Modern and fossil pollen analyses have established the local vegetation succession and landscape evolution along the Meade River near Atqasuk, Alaska. Three data sets were analyzed: (1) a 142-cm-long peat deposit on the exposed river bluff face, (2) a short, 13-cm peat monolith from the near-surface sediment, and (3) a modern data set of surface samples collected along a transect representative of a geomorphic gradient of low-center, transitional, and high-center polygons. Pollen-microfossil assemblages changed significantly along this gradient. Detailed analysis of the short pollen profile shows successional vegetation changes over the last 250 years. The long profile, a 9400-year record of past vegetation, indicates that initially, the site was covered by shallow lakes. Eolian activity had a substantial effect on sediment deposition, but a period of rapid peat growth from 8500 to 5000 14C year B.P. is coincident with increased vegetation cover of mixed grass-shrub tundra. Following this period, peat growth slowed, and shrub vegetation was replaced by tussock-forming sedge vegetation. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union