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Assessing the use of sediment organic, carbonate and biogenic silica content as indicators of environmental conditions in Arctic lakes

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine three sediment parameters used in paleolimnological studies, sediment organic, carbonate and biogenic silica (BSi) content, and to quantify the relationship among these parameters and modern environmental conditions for a series of Canadian Arctic lakes. Sediment samples from 63 lakes were analysed for organic, carbonate and BSi content. The environmental and physical parameters of these lakes were recorded. Bedrock composition exerted a very strong influence on sediment organic, BSi and carbonate content, and differences in lake production accounted for much of the remaining variance. The strongest relationships existed among sediment carbonate content, BSi content and water pH. A statistical model developed for predicting water pH provides a new tool for reconstructing past environmental conditions for Arctic aquatic ecosystems. A positive relationship between mean July air temperature and sediment organic and BSi content was detected, but was confounded by effects of bedrock on these parameters. However, the relationship between mean July air temperature and sediment organic and BSi could be even more significant in the context of constant bedrock composition, as is the case in paleolimnological studies.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by a grant from the Canada Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS), Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). Logistic support was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP/EPCP); this paper is PCSP contribution 02208. We thank P. Hamilton for help with the field work and T. Paull for help in producing the figures. We would also like to thank the two reviewers for their comments and their help in the final stages of this study.

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  1. Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology (LPC), Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Marie-Claude Fortin & Konrad Gajewski

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  1. Marie-Claude Fortin
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  2. Konrad Gajewski
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Correspondence to Marie-Claude Fortin.

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Fortin, MC., Gajewski, K. Assessing the use of sediment organic, carbonate and biogenic silica content as indicators of environmental conditions in Arctic lakes. Polar Biol 32, 985–998 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0598-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0598-1

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