Pliocene terrace gravels of the ancestral Yukon River near Circle, Alaska: Palynology, paleobotany, paleoenvironmental reconstruction and regional correlation

Quaternary International
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Abstract

Gravels deposited by the ancestral Yukon River are preserved in terrace remnants on the margins of the Yukon River valley near the village of Circle in east-central Alaska. Plant fossils recovered from sandy silt lenses within these gravels include cones and needles of Picea and Larix and a variety of seeds. Seed types include several taxa which no longer grow in Alaska, such as Epipremnum, Prunus and Weigela. Pollen types recovered from these deposits represent tree and shrub taxa that grow in interior Alaska today, such as Picea, Larix, Betula and Alnus, as well as several taxa that no longer grow in interior Alaska today, such as Pinus, Tsuga, Abies and Corylus. Pollen of herb taxa identified include Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Compositae, Polemonium and Epilobium. The fossil flora from the gravels near Circle are similar and probably age-equivalent to the flora recovered from the Nenana Gravel in the Alaska Range 250 km to the south. Palynological and tectonic evidence summarized in this paper now suggests that the Nenana Gravel was deposited during the early and middle Pliocene. The presence of plant fossils of Tsuga, Abies, Pinus, Weigela and Prunus suggests that the mean annual temperature (MAT) of eastern interior Alaska during the early and middle Pliocene was perhaps 7-9??C warmer and less continental than today's MAT of -6.4??C. ?? 1994.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Pliocene terrace gravels of the ancestral Yukon River near Circle, Alaska: Palynology, paleobotany, paleoenvironmental reconstruction and regional correlation
Series title Quaternary International
DOI 10.1016/1040-6182(94)90012-4
Volume 22-23
Issue C
Year Published 1994
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Quaternary International
First page 185
Last page 206
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