Data Release for "Holocene thermokarst lake dynamics in northern Interior Alaska: the interplay of climate, fire, and subsurface hydrology"

Publication Date

2019-03-20

Start Date

2007

End Date

2018

Anderson., L., Edwards, M.E., Shapley, M.D., Finney, B.P., and Langdon, C., 2019, Data Release for "Holocene thermokarst lake dynamics in northern Interior Alaska: the interplay of climate, fire, and subsurface hydrology": U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9O7255D.

Type: Related Primary Publication

Lakes of thermokarst origin are hallmark surface features of artic and sub-arctic permafrost landscapes. Ground-collapse following initial permafrost warming is referred to as thermokarst, whereas water-filled depressions that further deepen and/or expand by talik formation and/or thermal and mechanical erosion are thermokarst lakes, or thaw lakes. It has only been with the advent of high-resolution digital elevation detection that additional thermokarst features have been ‘uncovered’ in the densely forested regions of interior Alaska. Using these techniques, Edwards et al. (2016) broadly outline post-glacial and early Holocene development of deep thaw lakes within the active thermokarst landscape of the Yukon Flats in interior Alaska. Considerably less attention has focused on thermokarst lake level variations within boreal regions where the interplay between climate, vegetation and fire further complicates a clear understanding of the influence of anticipated climate trends on surface water trends. In the Yukon Flats, Holocene fire trends have been shown to closely correspond with vegetation (Kelly et al., 2013) and are consistent with independent records of late Holocene hydroclimate (Anderson et al., 2018). This background sets the stage for the goals of this study which are to document Holocene thaw lake evolution from detailed multi-proxy sediment analyses of three sediment cores across a water depth transect dated by aquatic and terrestrial macrofossils and pollen using AMS radiocarbon techniques. This study provides the basis to explore biophysical interactions and feedbacks among climate, vegetation, and fire, and we propose additional mechanisms related to subsurface hydrology. As with other regions of Interior Alaska, the climate of the Yukon Flats is affected by both Arctic and North Pacific influences and we explore the potential for past thermokarst lake levels to provide insights into past atmospheric circulation patterns and trends.

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