← Search

Archive · collection · 2008

Radiocarbon dating of peat profiles from the subarctic ecoclimatic region, west-central Canada

Listed in PANGAEA

Long-term vegetation succession and permafrost dynamics in subarctic peat plateaus of west-central Canada have been studied through detailed plant macrofossil analysis and extensive AMS radiocarbon dating of two peat profiles.

Description

Peatland inception at these sites occurred around 5800-5100 yr BP (6600-5900 cal. BP) as a result of paludification of upland forests.

At the northern peat plateau site, located in the continuous permafrost zone, palaeobotanical evidence suggests that permafrost was already present under the forested upland prior to peatland development. Paludification was initiated by permafrost collapse, but re-aggradation of permafrost occurred soon after peatland inception. At the southern site, located in the discontinuous permafrost zone, the aggradation of permafrost occurred soon after peatland inception.

Read the rest (2 more)

In the peat plateaus, permafrost conditions have remained very stable until present. Sphagnum fuscum-dominated stages have alternated with more xerophytic communities characterized by ericaceous shrubs. Local peat fires have occurred, but most of these did not cause degradation of the permafrost.

Starting from 2800-1100 yr BP (2900-1000 cal. BP) consistently dry surface conditions have prevailed, possibly related to continued frost heave or nearby polygon crack formation.

Links

Where it is published

Catalogue records · 1

Topics

Provenance · 1 source records, 7 field assertions
SourceKeyLast seenRaw
PANGAEAoai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.78645715 d agoJSON v1
FieldAssertionExtractorEvidence
access_levelsource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0
concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmentalmapping · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0
descriptionsource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0/metadata/dc/description
licensesource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0/metadata/dc/rights
publication_datesource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0
spatialsource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0
titlesource · PANGAEAconnector:pangaea@1.0.0/metadata/dc/title