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Temperatures of the past 2000 years inferred from lake sediments, southwest Yukon Territory, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joan Bunbury  and
Konrad Gajewski
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Abstract

Lake sediments from four sites in the southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, provided paleotemperature records for the past 2000 yr. An alpine and a forest site from the southeastern portion of the study area, near Kluane Lake, and another alpine-forest pair of lakes from the Donjek River area located to the northwest yielded chironomid records that were used to provide quantitative estimates of mean July air temperature. Prior to AD 800, the southwest Yukon was relatively cool whereas after AD 800 temperatures were more variable, with warmer conditions between ~ AD 1100 and 1400, cooler conditions during the Little Ice Age (~ AD 1400 to 1850), and warming thereafter. These records compare well with other paleoclimate evidence from the region.

Keywords

ChironomidsOstracodesLake sedimentsQuantitative paleoclimate reconstructionsYukon TerritoryLate HoloceneLittle Ice AgeMedieval Climate Anomaly
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 355 - 367
Copyright
University of Washington

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