Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-196).

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Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cathy Whitlock. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-77).

Recent studies applying innovative technologies, such as genetic analysis and carbon dating, contradict the palynological based assumption that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) vanished from Fennoscandia during the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 20.000 yrs BP) and re-colonized after the cold Younger Dryas (c. 12.000 yrs BP). Instead, those studies indicate glacial survival of boreal trees in ‘cryptic’ refugia within Scandinavia, which is still heavily debated. In this report, I try to get a better grip on the discussion if Norway spruce and Scots pine survived Weichselian glacial periods in isolated ‘cryptic’ refugia within Scandinavia, or either re-colonized Fennoscandia by post-glacial migration from eastern areas such as Russia. To this aim, climatic settings are described and an overview is given on what is already known on the distribution of boreal trees during the Weichselian glaciations and the post-glacial landscape. Several records are important to detect ancient boreal trees: pollen, macrofossils and currently DNA. Macrofossils indicate early post-glacial tree growth in the central Scandes just after the Younger Dryas, aDNA indicates the existence of a ‘cryptic’ refugium on Andøya during the Last Glacial Maximum and modern DNA analysis possibly indicates isolation of spruce in western Norway, which are all contradicted by the current interpretation of low pollen percentages. Altogether, alternative hypotheses supporting glacial survival of plants might have been overlooked and pollen interpretations need revision, which could turn the exclusion from the past into supporting evidence for the glacial survival of P. abies and P. sylvestris in Scandinavia.

Sea-level change in response to the growth and melt of ice sheets and glaciers is a process called glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). This includes deformation of the surface of the Earth itself in response to the extreme mass exchanges between the oceans and continents, as well as changes to the gravitational potential that describe the sea surface in response to the redistribution of surface mass as well as mass within the Earth. This thesis describes four research projects I've conducted in the field of GIA modelling. Most GIA models represent the lithosphere, the outermost layer of the Earth, as functionally elastic. However, there is a large temperature gradient within the lithosphere that would lead to a reduction in viscosity with depth. Therefore, in Chapter 2, I developed and incorporated more realistic lithosphere structure into the GIA model, and demonstrate that this added structure results in a time-dependence to the response of the lithosphere. While the usual inputs to a GIA model are the ice load and Earth description, there are regions where other processes need to be accounted for. In the Mississippi Delta region, processes associated with the deposition of sediment carried by the Mississippi River are strong drivers of local sea-level change, and include isostatic adjustment as well as compaction of the sediment layers over time. Therefore, in Chapter 3, I incorporated a treatment of sediment isostatic adjustment into the GIA model and applied it to the Mississippi Delta region. Our results indicate that the sediment isostatic adjustment signal is important in the vicinity of the delta, but small otherwise. By comparing model projections to GPS measurements, we demonstrate that most subsidence in the region is due to non-isostatic processes (such as sediment compaction). Data used to constrain GIA models are generally sensitive to both ice and Earth structure. Therefore data parametrizations that are insensitive to one input or the other are valuable constraints. One such commonly used parametrization is the postglacial decay time. Previous research has shown that the decay times are relatively insensitive to the ice history, and therefore provide a more robust constraint on Earth structure. In Chapter 4 I tested the extent of the ice insensitivity of decay times by considering a suite of ice reconstructions. I found that decay times are sensitive to ice history, and that the sensitivity depends on the location of the data relative to the geometry of the ice sheet. In particular, my results suggest that James Bay (in Hudson Bay) is a location that should not be used in a decay time analysis. The GIA model applied in the projects described above is a 1-D, spherically symmetric model. However, it is known that the Earth's viscous structure is likely to feature significant lateral variation. This is evident in the differences in viscosities found in this thesis between what satisfies the RSL data in Hudson Bay (in Chapter 4) and the Gulf coast of the US (Chapter 3), as well as various previous studies. Therefore, in Chapter 5, I applied a 3-D model with lateral viscous structure determined by seismic shear wave velocity models, to determine whether incorporating this more realistic structure could resolve this apparent discrepancy. I demonstrated that the fit to relative sea level data on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US can be significantly improved by incorporating lateral viscous structure, but also that there is significant uncertainty associated with the more complex viscous structure.

This study used Jumbo Piston Core 126, collected from the Nathaniel B. Palmer during cruise NBP10-01, to investigate environmental variability in Barilari Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula as part of the LARsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica (LARISSA) project. A total of 107 samples were collected every 20cm from a 21.42m sediment core. Benthic foraminiferal data from Jumbo Piston Core 126 was analyzed using Principal Component (PC), Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), and cluster analyses to assist in the Holocene oceanographic and climatic interpretation of Barilari Bay. The first three principal components explain 79.5% of the variance in the foraminiferal abundance data. PC1 comprises 49.6% of the variance and represents the Bulimina aculeata assemblage. PC2 and PC3 explain 16.3% and 13.6% of the variance and characterize the Fursenkoina fusiformis and Pseudobolivina antarctica assemblages, respectively. F. fusiformis assemblage represents the presence of a less saline water mass associated with ice shelf decay. The agglutinated P. antarctica assemblage is indicative of Hyper Saline Shelf Water (HSSW). TheB. aculeata assemblage is associated with Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) (Ishman and Domack, 1994) Sediments from ~1100-950 calibrated years Before Present (cal. yr BP) are characterized by theB. aculeata assemblage, indicating the presence of UCDW. At ~950 cal. yr BP the UCDW receded coincident with glacial conditions observed during what is interpreted as the Little Ice Age. The ~950-350 cal. yr BP interval represents glacial conditions interpreted from the high PC scores of the P. antarctica assemblage and low foraminiferal abundances due to HSSW and a high sedimentation rate from glacial runoff. Intermittent pulses of UCDW are observed in the 950-350 cal. yr BP interval, expressed by the PC peaks in the B. aculeata assemblage. Between ~300 and 100 cal. yr BP the middle of the fjord was dominated by the F. fusiformis assemblage, suggesting ice shelf decay and open marine conditions. At ~50 cal. yr BP UCDW progressed back into Barilari Bay and is currently the dominant water mass.

Cette recherche s'intéresse aux témoins glaciaires des Chablais dans quatre de leurs dimensions : géopatrimoine, connaissance objective, inventaire de géosites et valorisation. Elle est organisée sur le canevas d'un processus de patrimonialisation auquel elle participe et qu'elle interroge à la fois. En 2009, débutait le projet 123 Chablais, pour une durée de quatre ans. Il concernait l'ensemble du territoire chablaisien, réparti sur deux pays (France et Suisse) et trois entités administratives (département de la Haute-Savoie, cantons de Vaud et du Valais). Ce projet, élaboré dans le cadre du programme Interreg IV France-Suisse, avait pour but de dynamiser le développement économique local en s'appuyant sur les patrimoines régionaux. Le géopatrimoine, identifié comme une de ces ressources, faisait donc l'objet de plusieurs actions, dont cette recherche. En parallèle, le Chablais haut-savoyard préparait sa candidature pour rejoindre l'European Geopark Network (EGN). Son intégration, effective dès 2012, a fait de ce territoire le cinquième géoparc français du réseau. Le Geopark Chablais fonde son identité géologique sur l'eau et la glace, deux thématiques intimement liées aux témoins glaciaires. Dans ce contexte d'intérêt pour le géopatrimoine local et en particulier pour le patrimoine glaciaire, plusieurs missions ont été assignées à cette recherche qui devait à la fois améliorer la connaissance objective des témoins glaciaires, inventorier les géosites glaciaires et valoriser le patrimoine glaciaire.Le premier objectif de ce travail était d'acquérir une vision synthétique des témoins glaciaires. Il a nécessité une étape de synthèse bibliographique ainsi que sa spatialisation, afin d'identifier les lacunes de connaissance et la façon dont ce travail pouvait contribuer à les combler. Sur cette base, plusieurs méthodes ont été mises en œuvre : cartographie géomorphologique, reconstitution des lignes d'équilibre glaciaires et datations de blocs erratiques à l'aide des isotopes cosmogéniques produits in situ. Les cartes géomorphologiques ont été élaborées en particulier dans les cirques et vallons glaciaires. Les datations cosmogéniques ont été concentrées sur deux stades du glacier du Rhône : le Last Local Glacial Maximum (LLGM) et le stade de Monthey. Au terme de cette étape, les spécificités du patrimoine glaciaire régional se sont révélées être 1) une grande diversité de formes et des liens étroits avec différents autres processus géomorphologiques ; 2) une appartenance des témoins glaciaires à dix grandes étapes de la déglaciation du bassin lémanique.Le second objectif était centré sur le processus d'inventaire des géosites glaciaires. Nous avons mis l'accent sur la sélection du géopatrimoine en développant une approche basée sur deux axes (temps et espace) identifiés dans le volet précédent et avons ainsi réalisé un inventaire à thèmes, composé de 32 géosites. La structure de l'inventaire a également été explorée de façon à intégrer des critères d'usage de ces géosites. Cette démarche, soutenue par une réflexion sur les valeurs attribuées au géopatrimoine et sur la façon d'évaluer ces valeurs, nous a permis de mettre en évidence le point de vue anthropo- et scientifico-centré qui prévaut nettement dans la recherche européenne sur le géopatrimoine. L'analyse des résultats de l'inventaire a fait apparaître quelques caractéristiques du patrimoine glaciaire chablaisien, discret, diversifié, et comportant deux spécificités exploitables dans le cadre d'une médiation scientifique : son statut de « berceau de la théorie glaciaire » et ses liens étroits avec des activités de la vie quotidienne, en tant que matière première, support de loisir ou facteur de risque. Cette recherche a débouché sur l'élaboration d'une exposition itinérante sur le patrimoine glaciaire des Chablais. Ce produit de valorisation géotouristique a été conçu pour sensibiliser la population locale à l'impact des glaciers sur son territoire. / This research focuses on glacial witnesses in the Chablais area according to four dimensions: geoheritage, objective knowledge, inventory and promotion of geosites. It is organized on the model of an heritage's process which it participates and that it questions both. In 2009, the project 123 Chablais started for a period of four years. It covered the entire chablaisien territory spread over two countries and three administrative entities (département of Haute-Savoie, canton of Vaud, canton of Valais). This project, developed in the framework of the Interreg IV France-Switzerland program, aimed to boost the local development through regional heritage. The geoheritage identified as one of these resources, was therefore the subject of several actions, including this research. In parallel, the French Chablais was preparing its application to join the European Geopark Network (EGN). Its integration, effective since 2012, made of this area the fifth French Geopark of the network. The Chablais Geopark geological identity was based on water and ice, two themes closely linked to the glacial witnesses. In this context of interest for the regional geoheritage and especially for the glacial heritage, several missions have been assigned to this research which should improve objective knowledge of glacial witnesses, inventory and assess glacial geosites. The objective knowledge's component was to acquire a synthetic vision of the glacial witnesses. It required a first bibliography synthesis step in order to identify gaps in knowledge and how this work could help to fill them. On this basis, several methods have been implemented: geomorphological mapping, reconstruction of the equilibrium-line altitude and dating of glacial erratic blocks using cosmogenic isotopes produced in situ. Geomorphological maps have been developed especially in glacial cirques and valleys. Cosmogenic datings were concentrated on two stages of the Rhone glacier: the Last Local Glacial Maximum (LLGM) and "the stage of Monthey". After this step, the specificities of the regional glacial heritage have emerged to us as 1) a wide variety of forms and links to various other geomorphological processes; 2) belonging of glacial witnesses to ten major glacial stages of Léman Lake's deglaciation.In the inventory of glacial geosites component we focused on the selection of geoheritage. We developed an approach based on two axes (time and space) identified in the preceding components. We obtained a thematic inventory, consisting of 32 geosites. The structure of the inventory was also explored in the aim to integrate use criteria of geosites. This approach, supported by a thought on the values attributed to the geoheritage and how to assess these values allowed us to highlight the point of view much anthropological- and scientific-centered prevailing in the European research on geoheritage. The analysis of the inventory's results revealed some characteristics of chablaisien glacial heritage, discrete, diverse, and with two features exploitable in the context of a scientific mediation: its status as "cradle of the glacial theory" and its close links with activities of daily life, as raw material, leisure support and risk factor. This research leads to the development of a traveling exhibition on the glacial heritage of the Chablais area. It presents a series of seven glacial stage's cards, framed by the two themes mentioned above: “history of glacial knowledge” and “glacial witnesses and society”.

Orientador : Dr. Fernando Farias Vesely / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências da Terra, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geologia. Defesa: Curitiba, 18/04/2017 / Inclui referências : f. 97-114 / Área de concentração: Geologia exploratória / Resumo: O intervalo superior do Grupo Itararé no leste da Bacia do Paraná contém o registro do final da glaciação Neopaleozoica, marcada na região de Ibaiti-PR, por espessa sucessão dominada por diamictitos. Palinomorfos característicos da zona de intervalo Vittatina costabilis, subzona Protohaploxypinus goraiensis foram identificados em litotipos lamosos e permitiram atribuir idade Eopermiana (Asseliana-Sakmariana) para a parte superior do Grupo Itararé nesta região da bacia. Através da análise faciológica e mapeamento geológico, foram identificadas cinco unidades geneticamente relacionadas, que denotam diferentes graus de influência glacial e são denominadas da base para o topo, como: (1) Leques subaquosos de outwash, compreendendo conglomerados, arenitos bem a mal selecionados, lamitos e diamictitos, (2) Depósitos de transporte em massa inferiores, representados por diamictitos maciços ou com evidências de deformação penecontemporânea, (3) Frente deltaica influenciada por maré, contendo ritmitos e arenitos com acamamento flaser, (4) Planície deltaica influenciada por maré, essencialmente constituída por arenitos e conglomerados e (5) Depósitos de transporte em massa superiores, representados por diamictitos maciços e com blocos alóctones. O reconhecimento do arranjo vertical das associações de fácies e a correlação com perfis raios-gama de subsuperfície permitiram estabelecer padrões deposicionais bem definidos no topo do Grupo Itararé, que se estendem para o interior da Bacia nas direções oeste e sudoeste. Dessa forma, foram interpretados dois episódios de avanço de margens glaciais para o interior da bacia marinha e o posterior recuo, marcados pela colocação de dois níveis de diamictitos. O ambiente marinho é corroborado pela assembleia palinológica característica desse ambiente, representada principalmente por algas da classe Prasinophyceae e acritarcos. Ambos os intervalos de deposição de diamictito envolveram processos de transporte em massa de depósitos anteriormente formados e sedimentos fornecidos pelas geleiras, e que provavelmente foram disparados pelo efeito do rebound isostático decorrente do recuo glacial. A análise de paleocorrentes em depósitos de outwash e deltaicos, aliada ao estudo da cinemática de deformações penecontemporâneas de diamictitos, permitiu estabelecer um padrão de paleofluxo principal para sudoeste, o que implica em uma área fonte glacial situada a nordeste da área de estudo. Este padrão de paleotransporte diverge do estabelecido para os níveis inferiores do Grupo Itararé e provavelmente é explicado por um centro glacial que não as Terras Altas de Windhoek (sudeste da África). Palavras chaves: Era glacial Neopaleozoica; paleogeografia; depósitos de transporte em massa; estratigrafia glacial. / Abstract: The uppermost interval of the Itararé Group in the eastern Paraná Basin record the final stages of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age and, in the Ibaiti region, is marked by a diamictite-bearing succession. Characteristic palinomorphs of the Vittatina costabilis interval zone, Protohaploxypinus goraiensis subzone were identified in muddy lithotypes and allowed to establish an early Permian (Asselian - Sakmarian) age to the upper Itararé Group in this part of the basin. Through facies analysis and geological mapping, five genetically related units were identified, which denote variable degrees of glacial influence and are named, from base to top, as: (1) Subaqueous outwash deposits that encompass conglomerates, poorly- to well-sorted sandstones, mudstones and diamictites, (2) Lower mass-transport deposits, represented by massive and deformed diamictites, (3) Tide-influenced delta front, consisting of rhythmites and flaser-bedded sandstones, (4) Tide-influenced delta plain, essentially constituted by sandstones and conglomerates and (5) Upper mass-transport deposits, containing massive diamictites and diamictites with allochthonous blocks. The recognition of the vertical stacking of facies and facies associations and its correlation to subsurface gamma-ray profiles allowed the determination of well defined depositional trends in the top of the Itararé Group, that extend both westwards and southeastwards. Therefore, two episodes of ice margin advances onto a marine basin were interpreted, each marked by an event of mass-transport deposit (MTD) emplacement. The determination of a marine environment is corroborated by the palynological assemblage, mainly due to the presence of algae of the Prasinophyceae class (e.g. Tasmanites sp.) and acritarchs (e.g. Deusilites sp.). Both events of MTD deposition involved mass-transport process of previously accumulated deposits and glacially-derived debris and were probably triggered by the isostatic rebound effects associated with the ice margins retreat. Paleocurrent analysis on outwash and deltaic deposits combined with kinematic analysis of penecontemporaneous deformations in diamictites indicated a main southwestwards paleoflow, which implies a glacial source located northeast of the study area. This paleotransport pattern diverges from the established for the lower levels of the Itararé Group and should be explained by an ice-spreading center different from the Windhoek highlands (southeastern Africa). Keywords: Late Paleozoic Ice Age, paleogeography, mass-transport deposits, glacial stratigraphy

Photoautotrophic microorganisms, i.e. cyanobacteria and microalgae, are ubiquitous in the glacial ecosystem of the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Their communities play significant roles in the ecosystem, including organic carbon production on the glacier surface and its supply to downstream environments, initiating microbial colonisation after glacier retreat and preparing proglacial substrata for further succession.