CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Adams, J.K.; Iamonaco, J-P.; and Finkelstein, S.A.
Date : 2008.
Title : Quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions from the Melville Peninsula.
Publication : 2008 Annual Meetings of the Canadian Association of Geographers, Ontario Division and the American Association of Geographers, East Lakes Division. October 17-19, 2008. Brock University. St. Catharines, Ontario.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Over the past millennium, the Canadian Arctic experienced climatic shifts associated with the Medieval Warming Period and the Little Ice Age. Migration and settlement of the Thule may have been influenced by shifting climates. Analysis of modern and paleoclimate data indicate that climate patterns in the Canadian Arctic are not homogeneous, with an east-west climate gradient present. The presence of Thule sites, a transitional climate, and a lack of paleoclimate studies make the Melville Peninsula an area of high importance. Preliminary results from two lake sediment cores from the Melville Peninsula indicate differences in sedimentation rate and percent organic matter throughout the Holocene between two small lakes, SP02 and SP04. Both cores have recorded substantial variation in the environment over the past millennium. In SP02, a decrease in percent organic matter at 25cm depth likely coincides with Neoglacial cooling, culminating at 9cm and 5cm depths, which possibly represent the coolest periods of the Little Ice Age dated to 300 and 130 years ago, respectively, using 210-Pb. Both cores indicate an increase in percent organic matter within the last 130 years, likely due to post-industrialization rise in temperatures. These findings may provide evidence that the Thule cultural change was influenced by climate. Our results also indicate that local effects can strongly influence the climate signal. Therefore the regional study of paleoclimates may result in an over-simplification and homogenization of Arctic environments. To improve paleoclimate reconstructions, multiple sites within a watershed should be studied.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology