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Middle to late Holocene chironomid-inferred July temperatures for the central Northwest Territories, Canada

Journal of Paleolimnology volume 52, pages 11–26 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

We analyzed subfossil chironomids, sediment organic matter and sediment particle size data from a 1.11-m-long freeze core collected from Carleton Lake (unofficial name), located approximately 120 km north of the modern treeline. This well-dated core spans the last ca. 6,500 years. Two chironomid transfer functions were applied to infer mean July air temperatures. Our results indicated that the chironomid-inferred temperatures from this lake sediment record did not pass a significance test, suggesting that other factors in addition to temperature may have been important in structuring the chironomid community through time. Although not statistically significant, the chironomid-inferred temperatures from this site do follow a familiar pattern, with highest inferred temperatures occurring during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (~6–4 cal kyr BP), followed by a long-term cooling trend, which is reversed during the last 600 years. The largest change in the chironomid assemblage, which occurred between ca. 4,600 and 3,900 cal yr BP is possibly related to the well-documented northward advance and subsequent retreat of treeline in this region.

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Acknowledgments

Helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers, the Editors, and Rod Smith with the Geological Survey of Canada greatly improved this manuscript. Funding for this collaborative research project was provided by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) strategic project grant and Discovery Grant to RTP, an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to LMU and a Fonds de recherche du Québec—Nature et technologies (FQRNT) Postdoctoral Fellowship to JCV. Direct and in-kind funding was provided by the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, Polar Continental Shelf Project, The Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (by, in part, a Cumulative Impacts and Monitoring Program award to JMG), the Geological Survey of Canada, the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road Joint Venture (Erik Madsen and the crew of the Dome, Lockhart, and Lac de Gras maintenance camps), the North Slave Métis Alliance, and IMG Golder, Inuvik, and Golder Associates, Yellowknife. Special thanks to those involved in collection of the Carleton Lake sediment core including Robert Mercredi (North Slave Métis Alliance) and to Josh Kurek who assisted with chironomid identifications. This paper represents ESS contribution number 20120320.

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Author notes

  1. Michael F. J. Pisaric

    Present address: Department of Geography, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Lindsay M. Upiter, R. Timothy Patterson, Carley A. Crann, Andrew L. Macumber & Lisa A. Neville

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Lindsay M. Upiter, R. Timothy Patterson, Carley A. Crann, Andrew L. Macumber & Lisa A. Neville

  3. Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Jesse C. Vermaire

  4. Geological Survey of Canada Calgary, 3303-33rd Street NW, Calgary, AB, T2L 2A, Canada

    Jennifer M. Galloway

  5. School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Graeme T. Swindles

  6. Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, P.O. Box 1500, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2R3, Canada

    Hendrik Falck

  7. School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK

    Helen M. Roe

  8. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Jesse C. Vermaire & Michael F. J. Pisaric

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  1. Lindsay M. Upiter
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Correspondence to Jesse C. Vermaire.

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Upiter, L.M., Vermaire, J.C., Patterson, R.T. et al. Middle to late Holocene chironomid-inferred July temperatures for the central Northwest Territories, Canada. J Paleolimnol 52, 11–26 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-014-9775-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-014-9775-5

Keywords

  • Chironomids
  • Middle to late Holocene
  • Paleoclimate
  • Northwest Territories
  • Particle size analysis
  • Loss-on-ignition