Holocene tree line and climate change on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada
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| Authors: | Pellatt, MG; Mathewes, RW |
| Year: | 1997 |
| Journal: | Quat. Res. 48: 88-99 Article Link (DOI) |
| Title: | Holocene tree line and climate change on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada |
| Abstract: | Palynological study of two subalpine ponds on the Queen Charlotte Islands reveals changes in tree line and climate during the Holocene. The findings agree with previous reconstructions, from nearby Louise Pond on the Queen Charlotte Islands, that suggest a warmer-than-present climate and higher-than-present tree lines in the early Holocene (ca. 9600-6600 C-14 yr B.P.). Basal ages at SC1 Pond and Shangri-La Bog indicate that the basins did not hold permanent water before 7200 C-14 yr B.P., consistent with a warmer and drier early Holocene previously inferred from Louise Pond. Pollen and plant macrofossils indicate the initial establishment of subalpine conditions by 6090 +/- 90 C-14 yr B.P., Similar to the 5790 +/- 130 C-14 yr B.P. age for cooling inferred from Louise Pond. Conditions similar to present were established at SCI Pond by 3460 +/- 100 C-14 yr B.P., confirming the previous estimate of 3400 C-14 yr B.P. at Louise Pond. This 3400 C-14 yr B.P. vegetation shift on the Queen Charlotte Islands corresponds with the beginning of the Tiedemann glacial advance in the south-coastal mountains of British Columbia (ca. 3300 C-14 yr B.P.), the Peyto and Robson glacial advances between 3300 and 2800 C-14 yr B.P. in the Rocky Mountains, and climatic cooling inferred from palynological studies throughout southern British Columbia, northern Washington, and southeast Alaska. These findings confirm that changes in regional climate influenced changes in vegetation in coastal British Columbia. (C) 1997 University at Washington. |
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