Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T13:55:49.385Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Holocene Paleohydrology and Paleoclimate at Treeline, North-Central Russia, Inferred from Oxygen Isotope Records in Lake Sediment Cellulose

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Brent B. Wolfe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences and Quaternary Sciences Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Thomas W. D. Edwards*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7059
Ramon Aravena
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences and Quaternary Sciences Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Steven L. Forman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7059
Barry G. Warner
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Quaternary Sciences Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Andrei A. Velichko
Affiliation:
Institute for Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetny Pereulok 29, Moscow 109017, Russia
Glen M. MacDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1524
*
1Also: Institut für Hydrologie, GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany.

Abstract

Lake-water oxygen-isotope histories for three lakes in northern Russia, derived from the cellulose oxygen-isotope stratigraphies of sediment cores, provide the basis for preliminary reconstruction of Holocene paleohydrology in two regions along the boreal treeline. Deconvolution of shifting precipitation δ18O from secondary evaporative isotopic enrichment is aided by knowledge of the distribution of isotopes in modern precipitation, the isotopic composition of paleo-waters preserved in frozen peat deposits, as well as other supporting paleoclimatic information. These data indicate that during the early Holocene, when the boreal treeline advanced to the current arctic coastline, conditions in the lower Yenisey River region were moist compared to the present, whereas greater aridity prevailed to the east near the lower Lena River. This longitudinal moisture gradient is consistent with the suggestion that oceanic forcing (increased sea-surface temperatures in the Nordic Seas and reduced sea-ice cover) was a major contributor to the development of a more maritime climate in western Eurasia, in addition to increased summer insolation. East of the Taimyr Peninsula, large tracts of the continental shelf exposed by glacial sea-level drawdown may have suppressed maritime climatic influence in what are now coastal areas. In contrast, during the late Holocene the two regions have apparently experienced coherent shifts in effective moisture. The similarity of the records may primarily reflect reduced North Atlantic influence in the Nordic Seas and southward retreat of coastline in eastern Siberia, coupled with declining summer insolation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boike, J., (1997). Thermal, hydrological and geochemical dynamics of the active layer at a continuous permafrost site, Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia. Reports on Polar Research 242, 104.Google Scholar
Buhay, W.M., Wolfe, B.B., Elgood, R.J., Edwards, T.W.D. Google Scholar
Bursey, G.G., Edwards, T.W.D., Frape, S.K., (1995). A report on the δ18O measurements of the IAEA cellulose intercomparison material IAEA-C3. Proceedings, Consultants Meeting on Reference and Intercomparison Materials for Stable Isotopes of Light Elements, Vienna, December 1993 (1995). p. 8586.Google Scholar
Bursey, G. G., Edwards, T. W. D., Frape, S. K., (1991). Water balance and geochemistry studies in a tundra watershed, District of Keewatin, N.W.T. Prowse, T.D., Ommanney, C.S.L., Northern Hydrology: Selected Perspectives Environment Canada, Saskatoon.1731.Google Scholar
Clayden, S.L., Cwynar, L.C., MacDonald, G.M., (1996). Stomate and pollen content of lake surface sediments from across the tree line on the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia. Canadian Journal of Botany 74, 10091015.Google Scholar
Clayden, S.L., Cwynar, L.C., MacDonald, G.M., Velichko, A.A., (1997). Holocene pollen and stomates from a forest-tundra site on the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia. Arctic and Alpine Research 29, 327333.Google Scholar
Coleman, M.L., Shepherd, T.J., Durham, J.J., Rouse, J.E., Moore, G.R., (1982). Reduction of water with zinc for hydrogen isotope analysis. Analytical Chemistry 54, 993995.Google Scholar
Coplen, T.B., (1996). New guidelines for reporting stable hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotope-ratio data. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60, 33593360.Google Scholar
Craig, H., (1961). Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science 133, 17021703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dansgaard, W., (1964). Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16, 436468.Google Scholar
Duff, K.E., Laing, T.E., Smol, J.P., Lean, D.R.S., (1999). Limnological characteristics of lakes located across arctic treeline in northern Russia. Hydrobiologia 391, 205222.Google Scholar
Edwards, T.W.D., Buhay, W.M., Elgood, R.J., Jiang, H.B., (1994). An improved nickel-tube pyrolysis method for oxygen isotope analysis of organic matter and water. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 114, 179183.Google Scholar
Edwards, T. W. D, Elgood, R. J, Wolfe, B. B., (1997). Cellulose extraction from lake sediments for 18O/16O and 13C/12C analysis. Technical Procedure 28.0 Environmental Isotope Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo.Google Scholar
Edwards, T.W.D., McAndrews, J.H., (1989). Paleohydrology of a Canadian Shield lake inferred from 18O in sediment cellulose. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 26, 18501859.Google Scholar
Edwards, T.W.D., Wolfe, B.B., MacDonald, G.M., (1996). Influence of changing atmospheric circulation on precipitation δ18O–temperature relations in Canada during the Holocene. Quaternary Research 46, 211218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgood, R. J, Wolfe, B. B, Buhay, W. M, Edwards, T. W. D., (1997). δ18O in organic matter and water by nickel-tube pyrolysis. Technical Procedure 29.0. Environmental Isotope Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo.Google Scholar
Epstein, S., Mayeda, T.K., (1953). Variations in the 18O/16O ratio in natural waters. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 4, .Google Scholar
Foley, J.A., Kutzbach, J.E., Coe, M.T., Levis, S., (1994). Effects of boreal forest vegetation on global climate. Nature 371, 5254.Google Scholar
Hahne, J., Melles, M., (1997). Late- and post-glacial vegetation and climate history of the southwestern Taimyr Peninsula, central Siberia, as revealed by pollen analysis of a core from Lake Lama. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 6, 18.Google Scholar
Hammarlund, D., Edwards, T.W.D., (1998). Evidence of changes in moisture transport efficiency across the Scandes mountains in northern Sweden during the Holocene, inferred from lacustrine oxygen isotope records. International Symposium on Isotope Techniques in the Study of Past and Current Environmental Changes in the Hydrosphere and the Atmosphere, 14–18 April 1997 International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.p. 573–580.Google Scholar
Jasinski, J.P.P., Warner, B.G., Andreev, A.A., Aravena, R., Gilbert, S.E., Zeeb, B.A., Smol, J.P., Velichko, A.A., (1998). Holocene environmental history of a peatland in the Lena River Valley, Siberia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 35, 637648.Google Scholar
Kerwin, M.W., Overpeck, J.T., Webb, R.S., DeVernal, A., Rind, D.H., Healy, R.J., (1999). The role of oceanic forcing in mid-Holocene Northern Hemisphere climatic change. Paleoceanography 14, 200210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koç, N., Jansen, E., Haflidason, H., (1993). Paleoceanographic reconstructions of surface ocean conditions in the Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Seas through the last 14 ka based on diatoms. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 115140.Google Scholar
Koshkarova, V.L., (1995). Vegetation response to global and regional environmental change on the Taymyr Peninsula during the Holocene. Polar Geography and Geology 19, 145151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kremenetski, C.V., Sulerzhitsky, L.D., Hantemirov, R., (1998). Holocene history of the northern range limits of some trees and shrubs in Russia. Arctic and Alpine Research 30, 317333.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E., Guetter, P.J., Behling, P.J., Selin, R., (1993). Simulated climatic changes: Results of the COHMAP Climate-Model experiments. Wright, H.E. Jr., Kutzbach, J.E., Webb III, T., Ruddiman, W.F., Street-Perrott, F.A., Bartlein, P.J., Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.2493.Google Scholar
Laing, T.E., Rühland, K.M., Smol, J.P., (1999). Past environmental and climatic changes related to treeline shifts inferred from fossil diatoms from a lake near the Lena River Delta, Siberia. The Holocene 9, 547557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, D.J., Forman, S.L., Miller, G.H., (1999). Holocene glacier and climate fluctuations on Franz Josef Land, Arctic Russia, 80°N. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 85108.Google Scholar
Lydolph, P.E., (1977). Climates of the Soviet Union. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
MacDonald, G.M., Edwards, T.W.D., Moser, K.A., Pienitz, R., Smol, J.P., (1993). Rapid response of treeline vegetation and lakes to past climate warming. Nature 361, 243246.Google Scholar
MacDonald, G.M., Velichko, A.A., Kremenetski, C.V., Borisova, O.K., Goleva, A.A., Andreev, A.A., Cwynar, L.C., Riding, R.T., Forman, S.L., Edwards, T.W.D., Aravena, R., Hammarlund, D., Szeicz, J.M., Gatullin, V., (2000). Holocene treeline history and climate across northern Eurasia. Quaternary Research 53, .Google Scholar
Meyers, P.A., Lallier-Vergès, E., (1999). Lacustrine sedimentary organic matter records of late Quaternary paleoclimates. Journal of Paleolimnology 21, 345372.Google Scholar
Mikhalev, D.V., (1989). The formation of the oxygen isotopic composition of the segregated ice in the active layer. Romanov, V.P., Conditions and Processes of Cryogenic Migration of Solutes Russian Academy of SciencesInstitute of Cryology, Yakutsk.162169.Google Scholar
Monserud, R.A., Tchebakova, N.M., Denissenko, O.V., (1998). Reconstruction of the mid-Holocene palaeoclimate of Siberia using a bioclimatic vegetation model. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 139, 1536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikolayev, V.I., Mikhalev, D.V., (1995). An oxygen-isotope paleothermometer from ice in Siberian permafrost. Quaternary Research 43, 1421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overpeck, J., Hughen, K., Hardy, D., Bradley, R., Case, R., Douglas, M., Finney, B., Gajewski, K., Jacoby, G., Jennings, A., Lamoureux, S., Lasca, A., MacDonald, G., Moore, J., Retelle, M., Smith, S., Wolfe, A., Zielinski, G., (1997). Arctic environmental change of the last four centuries. Science 278, 12511256.Google Scholar
Pisaric, M. F. J, MacDonald, G. M, Velichko, A. A, Cwynar, L. C., in press, The late-glacial and post-glacial vegetation history of the northwestern limits of Beringia, based on pollen, stomate, and tree stump evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews.Google Scholar
Revesz, K., Woods, P.H., (1990). A method to extract soil water for stable isotope analysis. Journal of Hydrology 115, 397406.Google Scholar
Rogers, J.C., Mosley-Thompson, E., (1995). Atlantic Arctic cyclones and the mild Siberian winters of the 1980s. Geophysical Research Letters 22, 799802.Google Scholar
Rozanski, K., Araguás-Araguăs, L., Gonfiantini, R., (1992). Relation between long-term trends of oxygen-18 isotope composition of precipitation and climate. Science 258, 981985.Google Scholar
Rozanski, K., Araguás-Araguás, L., Gonfiantini, R., (1993). Isotopic patterns in global precipitation. Swart, P.K., McKenzie, J.A., Lohmann, K.C., Continental Isotopic Indicators of Climate American Geophysical Union, Washington.136.Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O., Forman, S.L., Miller, G.H., (1992). Thermophilous molluscs on Svalbard during the Holocene and their paleoclimatic implications. Polar Research 11, 110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TEMPO(1996). Feedbacks between climate and the boreal forest during the Holocene epoch. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10, 727"736.Google Scholar
Vardy, S.R., Warner, B.G., Aravena, R., (1997). Holocene climate effects on the development of a peatland on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, Northwest Territories. Quaternary Research 47, 90104.Google Scholar
Velichko, A.A., Andreev, A.A., Klimanov, V.A., (1997). Climate and vegetation dynamics in the tundra and forest zone during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Quaternary International 41/42, 7196.Google Scholar
Velichko, A.A., Borisova, O.K., Zelikson, E.M., Faure, H., Adams, J.M., Branchu, P., Faure-Denard, L., (1993). Greenhouse warming and the Eurasian biota: Are there any lessons from the past?. Global and Planetary Change 7, 5167.Google Scholar
Velichko, A.A., Borisova, O.K., Zelikson, E.M., Nechayev, V.P., (1995). Permafrost and vegetation response to global warming in north Eurasia. Woodwell, G.M., Mackenzie, F.T., Biotic Feedbacks in the Global Climatic System. Will Warming Feed the Warming? Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.134156.Google Scholar
World Meteorological Association (WMO), (1981). Climatic Atlas of Asia I—Maps of Mean Temperature and Precipitation, Voiekov Main Geophysical Observatory, Leningrad, USSR. WMO/Unesco/Goscomgidromet USSR/UNEP, Geneva.Google Scholar
Wolfe, B.B., (1997). Isotope Paleohydrology at the Northern Boreal Treeline, Canada and Russia.Google Scholar
Wolfe, B.B., Edwards, T.W.D., (1997). Hydrologic control on the oxygen-isotope relation between sediment cellulose and lake water, western Taimyr Peninsula, Russia: Implications for the use of surface-sediment calibrations in paleolimnology. Journal of Paleolimnology 18, 283291.Google Scholar
Wolfe, B.B., Edwards, T.W.D., Aravena, R., (1999). Changes in carbon and nitrogen cycling during treeline retreat recorded in the isotopic content of lacustrine organic matter, western Taimyr Peninsula, Russia. The Holocene 9, 215222.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., Mann, D.H., Glaser, P.H., (1984). Piston corers for peat and lake sediments. Ecology 65, 657659.Google Scholar