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Multiproxy paleoecological evidence of Holocene climatic changes on the Boothia Peninsula, Canadian Arctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Marie-Claude Fortin  and
Konrad Gajewski
Marie-Claude Fortin
Affiliation:
Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Konrad Gajewski*
Affiliation:
Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail address:gajewski@uottawa.ca (K. Gajewski).
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Abstract

A study of chironomid remains in the sediments of Lake JR01 on the Boothia Peninsula in the Central Canadian Arctic provides a high-resolution record of mean July air temperatures for the last 6.9 ka. Diatom and pollen studies have previously been published from this core. Peak Holocene temperatures occurred prior to 5.0 ka, a time when overall aquatic and terrestrial biological production was high. Chironomid-inferred summer air temperatures reached up to 7.5°C during this period. The region of Lake JR01 cooled over the mid- to late-Holocene, with high biological production between 6.1 and 5.4 ka. Biological production decreased again at ∼2 ka and the rate of cooling increased in the past 2 ka, with coolest temperatures occurring between 0.46 and 0.36 ka, coinciding with the Little Ice Age. Although biological production increased in the last 150 yr, the reconstructed temperatures do not indicate a warming during this time. During transitions, either warming or cooling, chironomid production increases, suggesting an ecosystem-level response to climate variability, seen at a number of lakes across the Arctic.

Keywords

ChironomidsDiatomsPollenPaleoclimate reconstructionWeighted average partial least squaresModern Analog TechniqueLittle Ice Age
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 85 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 347 - 357
Copyright
University of Washington

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