Reconstructing late Holocene Artctic climate change using high resolution sediment records from Simpson Lagoon, Alaska and the Colville River alluvial valley
type: CreativeWork
description: Arctic nearshore environments proximal to large rivers, like Simpson Lagoon, Alaska, potentially contain high-resolution sediment archives that can be utilized to reconstruct paleoclimate variability over the late Holocene. The ongoing, rapid environmental changes recently observed in the Arctic highlight the need for high-resolution records of pre-industrial climate change in this climatically sensitive region; such records are fundamental for understanding recent anthropogenic changes in the context of natural variability. This dissertation utilizes a suite of geochemical and sedimentological proxies in combination with age-constrained, shallow acoustic reflection data to demonstrate that these underutilized coastal sediment archives are capable of generating high-resolution paleoclimate records on par with other terrestrial climate archives (i.e. lake sediments, ice cores, tree rings) and provides the first ~1650-year long record of climate variability from the inner shelf of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. An analysis of sedimentation patterns within Simpson Lagoon using CHIRP seismic data and radioisotope geochronology reveals that sediment infilling in Simpson Lagoon began ~3500 y BP, creating a primary depocenter with mm/y sediment accumulation in western Simpson Lagoon. The interbedded sediments suggest that major sediment reworking from ice processes, a common occurrence in Arctic shelf environments, does not disrupt the sediment archive contained within the lagoon. Quantitative reconstructions of surface air temperature are obtained using the brGDGT-derived MBT’/CBT paleothermometer. A comprehensive study of lagoon and river sediments and catchment soils demonstrate that brGDGTs are primarily soil-derived, and yield reconstructed temperatures consistent with instrumental summer temperature observations from Alaska’s North Slope. Temperature reconstructions from Simpson Lagoon also show similarities with regional and pan-Arctic climate records over the last few m…
abstract: Arctic nearshore environments proximal to large rivers, like Simpson Lagoon, Alaska, potentially contain high-resolution sediment archives that can be utilized to reconstruct paleoclimate variability over the late Holocene. The ongoing, rapid environmental changes recently observed in the Arctic highlight the need for high-resolution records of pre-industrial climate change in this climatically sensitive region; such records are fundamental for understanding recent anthropogenic changes in the context of natural variability. This dissertation utilizes a suite of geochemical and sedimentological proxies in combination with age-constrained, shallow acoustic reflection data to demonstrate that these underutilized coastal sediment archives are capable of generating high-resolution paleoclimate records on par with other terrestrial climate archives (i.e. lake sediments, ice cores, tree rings) and provides the first ~1650-year long record of climate variability from the inner shelf of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. An analysis of sedimentation patterns within Simpson Lagoon using CHIRP seismic data and radioisotope geochronology reveals that sediment infilling in Simpson Lagoon began ~3500 y BP, creating a primary depocenter with mm/y sediment accumulation in western Simpson Lagoon. The interbedded sediments suggest that major sediment reworking from ice processes, a common occurrence in Arctic shelf environments, does not disrupt the sediment archive contained within the lagoon. Quantitative reconstructions of surface air temperature are obtained using the brGDGT-derived MBT’/CBT paleothermometer. A comprehensive study of lagoon and river sediments and catchment soils demonstrate that brGDGTs are primarily soil-derived, and yield reconstructed temperatures consistent with instrumental summer temperature observations from Alaska’s North Slope. Temperature reconstructions from Simpson Lagoon also show similarities with regional and pan-Arctic climate records over the last few m…
author: Hanna, Andrea Jo Miller
language: en
keywords: Paleoclimate, Beaufort Sea, Estuarine sedimentation, GDGT, Simpson Lagoon (Alaska), Colville River (Alaska), Sediment records, Geochronology
date published: 2015-12
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:00:54Z
provider: University of Texas
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Texas at Austin

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/33496

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.15781/T2G98J