Project Overview
SUMMER 1998 FIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA
Annotated Notes By
Dr. Thomas Ager
Project: QUATERNARY CLIMATES OF SOUTHERN ALASKA
USGS Program: GLOBAL CHANGE AND CLIMATE HISTORY
Project Objectives:
This research is aimed at reconstructing the
history of climate change in Alaska during the late Quaternary,
emphasizing in particular the past 30,000 years. By improving
understanding of how past climate changes changed terrestrial and
aquatic ecosystems, it may be possible to improve predictions of the
likely consequences of future climate changes in high latitudes.
Approach:
By collecting samples of lake sediments, peat, and uplifted
marine deposits of late Quaternary age, we can reconstruct past environmental conditions
by means of analyzing fossil assemblages (e.g., pollen, diatoms, ostracodes) and isotopic
changes in the sediments over time.
These data can be used to interpret past changes in regional and local vegetation,
climates, past temperatures of lake water or sea water and other information.
Participants in 1998 field work for this project:
Dr. Thomas Ager(pollen analysis, paleoecology of terrestrial ecosystems of Alaska)
(June 13-July 16)
Dr. Dan Muhs (soil science and isotopic geochemistry)
(July 5-July 16)
Dr. Larry Phillips (sedimentology)
(June 13-July 16)
Mr. Jossh Beann (Physical Science Technician)
(June 13-July 16)
Ms. Sharon VanLoenen (Physical Science Technician)
(June 26-July 2)
Major Cooperators:
Mr. Jim Baichtal (Geologist), U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture Forest Service, Ketchikan District, Tongass National Forest, Alaska
Dr. James Dixon, Curator of Archaeology, Denver Museum
of Natural History, Denver, Colorado.
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
This page is http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/info/alaska/98field/overview.htm
Maintained by ESP Web Team
Last modified Fri 24-Mar-2006 13:01:08 MST
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