Holocene and Modern Geomorphic Response to Wildfires and Climate Change in Northeastern Yellowstone National Park

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The extensive 1988 Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) fires constitute a landscape disturbance of rare magnitude, and one with important ecological, geomorphic, and climatic implications. In order to provide a longer-term perspective on this event, we propose to investigate the history of Holocene sedimentation in northeastern Yellowstone, using actualistic study of modern fire-related and prefire sedimentation as a guide for interpretation of the stratigraphic record. A detailed, highly datable record of Holocene fire-related sedimentation events is preserved in alluvial and colluvial deposits of the Soda Butte Creek drainage. Initial radiocarbon dating of these events suggests a link with times of Holocene climatic change. Comparison of the timing of fire-related events with paleobotanical and climate proxy records can elucidate the relative importance of changing vegetation and hydrological regime, wildfire effects, and intrinsic thresholds in this geomorphic system. We will also examine historical records of meteorological and regional atmospheric conditions associated with both extensive fires and large hydrological events in the GYA, and attempt to develop analogs for climate associated with fire-related sedimentation. This research will help to assess the short-term geomorphic response to the 1988 GYA fires, as well as indicate possible consequences of potential global warming and climatic change for landscape stability in the GYA ecosystem.