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Rapid changes in the level of Kluane Lake in Yukon Territory over the last millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John J. Clague ,
Brian H. Luckman ,
Richard D. Van Dorp ,
Robert Gilbert ,
Duane Froese ,
Britta J.L. Jensen  and
Alberto V. Reyes
John J. Clague*
Affiliation:
Centre for Natural Hazard Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6; Geological Survey of Canada, 101-605 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 5J3
Brian H. Luckman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C2
Richard D. Van Dorp
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C2
Robert Gilbert
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6
Duane Froese
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3
Britta J.L. Jensen
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3
Alberto V. Reyes
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail address:jclague@sfu.ca (J.J. Clague).
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Abstract

The level of Kluane Lake, the largest lake in Yukon Territory, was lower than at present during most of the Holocene. The lake rose rapidly in the late seventeenth century to a level 12 m above present, drowning forest and stranding driftwood on a conspicuous high-stand beach, remnants of which are preserved at the south end of the lake. Kluane Lake fell back to near its present level by the end of the eighteenth century and has fluctuated within a range of about 3 m over the last 50 yr. The primary control on historic fluctuations in lake level is the discharge of Slims River, the largest source of water to the lake. We use tree ring and radiocarbon ages, stratigraphy and sub-bottom acoustic data to evaluate two explanations for the dramatic changes in the level of Kluane Lake. Our data support the hypothesis of Hugh Bostock, who suggested in 1969 that the maximum Little Ice Age advance of Kaskawulsh Glacier deposited large amounts of sediment in the Slims River valley and established the present course of Slims River into Kluane Lake. Bostock argued that these events caused the lake to rise and eventually overflow to the north. The overflowing waters incised the Duke River fan at the north end of Kluane Lake and lowered the lake to its present level. This study highlights the potentially dramatic impacts of climate change on regional hydrology during the Little Ice Age in glacierised mountains.

Keywords

Little Ice AgeKluane LakeDendrochronologyDrainage evolution
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , September 2006 , pp. 342 - 355
Copyright
University of Washington

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