Ratios of stable carbon isotopes in some High Arctic plants and lake sediments

Abstract

13C/12C ratios for a number of High Arctic vascular plants (51 determinations), mosses (11), and freshwater algae (11) show considerable variation, particularly among the freshwater algae (range from-6.9‰ to -36.3‰). In some cases the stable carbon ratios on modern and fossil materials provide guidance as to whether marine waters formerly occupied a given pond or lake basin. In other cases the δ13C values for algae collected along the present-day shore of a pond or lake bear no relation to the values obtained on constituents preserved within the bottom sediments, suggesting that major changes have occurred in the last few thousand years.