Information for Sawtooth Lake

Latitude:

79.21

Longitude:

-83.54

Location:

Canada: Nunavut

Contact Name:

R Bradley

Proxy Information

Proxy:

Chironomids

Proprietary Data Area

Lake Description:

Lake C2, and Sawtooth and Murray lakes, northern Ellesmere Island. These contain varved sediment that has been studied previously. We will extend current studies at Sawtooth and Murray lakes to include chironomids. Lake C-2 became completely ice-free for the first time in at least many centuries; liminations and chironomids will be studied to identify the sediment signature of this period and to place it into a long-term perspective. Lake C2 borders the Arctic Ocean and is strongly influenced by changes in sea-ice cover. It also has the longest varved record recovered from the High Arctic (~3500 yr; Lamoureux and Bradley, 1996). We will also search for finely distributed tephra (e.g., the AD 1362 eruption of Oraefajokull, Iceland and other tephras found in the NGRIP ice core; J. Pilcher, pers. comm.) to confirm the varve-based chronologies at all three lakes