| 1. |
- Dalton, April S., et al.
(författare)
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Deglaciation of the north American ice sheet complex in calendar years based on a comprehensive database of chronological data: NADI-1
- 2023
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Ingår i: QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 321
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The most recent deglaciation of the North American Ice Sheet Complex (NAISC: comprising the Innuitian, Cordilleran, and Laurentide ice sheets) offers a broad perspective from which to analyze the timing and rate of ice retreat, deglacial sea-level rise, and abrupt climate change events. Previous efforts to portray the retreat of the NAISC have been focused largely on minimum-limiting radiocarbon ages and ice margin location(s) tied to deglacial landforms that were not, for the most part, chronologically constrained. Here, we present the first version of North American Deglaciation Isochrones (NADI-1) spanning 25 to 1 ka in calendar years before present. Key new features of this work are (i) the incorporation of cosmogenic nuclide data, which offer a direct constraint on the timing of ice recession; (ii) presentation of all data and time-steps in calendar years; (iii) optimal, minimum, and maximum ice extents for each time-step that are designed to capture uncertainties in the ice margin position, and; (iv) extensive documentation and justification for the placement of each ice margin. Our data compilation includes 2229 measurements of Be-10, 459 measurements of Al-26 and 35 measurements of Cl-36 from a variety of settings, including boulders, bedrock surfaces, cobbles, pebbles, and sediments. We also updated a previous radiocarbon dataset (n = 4947), assembled luminescence ages (n = 397) and gathered uranium-series data (n = 2). After scrutiny of the geochronological dataset, we consider >90% of data to be reliable or likely reliable. Key findings include (i) a highly asynchronous maximum glacial extent in North America, occurring as early as 27 ka to as late as 17 ka, within and between ice sheets. In most marine realms, extension of the ice margin to the continental shelf break at 25 ka is somewhat speculative because it is based on undated and spatially scattered ice stream and geomorphic evidence; (ii) detachment of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets took place gradually via southerly and northerly 'unzipping' of the ice masses, starting at 17.5 ka and ending around 14 ka; (iii) the final deglaciation of Hudson Bay began at 8.5 ka, with the collapse completed by 8 ka. The maximum extent of ice during the last glaciation occurred at 22 ka and covered 15,470,000 km(2). All North American ice sheets merged at 22 ka for the first time in the Quaternary. The highly asynchronous Last Glacial Maximum in North America means that our isochrones (starting at 25 ka) capture ice advance across some areas, which is based on limited evidence and is therefore somewhat speculative. In the Supplementary Data, the complete NADI-1 chronology is available in PDF, GIF and shapefile format, together with additional visualizations and spreadsheets of geochronological data. The NADI-1 shapefiles are also available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8161764.
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| 2. |
- Johnson, Sarah Stewart, et al.
(författare)
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Ancient bacteria show evidence of DNA repair
- 2007
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 104:36, s. 14401-14405
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent claims of cultivable ancient bacteria within sealed environments highlight our limited understanding of the mechanisms behind long-term cell survival. It remains unclear how dormancy, a favored explanation for extended cellular persistence, can cope with spontaneous genomic decay over geological timescales. There has been no direct evidence in ancient microbes for the most likely mechanism, active DNA repair, or for the metabolic activity necessary to sustain it. In this paper, we couple PCR and enzymatic treatment of DNA with direct respiration measurements to investigate long-term survival of bacteria sealed in frozen conditions for up to one million years. Our results show evidence of bacterial survival in samples up to half a million years in age, making this the oldest independently authenticated DNA to date obtained from viable cells. Additionally, we find strong evidence that this long-term survival is closely tied to cellular metabolic activity and DNA repair that over time proves to be superior to dormancy as a mechanism in sustaining bacteria viability.
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| 3. |
- Lorenzen, Eline D., et al.
(författare)
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Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans
- 2011
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 479:7373, s. 359-364
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.
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| 4. |
- Norris, Sophie L., et al.
(författare)
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Glacial landforms of northwest Saskatchewan
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Maps. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1744-5647. ; 13:2, s. 600-607
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A comprehensive map of glacial landforms is presented for the area of northwest Saskatchewan, Canada. Remote sensing of 1-arc (similar to 30 m resolution) Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation models over an area of approximately 15,000 km(2) were used as the primary data source for landform identification. A total of 16,856 landforms were identified pertaining to Quaternary glacial and postglacial activity. Ten landform types were mapped: ice flow parallel lineations (flutings, drumlins, mega-scale glacial lineations, and crag-and-tail ridges), moraines (major and minor), ice-thrust ridges, crevasse-fill ridges, meltwater landforms (major and minor meltwater channels and eskers), palaeo-shorelines and dunes. Collectively, these landforms constitute a glacial and postglacial landform record, which exhibits a more complex pattern than previously recognised, with evidence of multiple cross cutting ice flow directions. This geomorphological mapping of the regional landform record provides the prerequisite for future reconstructions of the glacial dynamics and chronology of northwest Saskatchewan.
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| 5. |
- Orlando, Ludovic, et al.
(författare)
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Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 499:7456, s. 74-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rich fossil record of equids has made them a model for evolutionary processes(1). Here we present a 1.12-times coverage draft genome from a horse bone recovered from permafrost dated to approximately 560-780 thousand years before present (kyr BP)(2,3). Our data represent the oldest full genome sequence determined so far by almost an order of magnitude. For comparison, we sequenced the genome of a Late Pleistocene horse (43 kyr BP), and modern genomes of five domestic horse breeds (Equus ferus caballus), a Przewalski's horse (E. f. prze-walskii) and a donkey (E. asinus). Our analyses suggest that the Equus lineage giving rise to all contemporary horses, zebras and donkeys originated 4.0-4.5 million years before present (Myr BP), twice the conventionally accepted time to the most recent common ancestor of the genus Equus(4,5). We also find that horse population size fluctuated multiple times over the past 2 Myr, particularly during periods of severe climatic changes. We estimate that the Przewalski's and domestic horse populations diverged 38-72 kyr BP, and find no evidence of recent admixture between the domestic horse breeds and the Przewalski's horse investigated. This supports the contention that Przewalski's horses represent the last surviving wild horse population(6). We find similar levels of genetic variation among Przewalski's and domestic populations, indicating that the former are genetically viable and worthy of conservation efforts. We also find evidence for continuous selection on the immune system and olfaction throughout horse evolution. Finally, we identify 29 genomic regions among horse breeds that deviate from neutrality and show low levels of genetic variation compared to the Przewalski's horse. Such regions could correspond to loci selected early during domestication.
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| 6. |
- Strauss, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Circum-Arctic Map of the Yedoma Permafrost Domain
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Earth Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-6463. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ice-rich permafrost in the circum-Arctic and sub-Arctic (hereafter pan-Arctic), such as late Pleistocene Yedoma, are especially prone to degradation due to climate change or human activity. When Yedoma deposits thaw, large amounts of frozen organic matter and biogeochemically relevant elements return into current biogeochemical cycles. This mobilization of elements has local and global implications: increased thaw in thermokarst or thermal erosion settings enhances greenhouse gas fluxes from permafrost regions. In addition, this ice-rich ground is of special concern for infrastructure stability as the terrain surface settles along with thawing. Finally, understanding the distribution of the Yedoma domain area provides a window into the Pleistocene past and allows reconstruction of Ice Age environmental conditions and past mammoth-steppe landscapes. Therefore, a detailed assessment of the current pan-Arctic Yedoma coverage is of importance to estimate its potential contribution to permafrost-climate feedbacks, assess infrastructure vulnerabilities, and understand past environmental and permafrost dynamics. Building on previous mapping efforts, the objective of this paper is to compile the first digital pan-Arctic Yedoma map and spatial database of Yedoma coverage. Therefore, we 1) synthesized, analyzed, and digitized geological and stratigraphical maps allowing identification of Yedoma occurrence at all available scales, and 2) compiled field data and expert knowledge for creating Yedoma map confidence classes. We used GIS-techniques to vectorize maps and harmonize site information based on expert knowledge. We included a range of attributes for Yedoma areas based on lithological and stratigraphic information from the source maps and assigned three different confidence levels of the presence of Yedoma (confirmed, likely, or uncertain). Using a spatial buffer of 20 km around mapped Yedoma occurrences, we derived an extent of the Yedoma domain. Our result is a vector-based map of the current pan-Arctic Yedoma domain that covers approximately 2,587,000 km2, whereas Yedoma deposits are found within 480,000 km2 of this region. We estimate that 35% of the total Yedoma area today is located in the tundra zone, and 65% in the taiga zone. With this Yedoma mapping, we outlined the substantial spatial extent of late Pleistocene Yedoma deposits and created a unique pan-Arctic dataset including confidence estimates.
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| 7. |
- Wang, Yucheng, et al.
(författare)
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Late Quaternary Dynamics of Arctic Biota from Ancient Environmental Genomics
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 600:7887, s. 86-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last glacial–interglacial cycle, Arctic biotas experienced substantial climatic changes, yet the nature, extent and rate of their responses are not fully understood1–8. Here we report a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, analysing 535 permafrost and lake sediment samples from across the Arctic spanning the past 50,000 years. Furthermore, we present 1,541 contemporary plant genome assemblies that were generated as reference sequences. Our study provides several insights into the long-term dynamics of the Arctic biota at the circumpolar and regional scales. Our key fndings include: (1) a relatively homogeneous steppe–tundra fora dominated the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by regional divergence of vegetation during the Holocene epoch; (2) certain grazing animals consistently co-occurred in space and time; (3) humans appear to have been a minor factor in driving animal distributions; (4) higher efective precipitation, as well as an increase in the proportion of wetland plants, show negative efects on animal diversity; (5) the persistence of the steppe–tundra vegetation in northern Siberia enabled the late survival of several now-extinct megafauna species, including the woolly mammoth until 3.9 ± 0.2 thousand years ago (ka) and the woolly rhinoceros until 9.8 ± 0.2 ka; and (6) phylogenetic analysis of mammoth environmental DNA reveals a previously unsampled mitochondrial lineage. Our fndings highlight the power of ancient environmental metagenomics analyses to advance understanding of population histories and long-term ecological dynamics
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| 8. |
- Wang, Yucheng, et al.
(författare)
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Reply to: When did mammoths go extinct?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 612:7938, s. 4-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 9. |
- Weiss, Niels, 1984-
(författare)
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Permafrost carbon in a changing Arctic : On periglacial landscape dynamics, organic matter characteristics, and the stability of a globally significant carbon pool
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Organic matter (OM) in arctic permafrost ground contains about twice as much carbon (C) as is currently present in the atmosphere. Climate change is particularly strong in the Arctic, and could cause a considerable part of the OM in permafrost to thaw out, decompose, and be released as greenhouse gases; further enhancing global warming. The exact size of the northern circumpolar C pool remains unclear, and processes that control decomposition and mineralization rates are even more uncertain. Superimposed on the long-term release of C through microbial decomposition of OM in the gradually deepening active layer, is the rapid release of currently sequestered OM through geomorphological processes. This thesis considers the quantity, quality, and availability of permafrost C, and explores interactions and common controls.To better understand the potential effects of thawing permafrost, it is vital to: i) obtain more accurate size and distribution estimates of permafrost C stocks, and develop methods to accurately and efficiently implement these in models, ii) identify OM characteristics that control decomposition, specifically for permafrost material, and iii) determine and quantify key geomorphological processes that cause large amounts of OM to become available for rapid decomposition.Detailed C quantifications are valuable to increase our fundamental understanding of permafrost soil processes and C sequestration, but including high levels of heterogeneity in models is challenging. Simple upscaling tools based on e.g. elevation parameters (Paper I) can help to bridge the gap between detailed field studies and global C models.Permafrost OM quality is controlled by different factors than those commonly observed in temperate soils (without permafrost). We observed an unexpected (significant) correlation in upper permafrost samples, where material that is generally considered more recalcitrant showed the highest CO2 production rates per g C, indicating high lability (Paper II). In ancient Pleistocene permafrost, labile samples related significantly to OM that was enriched in decomposed microbial remains, whereas less-decomposed plant material was more stable (Paper III). Investigation of multiple incubation datasets revealed that the unusual relationship between %C and CO2 production occurred in contrasting field sites throughout the Arctic, indicating important permafrost-specific controls over OM quality (Paper IV). We discuss several possible explanations for the observed high lability of permafrost OM, such as a pool of labile dissolved organic C in the upper permafrost, or increased lability caused by past decomposition. In order to conclusively identify causal relationships, and to answer the question whether or not the same mechanisms control OM quality in different environments, further investigation of permafrost-specific OM quality is required.Geomorphology plays a key role in C reworking and OM decomposition. Vast amounts of OM can be released abruptly (e.g. in thaw slumps and thermokarst lakes, Paper II), resulting in C turnover that will likely outweigh decomposition through gradual active layer deepening. Climate change could enhance this rapid release of C, and changes in surface hydrology and increased fire activity are expected to become the largest contributors to C loss from permafrost regions. Together with C quantity and quality, availability through gradual and abrupt processes must be parameterized and included in models in order to accurately assess the potential permafrost C climate feedback.
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| 10. |
- Zdanowicz, Christian, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Ice cores from the St-Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada : Their significance for the Holocene climate history, volcanism and air pollution trends in the Northwest Pacific region
- 2014
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Ingår i: Arctic. - : The Arctic Institute of North America. - 0004-0843 .- 1923-1245. ; 67:S1, s. 35-57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major achievement in research supported by the Kluane Lake Research Station was the recovery, in 2001–02, of a suite of cores from the icefields of the central St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, by teams of researchers from Canada, the United States, and Japan. This project led to the development of parallel, long (10^3 – 10^4 year) ice-core records of climate and atmospheric change over an altitudinal range of more than 2 km, from the Eclipse Icefield (3017 m) to the ice-covered plateau of Mt. Logan (5340 m). These efforts built on earlier work recovering single ice cores in this region. Comparison of these records has allowed for variations in climate and atmospheric composition to be linked with changes in the vertical structure and dynamics of the North Pacific atmosphere, providing a unique perspective on these changes over the Holocene. Owing to their privileged location, cores from the St. Elias Icefields also contain a remarkably detailed record of aerosols from various sources around or across the North Pacific. In this paper we review major scientific findings from the study of St. Elias Mountain ice cores, focusing on five main themes: (1) The record of stable water isotopes (δ18O, δD), which has unique characteristics that differ from those of Greenland, other Arctic ice cores, and even among sites in the St. Elias; (2) the snow accumulation history; (3) the record of pollen, biomass burning aerosol, and desert dust deposition; (4) the record of long-range air pollutant deposition (sulphate and lead); and (5) the record of paleo-volcanism. Our discussion draws on studies published since 2000, but based on older ice cores from the St. Elias Mountains obtained in 1980 and 1996.
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