scholarly journals MARINE RESERVOIR EFFECTS IN SEAL (PHOCIDAE) BONES IN THE NORTHERN BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS, NORTHWESTERN ALASKA

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Joshua Reuther ◽  
Scott Shirar ◽  
Owen Mason ◽  
Shelby L Anderson ◽  
Joan B Coltrain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Sea Mammals ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Bering Sea

ABSTRACT We explore marine reservoir effects (MREs) in seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas regions. Ringed and bearded seals have served as dietary staples in human populations along the coasts of Arctic northeast Asia and North America for several millennia. Radiocarbon (14C) dates on seal bones and terrestrial materials (caribou, plants seeds, wood, and wood charcoal) were compared from archaeological sites in the Bering Strait region of northwestern Alaska to assess MREs in these sea mammals over time. We also compared these results to 14C dates on modern seal specimens collected in AD 1932 and 1946 from the Bering Sea region. Our paired archaeological samples were recovered from late Holocene archaeological features, including floors from dwellings and cache pits, that date between 1600 and 130 cal BP. 14C dates on seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas show differences [R(t)] of 800 ± 140 years from to their terrestrial counterparts, and deviations of 404 ± 112 years (ΔR) from the marine calibration curve.

Holocene History of the Bering Sea Bowhead Whale (Balaena Mysticetus) in Its Beaufort Sea Summer Grounds off Southwestern Victoria Island, Western Canadian Arctic

2001 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur S. Dyke ◽  
James M. Savelle
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Range Limit ◽  
Summer Range ◽  
Victoria Island ◽  
The Bering Sea

AbstractThe fossil remains of 43 bowhead whales were mapped on the raised beaches of western Wollaston Peninsula, Victoria Island, Canadian Arctic, near the historic summer range limit of the Bering Sea stock in the Beaufort Sea. The elevations and radiocarbon ages of the remains demonstrate that the bowhead ranged commonly into the region following the submergence of Bering Strait at ca. 10,000 14C yr B.P. until ca. 8500 14C yr B.P. During the same interval, bowheads ranged widely from the Beaufort Sea to Baffin Bay. Subsequently, no whales reached Wollaston Peninsula until ca. 1500 14C yr B.P. Late Holocene populations evidently were small, or occupations were brief, in comparison to those of the early Holocene. Although the late Holocene recurrence may relate to the expansion of pioneering Thule whalers eastward from Alaska, there are few Thule sites and limited evidence of Thule whaling in the area surveyed to support this suggestion.

Chromosome races in Rumex arcticus (Polygonaceae)

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-380
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Mulligan ◽  
Clarence Frankton
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Kamchatka Peninsula ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Chromosome Races ◽  
High Polyploid ◽  
Seward Peninsula ◽  
Northwestern North America ◽  
The Bering Sea

Rumex arcticus Trautv., a species found on the mainland of northwestern North America and in northeastern U.S.S.R., contains tetraploid (2n = 40), dodecaploid (2n = 120), and perhaps 2n = 160 and 2n = 200 chromosome races. Most North American plants are tetraploid and are larger in size and have more compound and contiguous inflorescences than typical R. arcticus. Typical plants of R. arcticus occur in the arctic U.S.S.R., St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, and at the tip of the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, and they all have 120 or more somatic chromosomes. High polyploid plants of R. arcticus that resemble North American tetraploids in appearance apparently occur on the Kamchatka Peninsula. These have been called R. kamtshadalus Komarov or R. arcticus var. kamtshadalus (Kom.) Rech. f. by some authors.

Migration and Feeding of the Gray Whale (Eschrichtius gibbosus)

1962 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 815-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon C. Pike
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Baleen Whales ◽  
The Bering Sea

Observations of gray whales from the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska are compared with published accounts in order to re-assess knowledge of migration and feeding of the American herd. Source of material is mainly from lighthouses and lightships.The American herd of gray whales retains close contact with the shore during migration south of Alaska. Off Washington and British Columbia the northward migration begins in February, ends in May, and is at a peak during the first two weeks in April; the southward migration occurs in December and January, and is at a peak in late December. Northward migrants stop occasionally to rest or feed; southward migrants are travelling faster and appear not to stop to rest or feed during December and January. Gray whales seen off British Columbia, sometimes in inside protected waters, from June through October, probably remain in this area throughout the summer and fall months.Available evidence suggests that gray whales retain contact with the coast while circumscribing the Gulf of Alaska, enter the Bering Sea through eastern passages of the Aleutian chain, and approach St. Lawrence Island by way of the shallow eastern part of the Bering Sea. Arriving off the coast of St. Lawrence Island in May and June the herd splits with some parts dispersing along the Koryak coast and some parts continuing northward as the ice retreats through Bering Strait. Gray whales feed in the waters of the Chukchi Sea along the Siberian and Alaskan coasts in July, August and September. Advance of the ice through Bering Strait in October initiates the southern migration for most of the herd. In summering areas, in northern latitudes, gray whales feed in shallow waters on benthic and near-benthic organisms, mostly amphipods.There is no evidence to indicate that gray whales utilize ocean currents or follow the same routes as other baleen whales in their migrations. Visual contact with coastal landmarks appear to aid gray whales in successfully accomplishing the 5000-mile migration between summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and winter breeding grounds in Mexico.Reconstruction of the migration from all available data shows that most of the American herd breeds and calves in January and February, migrates northward in March, April and May, feeds from June through October, and migrates southward in November and December.

Relative motions between Eurasia and North America in the Bering Sea region

1987 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Harbert ◽  
Leah S. Frei ◽  
Allan Cox ◽  
D.C. Engebretson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
The Bering Sea ◽  
Relative Motions

scholarly journals Severe Cold Winter in North America Linked to Bering Sea Ice Loss

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (18) ◽  
pp. 8069-8085
Author(s):  
Mizuki Iida ◽  
Shusaku Sugimoto ◽  
Toshio Suga
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
Cold Wave ◽  
Air Cooling ◽  
Ocean Reanalysis ◽  
The Bering Sea

AbstractNorth America experienced an intense cold wave with record low temperatures during the winter of 2017/18, at the time reaching the smallest rank of sea ice area (SIA) in the Bering Sea over the past four decades. Using observations, ocean reanalysis, and atmospheric reanalysis data for 39 winters (1979/80–2017/18), both the Bering SIA loss and cold winters in North America are linked robustly via sea level pressure variations over Alaska detected as a dominant mode, the Alaska Oscillation (ALO). The ALO differs from previously identified atmospheric teleconnection and climate patterns. In the positive ALO, the equatorward cold airflow through the Bering Strait increases, resulting in surface air cooling over the Bering Sea and an increase in Bering SIA, as well as surface warming (about 4 K for the winter mean) for North America in response to a decrease of equatorward cold airflow, and vice versa for negative phase. The northerly winds with the cold air over the Bering Sea result in substantial heat release from ocean to atmosphere over open water just south of the region covered by sea ice. Heating over the southern part of Bering Sea acts as a positive feedback for the positive ALO and its related large-scale atmospheric circulation in a linear baroclinic model experiment. Bering SIA shows no decreasing trend, but has remained small since 2015. CMIP6 climate models of the SSP5–8.5 scenario project a decrease of Bering SIA in the future climate. To explain severe cold winters in North America under global warming, it is necessary to get an understanding of climate systems with little or no sea ice.

Archaeological Significance of Rabbit-Raptor Interactions in Southern California

1989 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Scott Hockett
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Lacustrine Environment ◽  
End Effects ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Diagnostic Characteristics ◽  
Over Time

Taphonomy of small fauna is not as well known as actualistic studies performed with large faunal remains. Yet small fauna like rabbit may dominate an archaeological assemblage. Small fauna was a primary meat source for many prehistoric groups in North America. Raptors also damage and disperse rabbit bones. Taphonomic research with rabbit-raptor interactions was undertaken in a lacustrine environment in southern California to determine the role played by raptors in damaging and dispersing rabbit bones which may subsequently be introduced into archaeological sites. Raptors often damage, disperse, and accumulate rabbit bones in a number of areas, including open-air localities and within abandoned human structures. Potential diagnostic characteristics of rabbit bones damaged by raptors are offered as baseline end-effects of raptors exploiting rabbit carcasses. Archaeologists can compare rabbit bones excavated from archaeological sites to these bones known to be damaged by raptors. This information is crucial to archaeologists for accurately interpreting rabbit bones modified by human action, and thus past subsistence strategies over time.

A New Species of Archaeomysis From Coastal Waters of Japan (Mysidacea, Gastrosaccinae)

Crustaceana ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 553-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukio Hanamura ◽  
Soo-Gun Jo ◽  
Masaaki Murano
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Japanese Population ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Short Note ◽  
A New Species ◽  
The Bering Sea

AbstractA large number of Japanese specimens previously identified as Archaeomysis grebnitzkii were examined and compared with specimens from the Bering Sea and Pacific coast of North America. This study demonstrates that the Japanese population of Archaeomysis grebnitzkii sensu Ii (1964) differs consistently from those of the latter locations, particularly in the shape of the telson and the male 3rd pleopod, so as to constitute a new species, described here as A. japonica n. sp. A short note is included at the end of this paper reporting some observations on the biology of the species noted during this study.

scholarly journals Chronometric Dating and Late Holocene Prehistory in the Hawaiian Islands: A Critical Review of Radiocarbon Dates from Moloka'I Island

Radiocarbon ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall Weisler
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
The United States ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age Determinations

The importance of chronometric dating in archaeology cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, most chronologies developed throughout the world during the past three decades have depended on radiocarbon age determinations to provide a temporal framework for examining change over time in cultural sequences during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. With the advent of legislation in the mid-1960s designed to protect archaeological sites in the United States threatened by increased urban development or government sponsored projects, archaeological surveys and excavations were mandated as a means for preserving information otherwise destroyed. As a result, thousands of projects have contributed to a growing body of “gray literature,” ie, unpublished proprietary or manuscript reports with very limited circulation. Within these reports are hundreds, if not thousands, of 14C age determinations, most of which are not accessible in published form. One objective of this paper is to present all the 14C age determinations for the island of Moloka'i, Hawai'i as of December 1988, including 41 dates never before published with stratigraphic details.

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