Lake-level history for Birch Lake, Alaska, was reconstructed using seismic profiles and multiproxy sedimentary analyses including sedimentology, geochemistry, magnetic susceptibility, and palynology. Twenty-two seismic profiles (18 km total) and eight sediment cores taken from the lake margin to its depocenter at 13.5 m provide evidence for low lake stands during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Thirty-one AMS radiocarbon dates of macrofossils and pollen provide a century-scale chronology. Prior to 12,700 super(14)C yr B.P., the lake, which now overflows, was either seasonally dry or desiccated for prolonged periods, indicating a severe period of aridity. Lake level rose more than 18 m between 12,700 and 12,200 super(14)C yr B.P. [...]
