Abstract
Using Alaskan lake sediment oxygen isotope records (δ18O), which trace the δ18O of precipitation, we establish that abrupt atmospheric shifts occurred during the last deglacial period in the North Pacific-Arctic. The robust lake δ18O chronologies confidently correlate Younger-Dryas (YD) atmospheric adjustments in Alaska with Greenland ice-core records and their seasonal sensitivity are consistent with cooling during winter. In contrast, abrupt δ18O decreases during the late Holocene observed in our records, of similar magnitude as the YD, are best explained by atmospheric modes involving long-distance transport of sub-tropical Pacific moisture. Our sediment cores are among the most reliably dated records yet produced in the circum-Arctic and show that similar decreases in δ18O of winter precipitation during the YD and late Holocene were driven by different atmospheric teleconnections. These results underscore major roles for seasonality and atmospheric patterns in the conceptual understanding of global scale climate oscillations, both past and future.
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Data availability
The data generated by this study have been deposited in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) under the accession code https://doi.org/10.25921/jvs7-8f93.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Carson Baughman, Matt McMillan, Eva Stephani and Ben Gaglioti for their valued assistance in the field, Million Hailemichael and the Idaho State University Stable Isotope Laboratory for analyses, and Nancy Bigelow for providing the pollen analyses. This research was supported by the USGS through the Ecosystems Land Change Science program. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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L.A. and B.F. conceived and designed the study and performed the field work, analysis, and data compilation with assistance by W.B.B. L.A. and B.F. interpreted the data with input from W.B.B. L.A. drafted the paper and with B.F. generated the final manuscript.
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Anderson, L., Finney, B.P. & Baxter, W.B. Shifting winter atmospheric teleconnections to the North Pacific reconcile Younger-Dryas and Holocene δ18O signals. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68841-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68841-2
