Quaternary Paleoclimatic Variations of Beringia: Large-scale Controls and Regional Responses

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Abstract ATM-9532074 Bartlein, Patrick J. University of Oregon Title: Quaternary Paleoclimatic Variations of Beringia: Large-scale Controls and Regional Responses The climate system of the Arctic is a key component of the global system, and an understanding of the nature of paleoclimatic variations in the Arctic is therefore an important element in predicting how that region may respond to changes in the large- scale controls of climate. This PALE/ARCSS award supports the analysis of Quaternary paleoecological records from Beringia to a) document the nature and magnitude of past climatic changes, b) test hypotheses about the controls of regional climatic variations, and how changes in those controls are expressed at the regional and local levels, and c) exploit the growing number of paleoenvirnomental records from this region for use in the examination of paleoclimatic variations along key transects and for application in model-validation studies. This analysis requires the compilation of modern sets of climate and vegetation data from the region, and their use to establish relationships between vegetation and climate. These relationships can then be applied to a) interpret fossil-pollen data in climate terms, thereby illustrating the range of past climate changes, b) test specific hypotheses about the controls of past climatic variations by comparing the "observed" record of vegetation change with that implied by the hypotheses, and c) validate climate model simulations of Arctic paleoclimates.