Commotion Creek, Peace River District, British Columbia

Ancient DNA was extracted from 12 500 to 10 500 year old ground squirrel bones from Tse’K’wa, an archaeological site in the Peace River region of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from seven individuals demonstrates that all are Urocitellus richardsonii (Richardson’s ground squirrel), a species not found in the region today. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses indicate these individuals share a previously undocumented mitochondrial control region haplotype that is most closely related to haplotypes observed in modern specimens from Saskatchewan and Montana. At the end of the Pleistocene these ground squirrels extended their range north and west into open vegetation communities that developed when ice sheets melted and glacial lakes drained. They were subsequently extirpated from the Peace River region when forests replaced earlier pioneering vegetation communities.

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Regional subsurface correlations of Albian sequences north of the Peace River in NE British Columbia: northward extent of sandstones of the Falher and Notikewin members along the eastern flank of the foredeep

Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology ◽

10.2113/53.2.165 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 165-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A. C. Webb

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Eastern Flank ◽

Peace River

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Analysis of freeze-up ice jams on the Peace River near Taylor, British Columbia

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1139/l82-021 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 176-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

T. Keenhan ◽

U. S. Panu ◽

V. C. Kartha

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Leading Edge ◽

Simulation Models ◽

Ice Cover ◽

Water Levels ◽

Ice Jams ◽

Peace River ◽

Air Temperatures ◽

Generating Capacity ◽

Summer Flood

Since the construction of the Bennett Dam on the Peace River in British Columbia, the temperature of flow releases from G.M. Shrum Generation Station, located at the dam, has been 0.5 °C or higher during the winter months. As a result, the progression of ice cover below the dam is inhibited and a long reach of ice-free river persists throughout the winter. During February, 1979 below normal air temperatures persisted in the area and the cover progressed to a point 103 km downstream of the dam, or 19 km upstream of the Water Survey of Canada (WSC) stream gauge at Taylor. This was only the second occurrence of ice cover at the town of Taylor since 1972, when an increase in generating capacity at the G.M. Shrum Station raised maximum powerhouse releases to 1580 m3/s.A series of ice jams at the leading edge of the ice cover formed as the cover advanced, producing water levels within Taylor that approached the maximum historic summer flood levels. The ice movement, including ice cover advance and retreat, ice levels, and jam formation were monitored and documented. The data provided an opportunity to examine various river ice simulation models and assess their applicability to the Peace River.

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