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The influence of temperature, moisture, and eolian activity on Holocene lake development in West Greenland

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Abstract

Holocene paleolimnological records (diatoms, organic content, spectrally inferred sediment chlorophyll-a) from three West Greenland lakes (~67°N) situated along a transect from the outer coast to a nunatak at the periphery of the Greenland Ice Sheet are used to explore the nature of regional postglacial lake development and its relationship to Holocene climate evolution. The lakes were deglaciated asynchronously by approximately 4 ka (earliest on the coast) and thus their sediment records document different starting points of Holocene ontogeny, both temporally and paleoclimatically. Despite similar time-transgressive characteristics of the diatom stratigraphies, overarching climatic factors, principally effective moisture, and eolian inputs, govern individual lake development. The transition to Neoglaciation between 5.6 and 4 ka BP marks a shift toward a cooler, moister, windier climate from the aridity and higher temperatures of the mid-Holocene (8–6 ka BP). A shift toward increased aridity, windiness, and eolian activity is documented in the interior lakes over the last 500 years. These lake records demonstrate the sensitivity of freshwater lakes in arid regions to changes in effective moisture and highlight the role of wind and eolian activity in Arctic lake environments.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NSF Grant 0081226 to SCF, and by a NSERC discovery grant to MSVD. 210Pb analyses were provided by Peter Appleby at the University of Liverpool. MS data were supplied by Amy Whittle (née Clarke) at the University of Liverpool. TOC and C:N data from ss49 were kindly provided by Billy D’Andrea. We thank Charly Massa for assistance with age-depth modelling and Alexander Wolfe for SEM images.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR CNRS 6249 Chrono-Environnement, Université de Franche-Comté, 25030, Besançon, France

    Bianca B. Perren

  2. Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

    N. John Anderson

  3. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada

    Marianne S. V. Douglas

  4. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0340, USA

    Sherilyn C. Fritz

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  1. Bianca B. Perren
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  2. N. John Anderson
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  4. Sherilyn C. Fritz
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Correspondence to Bianca B. Perren.

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This is one of 18 papers published in a special issue edited by Darrell Kaufman, and dedicated to reconstructing Holocene climate and environmental change from Arctic lake sediments.

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Perren, B.B., Anderson, N.J., Douglas, M.S.V. et al. The influence of temperature, moisture, and eolian activity on Holocene lake development in West Greenland. J Paleolimnol 48, 223–239 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9613-6

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