Post-glacial lake development and paleoclimate in the central Hudson Bay Lowlands inferred from sediment records

Abstract

We compile a multi-proxy Holocene record from North Raft Lake located in the sub-Arctic Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada. Specifically, we use subfossil chironomid, diatom, and pollen assemblages, non-pollen palynomorphs, sedimentary chlorophyll a, magnetic susceptibility, and organic matter content to characterize terrestrial and lake processes and to track paleoclimate following land emergence from the postglacial Tyrrell Sea. Following recession of the Tyrrell Sea (~ 6600 cal yr BP), pollen assemblages are indicative of a salt marsh environment with the establishment of an opportunistic chironomid assemblage. By ~ 6200 cal yr BP, isostatic uplift reduced the marine influence and pollen and palynomorph assemblage changes indicate that North Raft Lake became a closed-basin freshwater system. At this time, pollen assemblages signify the establishment of a forested peatland dominated by Picea, and chironomid taxa indicate warming water temperatures. The North Raft Lake pollen/palynomorph record captures a warm and moist mid-Holocene (Holocene Thermal Maximum) period starting ~ 6200 cal yr BP. During this period, an increase in pollen concentration and a shift to higher abundances of Larix indicate watershed-scale succession and enhanced local ecosystem productivity. Shifts in chironomid taxa at ~ 5000 cal yr BP are indicative of abrupt limnological changes suggesting wet conditions that caused an expansion of littoral habitat. The gradual transition into Neoglacial cooling is signaled by an increase in the abundances of cold-stenothermal chironomid taxa and a small decline in pollen-reconstructed temperatures. Marked changes occur in the mid-twentieth century with the appearance of diatoms in notable abundances for the first time in the lake’s sedimentary record, the arrival of new chironomid littoral taxa, and unprecedented increases in sedimentary chlorophyll a and organic matter content. Throughout the North Raft Lake Holocene sediment record, the pollen trends suggest slow centennial-scale changes in temperature and precipitation, whereas chironomid assemblages indicate abrupt mid-Holocene and twentieth century limnological changes, stressing that biota in lakes of the Hudson Bay Lowlands may change substantially under future scenarios of global climate warming.