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Dendroecological Evidence of Lake-Level Changes during the Last Three Centuries in Subarctic Québec

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Yves Bégin  and
Serge Payette
Yves Bégin
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4
Serge Payette
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4
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Abstract

Dendroecological analysis of black spruces (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP.) near the shore of Clearwater Lake in the eastern Canadian subarctic yielded information on water level over the past three centuries. Tree positions, growth froms, layering, tree ring patterns, and ice scars provide direct evidence of a major rise in lake level. From the 17th century to the present, trees on the lake shore were progressively submerged by the increasing water level, which reached a maximum in this century. Higher levels began around the mid-18th century when shoreline spruce trees started to lean because extensive wave erosion caused landward shore displacement. High mortality of leaning spruce and abundant ice scar formation occurred during this century. The rise in water level in inferred to have been caused by snowier winters occurring parallel to climatic warming.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , September 1988 , pp. 210 - 220
Copyright
University of Washington

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