2001, Mann 2001, Finney et al 2002, Jordan and Krumhardt 2003, D'Arrigo et al 2005, Loso et al 2006, Misarti 2007. There is a cool period at approximately 5,400 B.P.…”