High-Resolution Quantitative Reconstructions of Holocene Climatic Changes and Their Impacts on Environment and People in the Central Canadian Arctic

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This award will be used to obtain quantitative estimates of summer temperature variations during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) and assess its impact in the Arctic. Specifically, the researchers will document the occurrence and magnitude of the 8,200 year before present (B.P.) event (a sharp climatic reversal distinct in Holocene ice core records), examine the influence of solar variability on Arctic climate, and investigate the impact of climate change on native people.The researchers will sample fossil chironomids, diatoms, and pollen from lake sediment cores to produce a transfer function of summer temperatures for Victoria Island and adjacent continental Canada. Records of the HTM will be examined to assess the impact of prolonged warming on the Arctic. This warming indicates that the HTM was not a unimodal event, but a series of temperature peaks occurring between 1,500 and 6,500 years B.P. This suggests a positive correlation with solar variability.The archaeological record shows that Paleoeskimos were established on Victoria Island by 4,500 years B.P. but suffered a rapid population decline by 3,800 years B.P. High-resolution records during this period would help determine if the decline was from human influence (i.e., over-harvesting of musk-ox) or if a change in climate led to the human population crash.This research will examine Arctic climate variability, a key issue of scientific concern to the broader scientific and science policy communities. The award will enable extensive national and international partnerships in science and support several American graduate and undergraduate students as partners in the research.