Holocene Climate and the Development of a Subarctic Peatland near Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada

Abstract

Multi-proxy paleoecological analyses were carried out on cores from a peatland in the continuous permafrost zone, to determine the effect of past climatic change on peatland development. Stratigraphy, bulk density and organic matter content were analyzed for eight cores from Campbell Creek peatland (69°17.3′N, 133°15′W). Detailed pollen and macrofossil analyses were carried out on two cores, and stable isotope analysis on one of those cores. The results indicate a succession, starting at 9000-9500 BP, from an open water mineral wetland with aquatic plants, to a fen dominated by Drepanocladus mosses and sedges, and then a change to a Sphagnum-dominated ombrotrophic vegetation typical of most of the peatland today. The beginning of the latter transition appears to coincide with the end of the early Holocene warm period. The physical stratigraphies of the other six cores indicate that a similar successional sequence occurred across the peatland, with some local variation. The transition to ombrotrophic conditions may be associated with the aggradation of permafrost in the peatland, in response to regional cooling. The effect of climate cooling on the peatland was probably indirect, through the aggradation of permafrost and associated hydrological changes.