Geology topics

Research about Greenland, United States

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Greenland, United States.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Shifting winter atmospheric teleconnections to the North Pacific reconcile Younger-Dryas and Holocene δ18O signals

Using Alaskan lake sediment oxygen isotope records (δ 18 O), which trace the δ 18 O of precipitation, we establish that abrupt atmospheric shifts occurred during the last deglacial period in the North Pacific-Arctic. The robust lake δ 18 O chronologies confidently correlate Younger-Dryas (YD) atmospheric adjustments in Alaska with Greenland ice-core records and their seasonal sensitivity are consistent with cooling during winter. In contrast, abrupt δ 18 O decreases during the late Holocene observed in our records, of similar magnitude as the YD, are best explained by atmospheric modes involving long-distance transport of sub-tropical Pacific moisture. Our sediment cores are among the most reliably dated records yet produced in the circum-Arctic and show that similar decreases in δ 18 O of winter precipitation during the YD and late Holocene were driven by different atmospheric teleconnections. These results underscore major roles for seasonality and atmospheric patterns in the conceptual understanding of global scale climate oscillations, both past and future.

Alaska↗

USGS2022

Distinct gut microbiomes in two polar bear subpopulations inhabiting different sea ice ecoregions

Gut microbiomes were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding for polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB), where sea ice loss has led to increased use of land-based food resources by bears, and from East Greenland (EG), where persistent sea ice has allowed hunting of ice-associated prey nearly year-round. SB polar bears showed a higher number of total (940 vs. 742) and unique (387 vs. 189) amplicon sequence variants and higher inter-individual variation compared to EG polar bears. Gut microbiome composition differed significantly between the two subpopulations and among sex/age classes, likely driven by diet variation and ontogenetic shifts in the gut microbiome. Dietary tracer analysis using fatty acid signatures for SB polar bears showed that diet explained more intrapopulation variation in gut microbiome composition and diversity than other tested variables, i.e., sex/age class, body condition, and capture year. Substantial differences in the SB gut microbiome relative to EG polar bears, and associations between SB gut microbiome and diet, suggest that the shifting foraging habits of SB polar bears tied to sea ice loss may be altering their gut microbiome, with potential consequences for nutrition and physiology.

Alaska↗

USGS2015

Subglacial discharge at tidewater glaciers revealed by seismic tremor

Subglacial discharge influences glacier basal motion and erodes and redeposits sediment. At tidewater glacier termini, discharge drives submarine terminus melting, affects fjord circulation, and is a central component of proglacial marine ecosystems. However, our present inability to track subglacial discharge and its variability significantly hinders our understanding of these processes. Here we report observations of hourly to seasonal variations in 1.5–10 Hz seismic tremor that strongly correlate with subglacial discharge but not with basal motion, weather, or discrete icequakes. Our data demonstrate that vigorous discharge occurs from tidewater glaciers during summer, in spite of fast basal motion that could limit the formation of subglacial conduits, and then abates during winter. Furthermore, tremor observations and a melt model demonstrate that drainage efficiency of tidewater glaciers evolves seasonally. Glaciohydraulic tremor provides a means by which to quantify subglacial discharge variations and offers a promising window into otherwise obscured glacierized environments.

Alaska↗

USGS2010

Viscosity and finite strength of the mantle as determined from water and ice loads

Some recent examples of transient Earth loads (Lake Bonneville, Utah; Glacier Bay, Alaska; northeast Greenland) indicate that both the viscosity and finite strength of the mantle are lower than is commonly presumed. A time constant (1/ e ) of 4000 years is estimated for Lake Bonneville, and of 1000 years for northeast Greenland. A strain rate of 10 −14 is typical. These figures imply viscosities in a homogeneous half space ranging from 10 20 to 10 21 poises. An upper limit of finite strength is set by Lake Bonneville at a few times 10 6 dyn/cm 2 . If mountain ranges like the Sierra Nevada or Himalaya are regarded as dynamically supported rather than static systems, this low value is not incompatible with other geologic observations.

Alaska, Utah↗

USGS1994

Interstadial climatic cycles: A link between western North America and Greenland?

During the interval 33.6 to 26.1 ka, Searles Lake in southeastern California went through six major cycles of expansion and contraction. A comparison of U/Th ages for these events with the chronologies for quasi-cyclic interstadial episodes in the ice core from Summit, Greenland, suggests that the episodes of low water at Searles Lake are synchronous with the interstadial episodes at Summit. The two phenomena may be linked by variations in the strength of the global hydrological cycle, driven by oscillations in the Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation.

California↗

USGS1953

Correlation of the Cretaceous formations of Greenland and Alaska

This is Number 10d of a series of correlation charts prepared for the Committee on Stratigraphy of the National Research Council. It has been sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey and has required about seven months' time of both authors gathering and compiling data and evaluating fossil evidence. As the two regions dealt with in the chart are widely separated, the lists of references are also given separately. The annotations dealing with Greenland are based entirely on published information. The annotations dealing with Alaska are based on a re-examination of nearly all the Cretaceous fossils from Alaska are based on a re-examination of nearly all the Cretaceous fossils from Alaska in the collections of the Geological Survey. This has resulted in many concepts not hitherto published and in some concepts that are completely at variance with those that have been published. Naturally for large areas undergoing active exploration, such as Alaska, a correlation chart is out of date in many particulars as soon as published. Nevertheless it is valuable to the field man whose activities are confined to small areas but who must interpret much of his data in terms of surrounding areas that he has not seen. It is valuable to the student and to the general geologist because it organizes scattered information in a manner that can be applied in their field problems, makes quite unnecessary the memorization of stratigraphic correlations are based on observation and reasoning and not on a vast memory. It is probably of greatest value to the specialist who makes the chart because he discovers what areas and problems are most in need of research and can thereby direct his efforts and those of his associates in a manner that will yield the greatest results.

Alaska↗