In order to document climate fluctuations during the late Holocene in Nunavik (in the Québec Arctic), a 182 cm peat core extracted from a polygonal peatland in the Salluit region was subjected to macrofossil and pollen analysis. Peat accumulation began around 4500 cal. BP in the peatland and 2340 cal. BP in the core site following the formation of frost cracks and ice wedges. Four distinct Holocene climatic changes were identified. Between 1910 and 1100 cal. BP, the climate was clement (similar to today’s climate), which favoured the growth of several species of Sphagnum (from poorly minerotrophic to ombrotrophic conditions). Colder and drier conditions starting around 1100 cal. BP are evidenced by the disappearance of Sphagnum and aeolian sedimentation. A short return to more clement conditions occurred around 870 cal. BP and lasted until 670 cal. BP. Subsequently, the climate once again became colder and drier, which induced significant aeolian activity. Late-Holocene local vegetation changes recorded in the peat core were probably induced by permafrost degradation and aggradation, associated with regional warming and a subsequent cooling trend.
Allard, M. and Seguin, M.K.1987: Le pergélisol au Québec nordique: bilan et perspectives. Géographie physique et Quaternaire41, 141-52.
2.
Bartley, D.D. and Matthews, B.1969: A palaeobotanical investigation of postglacial deposits in the Sugluk area of Northern Ungava (Québec, Canada). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology9, 45-61.
3.
Bastien, D. and Garneau, M.1997: Guide d’identification macroscopique des principales espèces de sphaignes rencontrées dans l’est du Canada . Commission géologique du Canada, Ressources naturelles Canada, Rapport divers61.
4.
Bélanger, S. and Filion, L.1991: Niveo-eolian sand deposition in subarctic dunes, eastern coast of Hudson Bay, Québec. Journal of Quaternary Science6, 27-37.
5.
Benninghoff, W.S.1962: Calculation of pollen and spores density in sediments by addition of exotic pollen in known quantities. Pollen et Spores4, 332-33.
6.
Bhiry, N. and Filion, L.2001: Analyse des macrorestes végétaux. In Payette, S. and Rochefort, L., editors, Écologie des tourbières du Québec-Labrador. Presses de l’Université Laval, 259-72.
7.
Björck, S. and Clemmensen, L.B.2004: Aeolian sediment in raised bog deposits, Halland, SW Sweden: a new proxy record of Holocene winter storminess variation in southern Scandinavia ? The Holocene14, 677-88.
Calmels, F., Gagnon, O. and Allard, M.2005: A portable earth-drill system for permafrost studies. Permafrost and Periglacial Process16, 311-15.
10.
Dahl-Jensen, D., Mosegaard, K., Gundestrup, N., Clow, G.D., Johnsen, S.J., Hansen, A.W. and Balling, N.1998: Past temperatures directly from the Greenland Ice Sheet . Science282, 268-71.
11.
Dean, W.E.1974: Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition. Comparison with other methods. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 44, 242-48.
12.
Ellis, C.J. and Rochefort, L.2004: Century-scale development of polygon-patterned tundra wetland, Bylot Island (73°N, 80°W). Ecology85, 963-78.
13.
Faegri, K. and Iversen, J.1989: Textbook of pollen analysis. 4th edition, revised by Faegri, K, Kaland, P.E. and Krzywinski, K.Wiley.
14.
Faucher, L.2007: Sédimentologie de dépôts sableux actuels et anciens, à l’embouchure de la rivière Guichaud, région de Salluit, Nunavik. B.Sc. thesis, Universite Laval.
15.
Garneau, M.1992: Analyses macrofossiles d’un dépôt de tourbe dans la région de Hot Weather Creek, Péninsule de Forsheim, Ile d’Ellesmere, Territoires du Nord-Ouest. Géographie physique et Quaternaire46, 285-94.
16.
Gauthier, R.2001: Les sphaignes. In Payette, S. and Rochefort, L., editors, Écologie des tourbières du Québec-Labrador. Les Presses de l’université Laval, 91-127.
17.
Gérardin, V. and McKenney, D.2001: Une classification climatique du Québec à partir de modèles de distribution spatiale de données climatiques mensuelles: Vers une définition des bioclimats du Québec. Contribution du Service de la cartographie écologique (No 60). Ministère de l’environnement, Direction du patrimoine écologique et du développement durable.
18.
Germain, D. and Filion, L.2002: Description morpho-sédimentologique d’un système éolien de haut de falaise, au Cap Sandtop à l’Île Anticosti (Québec). Géographie physique et Quaternaire56, 83-97.
19.
Germain, D., Lavoie, M. and Filion, L.2010: Cliff-top eolian sedimentation reflecting mid- to late Holocene environmental changes at Anticosti Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence, eastern Canada. Journal of Coastal Research25, 324-35.
20.
Gray, J.T., Lauriol, B., Bruneau, D. and Ricard, J.1993: Postglacial emergence of Ungava Peninsula and its relationship to glacial history. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences30, 1676-96.
21.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)2001: Climate change 2001 : the scientific basis. Cambridge University Press.
22.
Ireland, R.R.1982: Moss flora of the maritime provinces. National Museums of Canada, Museum of Naturals Sciences.
23.
Isarin, R.F.B., Renssen, H. and Koster, E.A.1997: Surface wind climate during the Younger Dryas in Europe as inferred from aeolian records and model simulations. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology134, 127-48.
24.
Jacobs, J.D., Mode, W.N. and Dowdeswell, E.K.1985: Contemporary pollen deposition and the distribution of Betula glandulosa around Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, Canada: implications concerning the extent of Low Arctic Tundra. Arctic and Alpine Research17, 279-87.
25.
Jasinski, J.P.P., Warner, B.G., Andreev, A.A., Aravena, R., Gilbert, S.E., Zeeb, B.A., Smol, J.P. and Velichko, A.A.1998: Holocene environmental history of a peatland in the Lena River valley, Siberia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences35, 637-48.
26.
Juggins, S.2002: Palaeo data plotter, beta test version 1.0. University of Newcastle.
27.
Kane, D.L., Hinzman, L.D. and Zarling, J.P.1991: Thermal response of the active layer to climatic warming in a permafrost environment. Cold Regions Science and Technology19, 111-22.
28.
Kaplan, M.R., Wolfe, A.P. and Miller, G.H.2002: Holocene environmental variability in southern Greenland inferred from lake sediments. Quaternary Research58, 149-59.
29.
Kasper, J.N.1995: Geomorphic, geophysical and Quaternary studies of ice and soil wedge features in the Foucault River valley, Northern Quebec. Ph.D. Thesis, Université Laval.
30.
Kasper, J.N. and Allard, M.2001: Late-Holocene climatic changes as detected by the growth and decay of ice wedges on the southern shore of Hudson Strait, northern Québec, Canada. The Holocene11, 563-77.
31.
Koster, E.A.1988: Ancient and modern cold-climate aeolian sand deposition: a review. Journal of Quaternary Science3, 69-83.
32.
Kultti, S., Oksanen, P.O. and Väliranta, M.2004: Holocene treeline, permafrost and climate dynamics in the Nenets region, East-European Russian Arctic. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences41, 1-18.
33.
Lamothe, D.1994: Géologie de la Fosse de l’Ungava, Nouveau-Québec . In Ministère des Ressources naturelles, editor, Géologie du Québec.MM94-01, 67-74.
34.
Lange, B.1982: Key of the northern boreal and arctic species of Sphagnum, based on characteristics of the steam leaves. Lindbergia8, 1-29.
35.
McAndrews, J.H., Berti, A.A. and Norris, G.1973: Key of the Quaternary pollen and spores of the Great Lakes region. Royal Ontario Museum Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publication.
36.
Miller, G.H.1973: Late Quaternary glacial and climatic history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, NWT, Canada. Quaternary Research3, 561-83.
37.
Moore, J.J., Hughen, K.A., Miller, G.H. and Overpeck, J.T.2001: Little Ice Age recorded in summer temperature reconstruction from varved sediments of Donard Lake, Baffin Island, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology25, 503-17.
38.
Oksanen, P.O.2005: Development of palsa mires on the Northern European continent in relation to Holocene climatic and environmental changes. Doctorat thesis , University of Oulu.
39.
Oksanen, P.O., Kuhry, P. and Alekseeva, R.N.2001: Holocene development of the Rogovaya River peat plateau, East-European Russian Arctic. The Holocene11, 25-40.
40.
Ouzilleau Samson, D.2008: Paléoécologie d’un complexe tourbeux surmontant une terrasse située à l’embouchure de la rivière Guichaud, région de Salluit, Nunavik. M.Sc. Thesis. Université Laval.
41.
Payette, S.1983: The forest tundra and present tree-line of the northern Québec-Labrador Peninsula. Nordicana47, 3-23.
42.
-- 1996 : Domaine de la toundra arctique. In Ordre des Ingénieurs forestiers du Québec., editor, Manuel de foresterie. Presses de l’Université Laval, 256-60.
43.
Payette, S. and Delwaide, A.2000: Recent permafrost dynamics in a subarctic floodplain associated with changing water levels (Quebec, Canada). Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research32, 316-23.
44.
Richard, P.1970: Atlas pollinique des arbres et de quelques arbustes indigènes du Québec. Naturaliste canadien97, 1-34, 97-161, 241-306.
45.
-- 1981: Paléophytogéographie postglaciaire en Ungava par l’analyse pollinique. Collection Paléo-Quebec 13, Université de Québec, 153 pp.
46.
Saulnier-Talbot, É.2007: Impacts de l’évolution climatique postglaciaire sur les lacs de l’extrême nord de l’Ungava, Québec . Ph.D. Thesis, Université Laval.
47.
Seppälä, M., Gray, J.T. and Richard, J.1991: Development of low-centred ice-wedge polygons in the northernmost Ungava peninsula, Québec, Canada. Boreas20, 259-82.
48.
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J. and Reimer, R.W.2005: CALIB 5.0.2. http://radiocarbon.pa.qub.ac.uk/calib/
49.
Todisco, D. and Bhiry, N.2008a: Palaeoeskimo site burial by solifluction: periglacial geoarchaeology of the Tayara Site, (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) . Geoarchaeology23, 177-211.
50.
-- 2008b: Micromorphology of periglacial sediments from the Tayara site, Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada). Catena 76, 1-21. Todisco, D., Bhiry, N. and Desrosiers, P. 2009: Palaeoeskimo site taphonomy: an assessment of the integrity of the Tayara site, Qikirtaq Island (Nunavik, Canada). Geoarchaeology 24, 743-91.
51.
Vardy, S.R., Warner, B.G. and Asada, T.2005: Holocene environmental change in two polygonal peatlands, south-central Nunavut, Canada. Boreas34, 324-34.
52.
Warner, B.G.1990: Testate amoebae (Protozoa). In Warner B.G., editor, Methods in Quaternary ecology. Geoscience Canada, 65-74.
53.
Woo, M-K. and Young, K.L.2006: High Arctic wetlands: their occurrence, hydrological characteristics and sustainability. Journal of Hydrology320, 432-50.
