Abstract ATM-9708418 Miller, Gifford H., Steig, Eric J., and Wolfe, Alexander P. University of Colorado, Boulder Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions and Paleoclimate Implications for the Last Interglacial and the 40 to 10 ka Time Windows in the Eastern Canadian Arctic This award supports a project addressing two major paleoclimate questions: (1) What characterized terrestrial conditions in the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum? (2) Were previous interglacials stable warm periods, or were they interrupted by periods of more severe climate? The former addresses key biological concerns related to biotic refugia, as well as paleoclimate unknowns regarding the stability of the LGM climate system. The second question addresses Heinrich events. Originating only a few hundred km from the field area, Heinrich events resulted in dramatic climate oscillations throughout the Last Glacial Maximum; however, the impacts of these oscillations on terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic is entirely unknown. The interglacial sediments apparently record a climate state that results in a more northerly limit of shrub tundra than in the Holocene (i.e., warmer summers), and allow an assessment of climatic stability under warmer-than-present conditions. This award will support the completion of analyses of the biological proxies preserved in cores previously recovered and provide improved chronological control using AMS 14C dating of organic material in the lake sediments of eastern Baffin Island, Canada.
