Geology topics

K. Gajewski

Publications and source records attributed to K. Gajewski.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2010

Pollen-based continental climate reconstructions at 6 and 21 ka: A global synthesis

Subfossil pollen and plant macrofossil data derived from 14 C-dated sediment profiles can provide quantitative information on glacial and interglacial climates. The data allow climate variables related to growing-season warmth, winter cold, and plant-available moisture to be reconstructed. Continental-scale reconstructions have been made for the mid-Holocene (MH, around 6 ka) and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 21 ka), allowing comparison with palaeoclimate simulations currently being carried out as part of the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The synthesis of the available MH and LGM climate reconstructions and their uncertainties, obtained using modern-analogue, regression and model-inversion techniques, is presented for four temperature variables and two moisture variables. Reconstructions of the same variables based on surface-pollen assemblages are shown to be accurate and unbiased. Reconstructed LGM and MH climate anomaly patterns are coherent, consistent between variables, and robust with respect to the choice of technique. They support a conceptual model of the controls of Late Quaternary climate change whereby the first-order effects of orbital variations and greenhouse forcing on the seasonal cycle of temperature are predictably modified by responses of the atmospheric circulation and surface energy balance.

Climate Dynamics↗

USGS2005

Modern pollen data from North America and Greenland for multi-scale paleoenvironmental applications

The modern pollen network in North America and Greenland is presented as a database for use in quantitative calibration studies and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The georeferenced database includes 4634 samples from all regions of the continent and 134 pollen taxa that range from ubiquitous to regionally diagnostic taxa. Climate data and vegetation characteristics were assigned to every site. Automated and manual procedures were used to verify the accuracy of geographic coordinates and identify duplicate records among datasets, incomplete pollen sums, and other potential errors. Data are currently available for almost all of North America, with variable density. Pollen taxonomic diversity, as measured by the Shannon-Weiner coefficient, varies as a function of location, as some vegetation regions are dominated by one or two major pollen producers, while other regions have a more even composition of pollen taxa. Squared-chord distances computed between samples show that most modern pollen samples find analogues within their own vegetation zone. Both temperature and precipitation inferred from best analogues are highly correlated with observed values but temperature exhibits the strongest relation. Maps of the contemporary distribution of several pollen types in relation to the range of the plant taxon illustrate the correspondence between plant and pollen ranges. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quaternary Science Reviews↗

USGS2004

Holocene thermal maximum in the western Arctic (0-180°W)

The spatio-temporal pattern of peak Holocene warmth (Holocene thermal maximum, HTM) is traced over 140 sites across the Western Hemisphere of the Arctic (0-180??W; north of ???60??N). Paleoclimate inferences based on a wide variety of proxy indicators provide clear evidence for warmer-than-present conditions at 120 of these sites. At the 16 terrestrial sites where quantitative estimates have been obtained, local HTM temperatures (primarily summer estimates) were on average 1.6??0.8??C higher than present (approximate average of the 20th century), but the warming was time-transgressive across the western Arctic. As the precession-driven summer insolation anomaly peaked 12-10ka (thousands of calendar years ago), warming was concentrated in northwest North America, while cool conditions lingered in the northeast. Alaska and northwest Canada experienced the HTM between ca 11 and 9ka, about 4000yr prior to the HTM in northeast Canada. The delayed warming in Quebec and Labrador was linked to the residual Laurentide Ice Sheet, which chilled the region through its impact on surface energy balance and ocean circulation. The lingering ice also attests to the inherent asymmetry of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that predisposes the region to glaciation and modulates the pattern of climatic change. The spatial asymmetry of warming during the HTM resembles the pattern of warming observed in the Arctic over the last several decades. Although the two warmings are described at different temporal scales, and the HTM was additionally affected by the residual Laurentide ice, the similarities suggest there might be a preferred mode of variability in the atmospheric circulation that generates a recurrent pattern of warming under positive radiative forcing. Unlike the HTM, however, future warming will not be counterbalanced by the cooling effect of a residual North American ice sheet. ?? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quaternary Science Reviews↗

USGS2003

Climate change and Arctic ecosystems: 1. Vegetation changes north of 55°N between the last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene, and present

A unified scheme to assign pollen samples to vegetation types was used to reconstruct vegetation patterns north of 55??N at the last glacial maximum (LGM) and mid-Holocene (6000 years B.P.). The pollen data set assembled for this purpose represents a comprehensive compilation based on the work of many projects and research groups. Five tundra types (cushion forb tundra, graminoid and forb tundra, prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra, erect dwarf-shrub tundra, and low- and high-shrub tundra) were distinguished and mapped on the basis of modern pollen surface samples. The tundra-forest boundary and the distributions of boreal and temperate forest types today were realistically reconstructed. During the mid-Holocene the tundra-forest boundary was north of its present position in some regions, but the pattern of this shift was strongly asymmetrical around the pole, with the largest northward shift in central Siberia (???200 km), little change in Beringia, and a southward shift in Keewatin and Labrador (???200 km). Low- and high-shrub tundra extended farther north than today. At the LGM, forests were absent from high latitudes. Graminoid and forb tundra abutted on temperate steppe in northwestern Eurasia while prostrate dwarf-shrub, erect dwarf-shrub, and graminoid and forb tundra formed a mosaic in Beringia. Graminoid and forb tundra is restricted today and does not form a large continuous biome, but the pollen data show that it was far more extensive at the LGM, while low- and high-shrub tundra were greatly reduced, illustrating the potential for climate change to dramatically alter the relative areas occupied by different vegetation types.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗