Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:08:25.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene paleoenvironmental changes inferred from diatom assemblages in sediments of Kusawa Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Krish Chakraborty ,
Sarah A. Finkelstein ,
Joseph R. Desloges  and
Nicole A. Chow
Krish Chakraborty
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Rm 5047, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3
Sarah A. Finkelstein*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Rm 5047, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3
Joseph R. Desloges
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Rm 5047, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3
Nicole A. Chow
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Rm 5047, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail address:[email protected] (S.A. Finkelstein).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, is an important region for recovering sensitive records of Holocene paleoclimatic change. More information is needed, however, to constrain the timing of the major Holocene climatic transitions, and to understand associated impacts on different ecosystems. For example, paleolimnological studies have focused on small lakes and ponds, but the history of large lakes has received little study. We analyzed diatom assemblages, species richness, valve concentrations, and biogenic silica, in the sediments of Kusawa Lake (60°16.5'N; 136°10.9'W; 671 m a.s.l.) to reconstruct the responses of this large (surface area = 142 km2), deep (Zmax = 135 m) freshwater ecosystem to Holocene climatic transitions. Diatoms colonized the lake soon after ice retreat, around 11,000 cal yr BP; assemblages throughout the record were dominated by planktonic types. Diatom concentrations and biogenic silica were high during the Holocene Thermal Maximum between 10,700 and 7300 cal yr BP, then began to decrease in response to cooling associated with orbitally driven reductions in insolation. Diatom assemblages shifted towards taxa with lower surface water temperature optima after 8300 cal yr BP, perhaps in response to abrupt and progressive cooling. Our study confirms that diatom assemblages in large lakes are sensitive to regional-scale paleoclimatic changes.

Keywords

Biogenic silicaHolocene Thermal MaximumPaleoproductivityLake sedimentsPaleoclimatologyDiatomsYukon TerritoryThe Sub-arctic
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , July 2010 , pp. 15 - 22
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

Alley, R.B., Mayewski, P.A., Sowers, T., Stuiver, M., Taylor, K.C., and Clark, P.U. Holocene climatic instability: a prominent widespread event 8200 yr ago. Geology 25, (1997). 483–486.Google Scholar
Anderson, L., Abbott, M.B., Finney, B.P., and Edwards, M.E. Palaeohydrology of the Southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, based on multiproxy analysis of lake sediment cores from a depth transect. Holocene 15, (2005). 1172–1183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battarbee, R.W., Jones, V.J., Flower, R.J., Cameron, N.G., Bennion, H., Carvalho, L., and Juggins, S. Diatoms. Smol, J.P., Birks, H.J.B., and Last, W.M. Tracking environmental change using lake sediments. Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators 3, (2001). Kluwer, Dordrecht. 155–202.Google Scholar
Berger, A., and Loutre, M.F. Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years. Quaternary Science Reviews 10, (1991). 297–317.Google Scholar
Bracht, B.B., Stone, J.R., and Fritz, S.C. A diatom record of late Holocene climate variation in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, USA. Quaternary International 188, (2008). 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunbury, J., and Gajewski, K. Postglacial climates inferred from a lake at treeline, southwest Yukon Territory, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, (2009). 354–369.Google Scholar
Chow, N.A., (2009). Late Glacial and Holocene environmental change inferred from sedimentary archives of Kusawa Lake, Boundary Range Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., Evans, S.G., Rampton, V.N., and Woodsworth, G.J. Improved age estimates for the White River and Bridge River tephras, western Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 32, (1995). 1172–1179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conley, D.J. An inter-laboratory comparison for the measurement of biogenic silica in sediments. Marine Chemistry 63, (1998). 39–48.Google Scholar
Cumming, B.F., Wilson, S.E., Hall, R.I., and Smol, J.P. Diatoms from British Columbia (Canada) Lakes and their relationship to Salinity, Nutrients and other limnological variables. Bibliotheca Diatomologica, Band 31. J. Cramer, Berlin-Stuttgart (1995). Google Scholar
Cwynar, L.C. Late Quaternary vegetation history of Kettlehole Pond, southwestern Yukon. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 18, (1988). 1270–1279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denton, G.H., and Karlen, W. Holocene glacial and tree-line variations in the White River Valley and Skolai Pass, Alaska and Yukon Territory. Quaternary Research 7, (1977). 63–111.Google Scholar
Douglas, M.S.V., and Smol, J.P. Freshwater diatoms as indicators of environmental change in the High Arctic. Stoermer, E.F., and Smol, J.P. The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth sciences. (1999). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 227–263.Google Scholar
Edwards, T.L., Crucifix, M., and Harrison, S.P. Using the past to constrain the future: how the paleorecord can improve estimates of global warming. Physical Geography 31, (2007). 481–500.Google Scholar
Environment Canada, (2000). Canadian Climate Normals. Environment Canada, Ottawa., http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html Accessed Sept, (2008).Google Scholar
Fallu, M.A., Allaire, N., and Pienitz, R. Freshwater Diatoms from northern Quebec and Labrador (Canada). Bibliotheca Diatomologica, Band 45. J. Cramer, Berlin (2000). Google Scholar
Farnell, R., Hare, G.P., Blake, E., Bowyer, V., Schweger, C., Greer, S., and Gotthardt, R. Multidisciplinary investigations of alpine ice patches in southwest Yukon, Canada: paleoenvironmental and paleobiological investigations. Arctic 57, (2004). 247–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, S.A., and Gajewski, K. A paleolimnological record of diatom community dynamics and late Holocene climatic changes from Prescott Island, Nunavut, central Canadian Arctic. Holocene 17, (2007). 803–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, R., and Desloges, J.R. The record of Glacial Lake Champagne in Kusawa Lake, southwestern Yukon Territory. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42, (2005). 2127–2140.Google Scholar
Hu, F.S., Kaufman, D., Yoneji, S., Nelson, D., Shemesh, A., Huang, Y., Tian, J., Bond, G., Clegg, B., and Brown, T. Cyclic variation and solar forcing of Holocene climate in the Alaskan Subarctic. Science 301, (2003). 1890–1893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IPCC Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M., and Miller, H.L. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Johnston, S.T., Timmerman, J., (1994). Geological Map of the Aishihik Lake map area, southwest Yukon (115H/6). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Canada/Yukon Economic Development Agreement. Geoscience Open File 1994-1 (G), (scale 1:50,000).Google Scholar
Juggins, S. C2 Data Analysis, v.1.5.1. (2005). University of Newcastle, UK.Google Scholar
Karst-Riddoch, T.L., Pisaric, M.F.J., and Smol, J.P. Diatom responses to 20th century climate-related environmental changes in high-elevation mountain lakes of the northern Canadian Cordillera. Journal of Paleolimnology 33, (2005). 265–282.Google Scholar
Kaufman, D.S., Ager, T.A., Anderson, N.J., Anderson, P.M., Andrews, J.T., Bartlein, P.J., Brubaker, L.B., Coats, L.L., Cwynar, L.C., Duvall, M.L., Dyke, A.S., Edwards, M.E., Eisner, W.R., Gajewski, K., Geirsdottir, A., Hu, F.S., Jennings, A.E., Kaplan, M.R., Kerwin, M.N., Lozhkin, A.V., MacDonald, G.M., Miller, G.H., Mock, C.J., Oswald, W.W., Otto-Bliesner, B.L., Porinchu, D.F., Rühland, K., Smol, J.P., Steig, E.J., and Wolfe, B.B. Holocene thermal maximum in the western Arctic (0-180 degrees W). Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 529–560.Google Scholar
Krammer, K., and Lange-Bertalot, H. Susswasser-flora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae 2/3, 2/4. (2004). Elsevier, Berlin.Google Scholar
Krammer, K., and Lange-Bertalot, H. Susswasser-flora von Mitteleuropa. Bacillariophyceae 2/1, 2/2. (2007). Elsevier, Berlin.Google Scholar
Kumke, T., Kienel, U., Weckström, J., Korhola, A., and Hubberten, H.-W. Inferred Holocene Paleotemperatures from Diatoms at Lake Lama, Central Siberia. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 36, (2004). 624–634.Google Scholar
Lacourse, T., and Gajewski, K. Late Quaternary vegetation history of Sulphur Lake, southwest Yukon Territory, Canada. Arctic 53, (2000). 27–35.Google Scholar
Lynch, E.A. The ability of pollen from small lakes and ponds to sense fine-scale vegetation patterns in the central Rocky Mountains, USA. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 94, (1996). 197–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magri, D., Vendramin, G.G., Comps, B., Dupanloup, I., Geburek, T., Gomory, D., Latalowa, M., Litt, T., Paule, L., Roure, J.M., Tantau, I., van der Knaap, W.O., Petit, R.J., and de Beaulieu, J.L. A new scenario for the Quaternary history of European beech populations: palaeobotanical evidence and genetic consequences. New Phytologist 171, (2006). 199–221.Google Scholar
Mann, D.H., and Hamilton, T.D. Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironments of the North Pacific coast. Quaternary Science Reviews 14, (1995). 449–471.Google Scholar
McKay, N.P., Kaufman, D.S., and Michelutti, N. Biogenic silica concentration as a high-resolution, quantitative temperature proxy at Hallet Lake, south-central Alaska. Geophysical Research Letters 35, (2008). L05709 doi:10.1029/2007GL032876Google Scholar
Pienitz, R., Smol, J.P., and Birks, H.J.B. Assessment of freshwater diatoms as quantitative indicators of past climatic change in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology 13, (1995). 21–49.Google Scholar
Pienitz, R., Smol, J.P., Last, W.M., Leavitt, P.R., and Cumming, B.F. Multi-proxy Holocene paleoclimatic record from a saline lake in the Canadian Subarctic. Holocene 10, (2000). 673–686.Google Scholar
Podritske, B., and Gajewski, K. Diatom community response to multiple scales of Holocene climate variability in a small lake on Victoria Island, NWT, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 26, (2007). 3179–3196.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, P., Hede, M.U., Noe-Nygaard, N., Clarke, A.L., and Vinebrooke, R.D. Environmental response to the cold climate event 8200 years ago as recorded at Hojby So, Denmark. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 15, (2008). 57–60.Google Scholar
Raven, J.A., and Geider, R.J. Temperature and algal growth. New Phytologist 110, (1988). 441–461.Google Scholar
Richter, D.H., Preece, S.J., McGimsey, R.G., and Westgate, J.A. Mount-Churchill, Alaska - source of the late Holocene White River Ash. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 32, (1995). 741–748.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.S. Forest Regions of Canada. Department of Fisheries and the Environment. Canadian Forestry Service Publication No. 1300, Ottawa. (1972). Google Scholar
Smol, J.P. Paleoclimate proxy data from freshwater arctic diatoms. International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology 23, (1988). 837–844.Google Scholar
Smol, J.P., and Cumming, B.F. Tracking long-term changes in climate using algal indicators in lake sediments. Journal Phycology 36, (2000). 986–1011.Google Scholar
Strickland, J.D.H., and Parsons, T.R. A manual of sea water analysis. 2nd ed. (1965). Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., and Reimer, R.W. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program (v. 5.01). Radiocarbon 35, (1993). 215–230.Google Scholar
Vermaire, J.C., and Cwynar, L.C. A revised late-Quaternary vegetation history of the unglaciated southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada, from Antifreeze and Eikland ponds. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 47, (2010). 75–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Grafenstein, U., Erlenkeuser, H., Müller, J., Jouzel, J., and Johnsen, S. The cold event 8200 years ago documented in oxygen isotope records of precipitation in Europe and Greenland. Climate Dynamics 14, (1998). 73–81.Google Scholar
Weckström, J., Korhola, A., and Blom, T. The relationship between diatoms and water temperature in thirty subarctic Fennoscandian lakes. Arctic and Alpine Research 29, (1997). 75–92.Google Scholar
Westgate, J.A., Preece, S.J., Froese, D.G., Walter, R.C., Sandhu, A., and Schweger, C.E. Dating Early and Middle (Reid) Pleistocene glaciations in Central Yukon by tephrochronology. Quaternary Research 56, (2001). 335–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S.E., and Gajewski, K. Surface-sediment diatom assemblages and water chemistry from 42 subarctic lakes in the southwestern Yukon and northern British Columbia, Canada. Ecoscience 9, (2002). 256–270.Google Scholar
Wolfe, A.P. Diatom community responses to late-Holocene climatic variability, Baffin Island, Canada: a comparison of numerical approaches. Holocene 13, (2003). 29–37.Google Scholar