Long-term Environmental Change in Arctic and Antarctic Lakes

Front Cover
Reinhard Pienitz, Marianne S.V. Douglas, John P. Smol
Springer Science & Business Media, Nov 8, 2007 - Science - 30 pages

Concerns about the effects of global climate change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. Long-term historical data are needed to better understand the magnitude and direction of environmental change related to both natural and anthropogenic causes, as well as to assess patterns of natural variability. The paucity of instrumental data requires that proxy methods be used. The abundance of lakes throughout the Arctic and Antarctic makes paleolimnological approaches especially powerful tools to assist interpretations of environmental change.

This book provides a synthesis of the broad spectrum of techniques available for generating long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes. It also provides overviews of the geographic extent of paleolimnological work completed thus far in these regions. It explores the diverse ways in which paleolimnology is used to address the pressing and emerging environmental issues of high-latitude regions. By providing both an introduction and in-depth reviews, this volume is of interest to students and advanced researchers alike who are studying earth, atmospheric and environmental sciences.

 

Contents

x
13
Major Indicators and Approaches
33
Physical and chemical properties and proxies of high latitude lake sediments
53
Palynology of North American arctic lakes
88
Algal indicators of environmental change in arctic and antarctic lakes and ponds
117
Aquatic invertebrates and high latitude paleolimnology
177
Use of water isotope tracers in high latitude hydrology and paleohydrology
187
Isotope hydrology at high latitudes
193
Regional Syntheses
241
Paleolimnology of the North American Subarctic
269
Holocene paleolimnology of Greenland and the North Atlantic islands
319
Paleolimnological research from northern Russian Eurasia
348
Paleolimnological studies in arctic Fennoscandia and the Kola Peninsula Russia
381
Paleolimnological studies from the Antarctic and subantarctic islands
419
Paleolimnology of extreme cold terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments
475
Paleolimnological research from arctic and antarctic regions
509

Summary and future perspectives
203

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