Abstract
Terrestrial evidence of ice-sheet meltwater events during the last deglaciation are exceptionally rare. However, they are a valuable complement to marine records that suggest immense ice-sheet meltwater pulses discharging into the Northeast Pacific, termed Siku events. Here we describe and date a terrestrial Cordilleran Ice Sheet meltwater archive in a karstified glacial outwash plain during the early last deglaciation, showing semi-continuous meltwater events between about 20,000 and 17,000 years ago.
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Data availability
Devil’s Sequence OSL and grain-size data are available from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information website at https://doi.org/10.25921/y45g-ps62 (ref. 29).
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by Austrian Science Fund (FWF) grant FP338960. We are grateful to A. Harris, J. Baichtal, C. DeCelle and the Tongass National Forest geology program for their continued support for this work. In addition, we thank J. Honkonen for invaluable field-work assistance and T. Ivanova for precious support in preparation of the pollen samples. Finally, we thank C. Spötl and J. Monroe for providing valuable feedback from an earlier version of this paper.
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Conceptualization: P.S.W.; funding acquisition of (FWF) grant FP338960: P.S.W.; project administration/supervision: P.S.W.; methodology design: P.S.W.; conducted OSL dating: M.C.M.; conducted pollen analysis: D.F.; prepared visual components: P.S.W. and M.C.M.; writing–original draft: P.S.W.; writing–reviewing and editing: P.S.W., M.C.M. and D.F.
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Nature Geoscience thanks Maureen Walczak and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Alison Hunt, in collaboration with the Nature Geoscience team.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 Profile map of Devils Canopy Cave.
Blue arrows denote modern-day streamflow. Water from modern-day stream exits Devils Canopy into a large network of other caves, some being unexplored. Red star denotes location of Devils sequence in Devils Canopy Room. Also shown is the boulder-sealed passage where sediments from Devils Sequence are hypothesized to have originated before being blocked. Green dashed arrow shows possible pathway of former sediment-laden ice-sheet meltwater in DC Room. Map modified from original map by Kevin and Carlene Allred.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Illustration of Devils Sequence from Devils Canopy Cave.
Unit 1 is composed of diamicton while unit 2 is composed of normally graded bedding of fine/medium sand. Red circles denote OSL age sampling locations with corresponding sample names and ages.
Extended Data Fig. 3 Images of DC Room and Devils Sequence.
(a) Devils Sequence exposed with human for scale. (b) The possible former ice-sheet meltwater pathway in DC Room (red circle). (c) Selected segment of unit 1 composed of diamicton. (d) Selected segment of unit 2 composed of normally graded bedding of find/medium sand.
Extended Data Fig. 4 Images of Devils Canopy Cave surroundings.
(a) Thickly vegetated temperate rainforest in the vicinity of Devils Canopy Cave with Entrance 1 (see Extended Data Fig. 1) located ~2 m to the left of people (red X). (b) Modern-day stream into Devils Canopy Cave (red X).
Extended Data Fig. 5 Pollen diagram of Devils Sequence.
Absolute values of pollen, spores and algae are shown. Total pollen and fern spores concentration is shown in black.
Extended Data Fig. 6 Examples of well-preserved microfossils found in the Devils Sequence.
(a) Picea cf. sitchensis; (b) Pinus cf. contorta; (c) Betula; (d) Alnus; (e) Chenopodiaceae; (f) Fern monolete spore; (g) Algae (cf. snow algae).
Extended Data Fig. 7 Sediments from other caves in the region showing similarities with Devils Sequence from Devils Canopy Cave.
(a) Raven Cave, ~20 km northeast Devils Canopy Cave. (b) El Captain Cave, ~10 km northwest of Devils Canopy Cave (Fig. 1).
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary information on OSL dating methods/results of Devil’s Canopy Cave sediment.
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Wilcox, P.S., Meyer, M.C. & Festi, D. Semi-continuous release of Cordilleran Ice Sheet meltwater between 20,000 and 17,000 years ago. Nat. Geosci. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01694-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01694-4
