Abstract
Holocene changes in vegetation and climate on a West Greenland outer coastal island were revealed by analysis of sediment cores from a lake just below the upper marine limit. The sedimentation of limnic gyttja above the marine clay began ca. 11,300 B.P. (14C years), so far the oldest dating of limnic sediments in W. Greenland. After a pioneer phase dominated by Oxyria digyna dwarfshrub heaths, first with Empetrum hermaphroditum, followed shortly afterwards by other ericaceous plants and Salix spp. that then colonized the landscape. Around 7,500 B.P., the temperature became warmer than today and Betula nana immigrated ca. 6,000 B.P. The late Holocene temperature decline was mainly registered as a decreasing of fertility of most of the ericaceous dwarfshrubs, a decrease in Betula nana pollen and an increase in Cassiope tetragona pollen. Throughout the Holocene, the initial mesotrophic lake gradually became more oligotrophic. Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 100: 7–14.
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