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Geosciences
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Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems
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Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 11278

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paul McCarthy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences, and Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5780, USA
Interests: paleopedology; clastic sedimentology; paleoenvironment; Arctic; sequence stratigraphy
Dr. Anthony R. Fiorillo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
Interests: vertebrate paleontology; taphonomy; ichnology; paleoenvironments; the Arctic

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Changes to global climate are increasingly overwhelming ecosystems that have, in general, been held to unreasonable standards of ecosystem stability over several thousands of years. The Arctic is changing more rapidly than many areas at lower latitudes, with visible changes in precipitation, temperature, permafrost, sea ice distribution, and floral and faunal ranges occurring in the last several decades. These noticeable changes are increasing the relevance of looking to the past for guidance on crucial aspects of ecosystems and their health. It is becoming clear that new interdisciplinary approaches, using historical as well as novel landscapes in deep geologic time, provide insights on key issues such as drivers of biodiversity, fundamental processes within ecosystems and on landscapes, and the interplay between biota, climate, and surface processes.

This Special Issue is aimed at compiling a collection of new research developments focusing on reconstructing Arctic environments of the past. We are interested in papers dealing with all aspects of climate, ecosystems, and depositional systems in past Arctic environments, across the spectrum of geologic time. Specifically, we seek interdisciplinary papers that aim to cross sub-disciplinary boundaries and individual research specializations to develop broader insights into Arctic ecosystems on the Earth under different climatic conditions than present. This comprehensive look into past Arctic environments will help to inform the global community on possible future environmental changes as the climate, ecosystems, and landscapes respond to our present warming world. 

Prof. Dr. Paul McCarthy
Dr. Anthony R. Fiorillo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Arctic
  • Fossil biota
  • Ecosystems
  • Climate
  • Depositional systems

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 7473 KiB  
Article
New Lizard Specimens from the Campanian Wapiti Formation of Alberta, Canada
by Samantha M. Hamilton, Ilaria Paparella, Phil R. Bell, Nicolás E. Campione, Federico Fanti, Derek W. Larson, Robin L. Sissons, Matthew J. Vavrek, Michael J. Balsai and Corwin Sullivan
Geosciences 2023, 13(11), 337; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13110337 - 3 Nov 2023
Viewed by 4754
Abstract
Reported lizard material from the Wapiti Formation (central-western Alberta, Canada) is limited to fragmentary remains of Kleskunsaurus grandeprairiensis and Socognathus unicuspis, a partial dentary attributed to Chamops cf. C. segnis, and a vertebra reportedly comparable to those of the much larger [...] Read more.
Reported lizard material from the Wapiti Formation (central-western Alberta, Canada) is limited to fragmentary remains of Kleskunsaurus grandeprairiensis and Socognathus unicuspis, a partial dentary attributed to Chamops cf. C. segnis, and a vertebra reportedly comparable to those of the much larger lizard Palaeosaniwa canadensis. P. canadensis is a Late Cretaceous North American member of Monstersauria, a Mesozoic and Cenozoic anguimorph group represented today by five species of Heloderma. Here, we document new squamate material from the DC Bonebed locality (Wapiti Unit 3; Campanian), including a right frontal identified as cf. P. canadensis and a taxonomically indeterminate squamate astragalocalcaneum. A partial skeleton from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana provisionally attributed to P. canadensis has a frontal resembling the corresponding element from the DC Bonebed in overall shape, in having narrowly separated facets for the prefrontal and postorbitofrontal, and in bearing osteoderms similar to the DC specimen’s in ornamentation and configuration. The Two Medicine and DC specimens differ from a roughly contemporaneous frontal from southern Alberta referred to the monstersaur Labrodioctes montanensis. The DC specimen confirms the presence of monstersaurian squamates in the Wapiti Formation, representing the northernmost record of any definitive Late Cretaceous monstersaur to date. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems)
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23 pages, 60198 KiB  
Article
Ochotopteris—An Endemic Fern of the Mid-Cretaceous Arctic
by Alexei B. Herman and Ksenia V. Domogatskaya
Geosciences 2023, 13(9), 279; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13090279 - 14 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1410
Abstract
Three species belonging to the fern genus Ochotopteris E. Lebedev, including the new species O. lebedevii Herman et Domogatskaya, are revised, described and illustrated in this paper. The fossils come from Albian, Cenomanian, Turonian and Coniacian beds exposed at seven sites in North-Eastern [...] Read more.
Three species belonging to the fern genus Ochotopteris E. Lebedev, including the new species O. lebedevii Herman et Domogatskaya, are revised, described and illustrated in this paper. The fossils come from Albian, Cenomanian, Turonian and Coniacian beds exposed at seven sites in North-Eastern Asia and Northern Alaska. These sites are located in the Cretaceous Arctic, with their palaeolatitudes ranging from 60° N to 80° N. The high endemism characteristic of the mid-Cretaceous Arctic flora is most probably due to adaptations in the globally distinctive Arctic conditions: the unique combination of temperatures, precipitation and the highly seasonal polar light regime. Being an endemic plant of the mid-Cretaceous Arctic, Ochotopteris ferns were adapted to a regional wet temperate to a wet warm temperate palaeoclimate accompanied by marked sunlight seasonality with a prolonged—up to several weeks—winter darkness and continuous summer daylight, also lasting for several weeks. The majority of the mid-Cretaceous Arctic plants were deciduous. Their predominant deciduousness was most probably due to the polar light seasonality: at the end of the growing season, some plants dropped their leaves or leafy shoots, whereas others—including Ochotopteris ferns—died back to rhizome systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems)
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15 pages, 4959 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Deuterium Excess of Cretaceous Arctic Paleoprecipitation Using Stable Isotope Composition of Clay Minerals from the Prince Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) in Northern Alaska
by Kate Andrzejewski, Greg Ludvigson, Marina Suarez, Paul McCarthy and Peter Flaig
Geosciences 2023, 13(9), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13090273 - 10 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1835
Abstract
We report estimated stable isotope compositions of Artic paleoprecipitation using phyllosilicates sampled from three paleosols and two bentonites in the Prince Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) in northern Alaska. Previous studies reported a deuterium excess in estimates of Arctic paleoprecipitation from the Late Cretaceous by [...] Read more.
We report estimated stable isotope compositions of Artic paleoprecipitation using phyllosilicates sampled from three paleosols and two bentonites in the Prince Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) in northern Alaska. Previous studies reported a deuterium excess in estimates of Arctic paleoprecipitation from the Late Cretaceous by combining hydrogen and oxygen proxy sources, including pedogenic minerals, dinosaurian tooth enamel phosphates, pedogenic siderites, and n-alkane biomarkers. The new dataset produced in this study removes uncertainty on possible explanations (photosynthetic and transpiration) of the deuterium excess by producing stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic signatures from the same source material. The δD of the phyllosilicates range from −171‰ to −72‰ VSMOW and δ18O ranges from 5.0 to 11.8‰ VSMOW. By assuming a MAT of 6.3 °C and calculating uniquely derived fractionation equations for each phyllosilicate, we report estimated isotopic composition of Late Cretaceous paleoprecipitation with an average δD value of −133‰ VSMOW, corresponding to an average δ18O value of −20.3‰ VSMOW. The estimates of Late Cretaceous paleoprecipitation do not intersect the Global Meteoric Water Line and reveal a reported deuterium excess ranging from 7 to 46 per mil. These results confirm the presence of a deuterium excess in Late Cretaceous Arctic paleoprecipitation and provide new insight to assessing possible explanations for this phenomenon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems)
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41 pages, 16865 KiB  
Article
High-Latitude Depositional Systems, Provenance, and Basinal Setting of the Late Cretaceous Cantwell Basin, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Stratigraphic Framework for Paleontological and Paleoclimatic Studies
by Brandon Keough and Kenneth Ridgway
Geosciences 2023, 13(6), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060181 - 15 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2373
Abstract
The Cantwell Formation of the central Alaska Range provides a robust archive of high-latitude, Late Cretaceous depositional systems and paleo-floral/faunal assemblages. Our stratigraphic analysis defines two mappable members. The lower member (1500–2000 m thick) represents vegetated alluvial fan and braided fluvial systems that [...] Read more.
The Cantwell Formation of the central Alaska Range provides a robust archive of high-latitude, Late Cretaceous depositional systems and paleo-floral/faunal assemblages. Our stratigraphic analysis defines two mappable members. The lower member (1500–2000 m thick) represents vegetated alluvial fan and braided fluvial systems that transition up-section to fluvial–estuarine systems that drained into an inland continental seaway. The upper member (~2000 m thick) represents estuarine–marginal marine and lacustrine systems. Previous paleontological studies demonstrate that the Cantwell basin was populated by various dinosaurs, fishes, bivalves, birds, and marginal marine micro-organisms. Integration of new and published geologic mapping allows for reconstruction of depositional systems at the basin scale and provides additional paleogeographic context. The northern basin margin was defined by a previously unrecognized south-verging thrust belt, whereas the southern margin of the basin was defined by a north-verging thrust belt inboard of an active magmatic arc. Sediment sources interpreted from U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology included the coeval magmatic arc and older Cretaceous plutons, and Proterozoic–Mesozoic strata exhumed along the basin margins. Results of our study provide a depositional, stratigraphic, and structural framework that may serve as a guide for future paleontological and paleoclimatic investigations of Late Cretaceous Arctic environments of the Cantwell basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconstructing Past Arctic Environments: Climate, Ecosystems, and Depositional Systems)
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