Noatak River Site NK-37 Fossil Insect Faunal List ----------------------------------------------------------------------- World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, Boulder and NOAA Paleoclimatology Program ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: PLEASE CITE CONTRIBUTORS WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!! NAME OF DATA SET: Noatak River Site NK-37 Fossil Insect Faunal List LAST UPDATE: 7/2004 (Original receipt by WDC Paleo) CONTRIBUTOR: Scott Elias, University of London IGBP PAGES/WDCA CONTRIBUTION SERIES NUMBER: 2004-034 SUGGESTED DATA CITATION: Elias S.A., et al. 2004. Alaska Fossil Insect Faunal Data. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series # 2004-034. NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA. ORIGINAL REFERENCE: Edwards, M.E., T.D. Hamilton, S.A. Elias, N.H. Bigelow, and A.P. Krumhardte. 2003. Interglacial Extension of the Boreal Forest Limit in the Noatak Valley, Northwest Alaska: Evidence from an Exhumed River-Cut Bluff and Debris Apron. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 460–468. ADDITIONAL REFERENCE: Elias, S. A., 1994. Quaternary Insects and Their Environments. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. ABSTRACT: (Edwards et al. 2003) Numerous exposures of Pleistocene sediments occur in the Noatak basin, which extends for 130 km along the Noatak River in northwestern Alaska. Nk-37, an extensive bluff exposure near the west end of the basin, contains a record of at least three glacial advances separated by interglacial and interstadial deposits. An ancient river-cut bluff and associated debris apron is exposed in profile through the central part of Nk-37. The debris apron contains a rich biotic record and represents part of an interglaciation that is probably assignable to marine-isotope stage 5. Pollen spectra from the lower part of the debris apron closely resemble modern samples taken from the Noatak floodplain in spruce gallery forest, and macrofossils of spruce are also present at this level. Fossil bark beetles and carpenter ants occur higher in the debris apron. Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) estimates from the fossil beetles suggest temperatures similar to or warmer than today. Together, these fossils indicate the presence of an interglacial spruce forest in the western part of the Noatak Basin, which lies about 80 km upstream of the modern limit of spruce forest. FUNDING SOURCE: National Science Foundation grants OPP-9424279 and OPP-0002362 (USA) GEOGRAPHIC REGION: Northwest Alaska, USA PERIOD OF RECORD: MIS 5, 5e, ~120 KYrBP DESCRIPTION: Noatak River Site NK-37 Fossil Insect Faunal List Latitude: 68º05'N, Longitude: 161ºW, Bathymetry/elevation: 325m asl Variable names: Insect taxon Variable unit: Minimum number of individuals (MNI) per assemblage Data format: Faunal list table, showing MNI per taxon per sample MNI was calculated on the basis of the maximum number of any single body part (e.g., head capsule, pronotum, left or right elytron) of a given taxon. Five bulk samples were taken for fossil insect analysis: 2 in 1994 from section 94Aha and 3 in 1995 from section MEE-2. Section 94AHa is located adjacent to 93Aha68a-l. Sample 025-SAE was taken from the uppermost peat (ca. 140–180) and 026-SAE from the third peat down (ca. 60–90 cm). The samples from MEE-2 came from the lowermost peat (0.13–0.22 m), the peat at 97–106 cm, the uppermost peat (140–153 cm). The samples were wet-screened over a 300-µm sieve to isolate organic residues. Extraction of insect fossils from organic detritus followed standard kerosene flotation methods (Elias, 1994). Specimens were sorted in 95% ethanol under low-power stereobinocular microscope. Most insect fossil specimens were stored in vials of 95% ethanol. Some were mounted on micropaleontological cards with gum tragacanth, a water soluble glue. Identification of specimens was made by comparison with identified fossil and modern material in Elias’s Alaskan collection, and by comparison with modern specimens in the Canadian National Collection, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. Chronostratigraphic information: The fossil bluff face and debris apron are thus clearly older than slightly oxidized interstadial alluvium related to the Anisak glaciation of Wisconsinan age and the generally unweathered sediments that overlie it. In contrast, all deposits older than the bluff and its debris apron are oxidized throughout, ranging from moderately to strongly oxidized with increasing age. These relationships suggest that a last interglacial (MIS-5) age for the exhumed bluff and debris apron is likely, but an older interglacial age is not precluded. (From Edwards et al., 2003). DATA: Taxonomic list of insects identified from Nk-37 fossil assemblages, in minimum number of individuals per assemblage. Taxon Sample AHa94-25 AHa94-26 MEE2 MEE2 MEE2 13-22cm 97-106cm 140-153cm COLEOPTERA Carabidae Diacheila polita (Fald.) 1 - 1 1 - Bembidion grapii Gyll. - - - 1 - Bembidion sulcipenne hyperboroides Lth - - 1 1 Bembidion spp. 3 Stereocerus haematopus (Dej.) 1 Pterostichus brevicornis (Kby.) 1 2 Pterostichus pinguedineus (Eschz.) 1 Pterostichus similis Mann. 2 Pterostichus (Cryobius) spp. 1 1 1 2 6 Agonum consimile (Gyll.) 1 Agonum sp. 2 Hydrophilidae Helophorus sempervarians Angus 1 Hydrobius fuscipes (L.) 1 Staphylinidae Arpedium brachypterum (Grav.) 1 Lathrobium spp. 1 1 2 Stenus spp. 1 1 1 1 6 Carphacis nepigonensis (Bernh.) 1 Tachyporus nimbicola Campbl. 2 Tachinus brevipennis Sahlb. 2 2 1 Gymnusa atra Csy. 1 Aleocharinae genus et sp. indet. 3 4 Silphidae Silpha trituberculata Kby. 1 Leptodiridae Catops beringiensis Peck 1 Scarabaeidae Serica sp. 1 Byrrhidae Byrrhus sp. 1 Chrysomelidae Plateumaris sp. 1 Curculionidae Lepidophorus lineaticollis Kby. 1 Lepidophorus inquinatus (Mann.) 2 Scolytidae Polygraphus rufipennis Kby. 2 Ips sp. 1 Phloeotribus lecontei Schedl. 4 HYMENOPTERA Formicidae Camponotus herculeanus (L.) 3