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Multi-proxy record of postglacial environmental change, south-central Melville Island, Northwest Territories, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Matthew Peros ,
Konrad Gajewski ,
Tara Paull ,
Rebecca Ravindra  and
Brandi Podritske
Matthew Peros*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
Konrad Gajewski
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5 Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
Tara Paull
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
Rebecca Ravindra
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
Brandi Podritske
Affiliation:
Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected] (M. Peros).
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Abstract

A sediment core from Lake BC01 (75"10.945?N, 111"55.181?W, 225"m asl) on south-central Melville Island, NWT, Canada, provides the first continuous postglacial environmental record for the region. Fossil pollen results indicate that the postglacial landscape was dominated by Poaceae and Salix, typical of a High Arctic plant community, whereas the Arctic herb Oxyria underwent a gradual increase during the late Holocene. Pollen-based climate reconstructions suggests the presence of a cold and dry period ~12,000"cal yr BP, possibly representing the Younger Dryas, followed by warmer and wetter conditions from 11,000 to 5000"cal yr BP, likely reflective of the Holocene Thermal Maximum. The climate then underwent a gradual cooling and drying from 5000"cal yr BP to the present, suggesting a late Holocene neoglacial cooling. Diatom preservation was poor prior to 5000"cal yr BP, when conditions were warmest, suggesting that diatom dissolution may in part be climatically controlled. Diatom concentrations were highest ~4500"cal yr BP but then decreased substantially by 3500"cal yr BP and remained low before recovering slightly in the 20th century. An abrupt warming occurred during the past 70 yr at the site, although the magnitude of this warming did not exceed that of the early Holocene.

Keywords

PollenDiatomsHoloceneClimate changeArctic CanadaLake sedimentsDeglaciation
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 247 - 258
Copyright
University of Washington

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