A Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene Reconstruction of Precipitation Isotopes and Climate from Hydrated Volcanic Glass Shards in Central Alaska and Yukon

The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge of the last 6.7 million years of climate change in continental Yukon and Alaska. This period of time includes the Pliocene epoch, a warm interval that is widely regarded as a potential future climate analogue. Thus, insights from this study may help to better anticipate the magnitude of future warming in this region as the climate system equilibrates to current levels of greenhouse gas concentrations and relevant feedbacks. Data generated from this study (hydrogen isotope ratios from hydrated volcanic glass shards) will be used to reconstruct changes in the stable hydrogen isotope ratio of mean annual precipitation, a variable that is strongly correlated with mean air temperatures at mid- to high-latitude regions.