In this thesis I present the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in general circulation models (GCMs) and a regional climate model (RCM). The PNA teleconnection pattern is a quasi-stationary wave field over the North Pacific and North America that has long been recognized...
This thesis presents the results of an investigation into the measured and modeled
mass balance of the Collier Glacier, a small (0.70 km²), valley glacier located in the
Oregon Cascade Range (44° 10' N, 121° 47' W). Here we present mass-balance
measurements conducted for the 2009 and 2010 balance years...
This dissertation presents results from three studies that address major scientific questions in glacial geology and paleoclimatology for the late Pleistocene and Holocene using relatively new geochemical and statistical techniques. Each of the studies attempts to answer a longstanding question in the respective field using geochemical or statistical methods that...
This thesis focuses on the application of the cosmogenic nuclide Beryllium-10 (10Be) in an effort to better constrain the thickness history of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and into the Holocene, as well as begin to answer the long-standing question regarding the age
and...
The sensitivity of the tropics to climate change, particularly the amplitude of glacial‐to‐interglacial changes in sea surface temperature (SST), is one of the great controversies in paleoclimatology. Here we reassess faunal estimates of ice age SSTs, focusing on the problem of no‐analog planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in the equatorial oceans that...
We use the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NCEP)
and the MPI/ECHAM5 general circulation model to drive
the RegCM3 regional climate model to assess the ability of
the models to reproduce the spatiotemporal aspects of the
Pacific-North American teleconnection (PNA) pattern.
Composite anomalies of the NCEP-driven RegCM3 simulations
for 1982–2000 indicate that the...
Multiple paleoceanographic proxies in a zonal transect across the California Current
near 42°N record modern and last glacial maximum (LGM) thermal and nutrient gradients. The
offshore thermal gradient, derived from foraminiferal species assemblages and oxygen isotope data,
was similar at the LGM to that at present (warmer offshore), but average...
This thesis presents the results of an investigation into the interactions between the present-day South Cascade Glacier and the former Mauna Kea ice cap at short (annual to centennial) and long (millennial and multimillennial) time scales. To quantify the response of South Cascade Glacier to atmospheric conditions, a surface energy...
This study quantified the magnitude and timing of summer streamflow deficits in paired-watershed experiments in the Cascade Range of Oregon where mature and old-growth conifer forests were subjected to clearcutting, patch cutting, and overstory thinning treatments in the 1960s and 1970s. Hydrologic effects of clearcutting, small-patch cutting, and overstory thinning...
Increased variability of rainfall and flow from climate change has the potential to stress existing transboundary water sharing agreements and make meeting the needs of all riparians difficult. Water treaties have been theorized as valuable tools for mitigating conflict in times of climate stress, but the relationship between the design...