ABSTRACT: Chironomid fauna at two arctic sites: A contribution to the ARCSS 2 kyr project.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

Arctic climate is now changing faster than any other region on Earth. In order to fully understand current and future change, current climate warming must be placed in the context of the last two millennia. As part of a collaborative project to synthesize high-resolution paleoclimate data from lacustrine sites across the Arctic region for the last 2000 years, midge remains (mostly Chironomidae) are being analyzed at several sites to reconstruct both summer air and water temperatures. High resolution records of chironomid-inferred temperature changes over the past 2000 years are being developed for Sved Lake in SW Greenland; and Murray Lake, northern Ellesmere Island in the Nunuvut Territory, Canada. Sved Lake is positioned near one of the major areas of deep water formation in the North Atlantic, which influences climate at this site. It is also near the early Norse settlements known as the Eastern Settlements that were abandoned in the early 15th century. Murray Lake, which has annually laminated sediments, is one of the most northern sites in our study, and represents a very different environment from Sved Lake. Murray Lake is much deeper, with some glacial inputs, and has a more continental climate, with a distinct seasonal cycle. Chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions are being done using an eastern North American transfer function based on sites extending from the Canadian Arctic south to Maine, USA. Data from several sites in Greenland will also be included. The most recent sediments are being analyzed at approximately 1-cm intervals. Head capsule concentrations in Murray Lake cores are much lower than in Sved Lake.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology