Late Quaternary Pollen Records from Oil Lake and Feniak Lake, Alaska, U.S.A.
Eisner WR and Colinvaux PA. 1992. Late Quaternary Pollen Records from Oil Lake and Feniak Lake, Alaska, U.S.A.. Arctic and Alpine Research. 24(1):56-63
The pollen analysis of two sediment cores from Oil Lake, in the eastern foothills of the Brooks Range, and Feniak Lake, in the Noatak River drainage, reveal late Wisconsin and Holocene vegetation changes. These cores exhibit alternative trends in the development of the modern tundra biome. At Oil Lake, a long birch/herb zone with little fluctuation is followed by a rapid rise in sedge, which is then followed by a birch zone and an alder zone. There is a drop in birch pollen at the late glacial/Holocene boundary, with a rise in sedge and Nymphaea, an indication of the increase in moisture at the end of the late glacial. Feniak Lake yields a detailed history of Holocene vegetation change that includes an early Alnus pollen rise during the Birch Zone, indicating local expansion of alder in the Noatak River region.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Eisner, Wendy; Colinvaux, Paul
- Units
- KOVA , NOAT
- Keywords
- Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve