Chronostratigraphy of glaciations and permafrost episodes in the Cordillera of western North America

Abstract

Glaciations in the Cordillera of western North America began during the Late Miocene in the St Elias Range and coastal ranges near Anchorage, Alaska. Radiometric dating of the tephra and lava flows intercalated in the succession of older tills, loesses and outwash deposits permits the reconstruction of the probable early glacial sequence along the Cordillera. No one site shows the complete sequence, but the available data suggest synchroneity of the major glacial events throughout the region. The first evidence for cold conditions at low elevations at midlatitudes is from 3.5 Ma BP. By 2.8 Ma, alpine glaciations may have occurred in the Sierra Nevada and ice wedges had formed in bedrock near Fairbanks, Alaska. Three more major glaciations complete with contemporary periglacial and permafrost landforms had occurred by 1.65 Ma, while at least six more major cold events can be recognized during the Quaternary period. Once again, expansion of permafrost conditions occurred during each event and forms an integral part of the evidence for climatic change.