Abstract
A comprehensive study of meteorological, hydrological, limnological and sedimentological conditions in the watersheds of density-stratified (meromictic) lakes around Taconite Inlet, Northern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada was carried out from 1990–1992. Lakes C1 and C2 contain seawater ‘trapped’ by isostatic uplift as the former embayments became isolated from the sea. These lakes, and Lake C3, contain varved sediments which provide an annually resolvable paleoclimatic record. By studing the major systems influencing sedimentation in one of these lakes (Lake C2) a better understanding of the climatic controls on varve formation, and hence on the paleoclimatic signal in the varved sediment record, was obtained. The varves of Lake C2 provide a proxy record of summer temperature for the region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bednarski J., 1986. Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, Northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci. 23: 1343–1355.
Bovis M. & R. G. Barry, 1974. A climatological analysis of north polar desert areas. In: T. L. Smiley & J. H. Zumberge (eds.) Polar Deserts and Modern Man. University of Arizona Press, Tucson: 23–31.
Bradley R. S., 1985. Quaternary Paleoclimatology. Chapman and Hall, London, 472 pp.
Bradley R. S., 1990. Holocene paleoclimatology of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, N.W.T., Canada. Quat. Sci. Rev. 9: 365–384.
Bradley R. S. & J. England, 1978. Recent climatic fluctuations of the Canadian High Arctic and their significance for glaciology. Arct. Alp. Res. 4: 715–731.
Bradley R. S., H. F. Diaz & F. T. Keimig, 1992. Climatology of surface-based inversions in the North American Arctic. J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos. 97, D14: 15699–15712.
Dickman M. & M. Ouellet, 1987. Limnology of Garrow Lake, NWT, Canada. Polar Record 23: 531–549.
Douglas M. S. V., S. D. Ludlam & S. Feeney, 1996. Changes in diatom assemblages in Lake C2 (Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada): response to basin isolation from the sea and to other environmental changes. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 217–225.
Douglas M. S. V., J. P. Smol & W. Blake, 1994. Marked post-18th century environmental change in High Arctic ecosystems. Science 266: 416–419.
England, J., 1992. Postglacial emergence in the Canadian High Arctic: integrating glacioisostasy, eustasy and late deglaciation. Can. J. Earth Sci. 29:
Evans D. J. A., 1990. The last glaciation and relative sea level history of northwest Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic. J. Quat. Sci. 5: 67–82.
Fisher, D. A. & R. M. Koerner, 1981. Some aspects of climatic change in the High Arctic during the Holocene as deduced from ice cores. In Mahaney, W. C. (ed.) Quaternary Paleoclimate. Geobooks, Norwich: 249–271.
Fisher D. A. & R. M. Koerner, 1994. Signal and noise in four icecore records from the Agassiz Ice Cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada: details of the last millennium for stable isotopes, melt and solid conductivity. The Holocene 4: 113–120.
Fisher D. A., R. M. Koerner., W. S. B. Patersen, W. Dansgaard, N Gundestrup & N. Reeh, 1983. Effect of wind scouring on climatic records from ice-core oxygen-isotope profiles. Nature 301: 205–209.
Fisher D. A., R. M. Koerner, K. Kuivinen, H. Clausen, S. J. Johnsen & J-P. Steffensen, 1995. Inter-comparison of ice core δ180 and precipitation records from sites in Canada and Greenland over the last 3500 years and over the last few centuries using EOF techniques. In: P. D. Jones, R. S. Bradley and J. Jouzel (eds.) Climatic Variations and Forcing Mechanisms of the Last 2,000 Years. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg; New York (in press).
Hardy D. R., 1996. Climatic influences on streamflow and sediment flux into Lake C2, Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 133–149.
Hardy D. R., R. S. Bradley and B. Zolitschka, 1996. The climatic signal in varved sediments from lake C-2, Northern Ellesmere Island. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 227–238.
Hattersley-Smith G. & H. Serson, 1964. Stratified water of a glacial lake in Northern Ellesmere Island. Arctic 17: 109–110.
Hattersley-Smith G., J. E. Keys, H. Serson & J. E. Mielke, 1970. Density stratified lakes in Northern Ellesmere Island. Nature 225: 5–56.
Jeffries M. O., 1992. Arctic ice shelves and ice islands: origin, growth and disintegration, physical characteristics, structural-stratigraphic variability and dynamics. Rev. Geophys. 30: 245–267.
Jeffries M. O., H. R. Krouse, M. A. Shakur & S. A. Harris, 1984. Isotope geochemistry of stratified Lake ‘A’, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci. 21: 1008–1017.
Koerner R. M. & D. A. Fisher, 1985. The Devon Island ice core and the glacial record. In: Andrews J. T. (ed.) Quaternary Environments: Eastern Canadian Arctic, Baffin Bay and Western Greenland. G. Allen and Unwin, Boston: 309–327.
Koerner R. M. & Fisher D. A., 1990. A record of Holocene summer climate from a Canadian High Arctic ice core. Nature 343: 630–631.
Koerner R. M., 1977. Devon Island ice cap: core stratigraphy and paleoclimate. Science 196: 15–18.
Lamoureux, S. F., 1995. Paleoclimatic reconstruction from varved lake sediments, Lake C2, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 170 pp.
Lamoureux S. F. & R. S. Bradley, 1996. A 3300 year varved sediment record of environmental change from Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 239–255.
Lemmen D. S., 1989. The last glaciation of Marvin Peninsula, Northern Ellesmere Island, High Arctic, Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci. 26: 2578–2590.
Long A., 1967. Trapped seawater at the bottom of Lake Tuborg, Ellesmere Island (abstract). EOS, 48: 136.
Ludlam S. D., 1996a. Stratification patterns in Taconite Inlet, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 111–131.
Ludlam S. D., 1996b. The comparative limnology of High Arctic, coastal meromictic lakes. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 205–215.
Ludlam S. D., S. Feeney & M. S. V. D. Douglas, 1996. Changes in the importance of lotic and littoral diatoms in a High Arctic lake over the last 191 years. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 187–204.
Maxwell J. B., 1981. Climatic regions of the Canadian Arctic Islands. Arctic 34: 225–240.
Maxwell J. B., 1982. The Climate of the Canadian Arctic Islands and Adjacent Waters. Vol II., Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, 589 pp.
Miller G. H., Bradley R. S. & Andrews J. T., 1975. Glaciation level and lowest equilibrium line altitude in the High Canadian Arctic: maps and climatic interpretation. Arct. Alp. Res. 7: 155–168.
Mitchell J. F. B., S. Manabe, T. Tokioka & V. Meleshko, 1990. Equilibrium climate change. In: J. T. Houghton, G. J. Jenkins and J. J. Ephraums (eds.) Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.: 131–172.
Ouellet M., M. Bisson, P. Pagé & M. Dickman, 1987. Physicochemical limnology of meromictic saline Lake Sophia, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Arct. Alp. Res. 19: 305–312.
Pagé P., M. Ouellet, C. Hillaire-Marcel & M. Dickman, 1984. Isotopic analyses (18O, 13C, 14C) of two meromictic lakes in the Canadian Arctic archipelago. Limnol. Oceanogr. 79: 554–573.
Pagé P., M. Michaud, M. Ouellet and M. Dickman, 1987. Isotopic composition and origin of lacustrine brines in the Arctic. Can. J. Earth Sci. 24: 210–216.
Retelle M. & J. K. Child, 1996. Suspended sediment transport and deposition in a High Arctic meromictic lake, Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 151–167.
Toth D. J. & A. Lerman, 1975. Stratified lake and ocean brines: salt movement and time limits of existence. Limnol. Oceanogr. 20: 715–728.
Trettin H., 1987. Pearya: a composite terrane with Caledonide affinities in Northern Ellesmere Island. Can. J. Earth Sci. 24: 224–245.
Woo M-K., 1983. Hydrology of a drainage basin in the Canadian High Arctic. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geog. 73: 577–596.
Zolitschka B., 1996. Processes of recent sedimentation in a High Arctic lake, Northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. J. Paleolimnol. 16: 169–186.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This is the first in a series of papers published in this issue on the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. These papers were collected by Dr R. S. Bradley.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bradley, R.S., Retelle, M.J., Ludlam, S.D. et al. The Taconite Inlet Lakes Project: a systems approach to paleoclimatic reconstruction. J Paleolimnol 16, 97–110 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176930
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176930