CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Bauer, I.E.; and Vitt, D.H.
Date : 2000.
Title : Landscape dynamics and paleoecology of a permafrost peatland in northern Alberta, Canada.
Publication : Quebec 2000: The Millennium Wetland Event, August 6 to 12, 2000, Quebec City, Quebec.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Most of the extensive peatland complexes of boreal western Canada were formed by paludification, i.e. the expansion of peatland vegetation into areas formerly occupied by upland communities. The temporal dynamics of this process and the autogenic and allogenic factors controlling it are presently only poorly understood. In northern Alberta, peatland initiation occurred early within the Holocene, and the regional development of permafrost in peatlands is thought to have resulted in decreased peat accumulation over the last 4000 years. How this affected paludification dynamics is unknown. The developmental history of a peatland complex in the High Boreal Wetland Region of north-western Alberta (119° 22’W 58° 17’N) was examined using a combination of mapping and paleoecological techniques. Basin morphometry was interpolated from over 270 depth measurements distributed throughout the site. Basal dates obtained from 11 cores indicate that the long-term average apparent rate of vertical peat accumulation decreases linearly with core age. Beginning just over 10,000 years ago, peat started accumulating at several loci within the site, and by 4000 cal BP it had coalesced over most of the present peatland area. Subsequent lateral dynamics mostly involved the formation of swampy forest around the periphery of the peatland. Macrofossil analysis of cores from peat plateau and fen areas reveals marked differences in local vegetation succession.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology