Data release for Lake levels in a discontinuous permafrost landscape: Late Holocene variations inferred from sediment oxygen isotopes, Yukon Flats, Alaska

Publication Date

2018-09-12

Start Date

2007

End Date

2017

Anderson, L., 2018, Data release for Lake levels in a discontinuous permafrost landscape: Late Holocene variations inferred from sediment oxygen isotopes, Yukon Flats, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9GVYFNW.

Type: Online Link

This data was collected in order to develop a long-term context and better understanding of the significance of recent Yukon Flats lake fluctuations. This study examines sediment records from two lakes that have recently changed dramatically in response to climate, Twelvemile Lake and Track lakes. Both lakes underwent sustained water losses over the past two decades, with ~80% volume declines, and subsequent enrichment in heavy oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in their lake water. Both lakes have also undergone full recovery to maximum lake levels within a 13-month period between 2014 and 2015 in response to higher than average precipitation. The lakes are located in similar settings in terms of surficial geology, vegetation, permafrost distributions, and surfacegroundwater connectivity. Evidence presented for stable radiocarbon chronologies and autochthonous lithology further indicates that following initiation lake formation, minimal permafrost-induced changes in shorelines or basin morphometry has occurred. Twelvemile and Track lakes are alkaline and undergo endogenic carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation and sedimentation. The sediment records therefore provide continuous calcium carbonate oxygen isotope ratios (18OCaCO3). The 18OCaCO3 values reflect the values for past lake water (18OH2O), which in turn reflects lake hydrology, lake levels, and climate. Additional sediment measurements also included in this data release, in addition to lake water 18OH2O observations, climate records, lake level histories, and isotope mass balance model sensitivity experiments presented in the associated publication, further inform the paleoclimatic interpretation of the Track and Twelvemile lake 18OCaCO3 records. The combined datasets indicate that the sediment data accurately reflect lake level fluctuations during the observational period and thereby provide a record of lake level change in response to hydroclimate for the past ~4000 years prior to the recent period of monitoring.

• USGS Data Release Products