A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost
Anthropogenic climate warming is degrading permafrost across interior Alaska. Information from past warming events provides long-term perspectives for future trajectories; however, late Quaternary seasonal temperatures are poorly constrained. We have established a stable water isotope meteoric water...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada16b |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832592054454059008 |
|---|---|
| author | Thomas A Douglas Amanda J Barker Alistair J Monteath Duane G Froese |
| author_facet | Thomas A Douglas Amanda J Barker Alistair J Monteath Duane G Froese |
| author_sort | Thomas A Douglas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anthropogenic climate warming is degrading permafrost across interior Alaska. Information from past warming events provides long-term perspectives for future trajectories; however, late Quaternary seasonal temperatures are poorly constrained. We have established a stable water isotope meteoric water line for interior Alaska and measured stable water isotope values from 126 permafrost cores representing different ice types deposited over the past ∼40 ka (thousand years before 1950 CE). Samples represent two late Quaternary warm periods: marine isotope stage three (MIS3; 57–29 ka) and the Holocene (11.7 ka-present). Older samples provide insight into local climatic conditions slightly before the first archeological evidence for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers in the region. From permafrost ice we calculate that summer temperatures warmed by ∼10 °C between late MIS3 and today, with six degrees of warming between 40–30 ka and 3 ka and an additional 4 °C of warming since 3 ka. Half this recent 4 °C warming has occurred over the past 70 years. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2d0c33b75bcd4a3fa43df62cb1a83591 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-2d0c33b75bcd4a3fa43df62cb1a835912025-01-21T17:41:35ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120202402910.1088/1748-9326/ada16bA local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrostThomas A Douglas0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1314-1905Amanda J Barker1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0703-2702Alistair J Monteath2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0199-9926Duane G Froese3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1032-5944US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 9th Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK, 99709, United States of AmericaUS Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory , 9th Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK, 99709, United States of AmericaBritish Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council , Cambridge, United KingdomDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta , Edmonton, AB, CanadaAnthropogenic climate warming is degrading permafrost across interior Alaska. Information from past warming events provides long-term perspectives for future trajectories; however, late Quaternary seasonal temperatures are poorly constrained. We have established a stable water isotope meteoric water line for interior Alaska and measured stable water isotope values from 126 permafrost cores representing different ice types deposited over the past ∼40 ka (thousand years before 1950 CE). Samples represent two late Quaternary warm periods: marine isotope stage three (MIS3; 57–29 ka) and the Holocene (11.7 ka-present). Older samples provide insight into local climatic conditions slightly before the first archeological evidence for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers in the region. From permafrost ice we calculate that summer temperatures warmed by ∼10 °C between late MIS3 and today, with six degrees of warming between 40–30 ka and 3 ka and an additional 4 °C of warming since 3 ka. Half this recent 4 °C warming has occurred over the past 70 years.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada16bpermafrostpaleoclimatestable isotopesice wedge |
| spellingShingle | Thomas A Douglas Amanda J Barker Alistair J Monteath Duane G Froese A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost Environmental Research Letters permafrost paleoclimate stable isotopes ice wedge |
| title | A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| title_full | A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| title_fullStr | A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| title_full_unstemmed | A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| title_short | A local meteoric water line for interior Alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| title_sort | local meteoric water line for interior alaska constrains paleoclimate from 40 000 year old relict permafrost |
| topic | permafrost paleoclimate stable isotopes ice wedge |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada16b |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomasadouglas alocalmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT amandajbarker alocalmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT alistairjmonteath alocalmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT duanegfroese alocalmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT thomasadouglas localmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT amandajbarker localmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT alistairjmonteath localmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost AT duanegfroese localmeteoricwaterlineforinterioralaskaconstrainspaleoclimatefrom40000yearoldrelictpermafrost |