Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:22:38.800Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Distribution of an Arctic Ostracod Fauna in Space and Time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

L.D. Delorme
Affiliation:
National Water Research Institute, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6 Canada, and Northern Forest Research Centre, Environment Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5, Canada
S.C. Zoltai
Affiliation:
National Water Research Institute, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6 Canada, and Northern Forest Research Centre, Environment Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5, Canada

Abstract

A fossil locality on the Pembina Upland, in southern Manitoba (L. D. Delorme, Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper9, 301–304, 1971), contains three ostracod species near the base of the deposit. Two of these ostracods, Candona rectangulata and Cyclocypris globosa, are found alive only in the northern parts of the Northwest and Yukon territories of Canada. Both species are indicative of subarctic forest tundra and alpine tundra. Their position in the lower 69 cm of the deposit indicates that, as the glacier ice thinned over the upland and retreated from the Lake Agassiz basin, an arctic-subarctic environment could have existed with the potential for tundra vegetation to develop. A reverse situation occurred in the Northwest Territories based on seven fossil ostracod species from a peaty marl deposit. As reported by L. D. Delorme, S. C. Zoltai, and L. L. Kalas. (Canadian Journal of Earth Science14, 2029–2046, 1977) for other similar sites, the striking element is the absence of true arctic ostracods. The majority of the species live very successfully further south in Manitoba and Saskatchewan at present. At both sites, the fossil assemblage is different than the modern assemblage. This indicates a dislocation in space and time which is the basis for the change in paleoenvironmental interpretation.

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

Brown, R.J.E. (1970). Permafrost in Canada: Its Influence on Northern Development Univ. of Toronto Press Toronto CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, B.M. (1973). The climate of the Mackenzie Valley—Beaufort Sea Environment Canada, Climatological Studies 2, No. 24 Google Scholar
Coope, G.R., Morgan, A., Osborne, P.J. (1971). Fossil Coleoptera as indicators of climatic fluctuations during the last glaciation in Britain Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 10, 87101 Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D. (1969). Ostracodes as Quaternary paleoecological indicators Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 6, 14711476 Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D. (1971a). Paleoecology of Holocene sediments from manitoba using freshwater ostracodes Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 9, 301304 Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D. (1971b). Paleoecological determinations using Pleistocene freshwater ostracodes Paleoecologie des Ostracodes, Colloque Pau 1970 Oertli, H.J., Centre des Recherches de Pau, Bulletin Suppl. 5 341347 Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D., Zoltai, S.C., Kalas, L.L. (1977). Freshwater shelled invertebrate indicators of paleoclimate in Northwestern Canada during the late glacial Canadian Journal of Earth Science 14, 20292046 Google Scholar
Freeze, R.A. (1967). Program Potev Inland Waters Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources Ottawa Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C. (1977). The modern and late Quarternary vegetation of the Campbell-Dolomite uplands, near Inuvik, N.W.T. Canada Ecological Monograph 47, 401403 Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C., Hare, F.H. (1971). Late-Quaternary vegetation and climate near the arctic tree line of northwestern North America Quaternary Research 1, 331342 Google Scholar
Thornthwaite, C.W. (1948). An approach toward a rational classification of climate American Geographical Society 38, 5594 Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., Tarnocai, C. (1975). Perennially frozen peatlands in the western Arctic and subarctic of Canada Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 12, 2843 CrossRefGoogle Scholar