This project will collect sediment cores from two permanently stratified lakes in the eastern Canadian Arctic that are likely to contain varved (annually laminated) sediments: Ogac Lake in southern Baffin Island and Tessiarsuk Lake in northern Labrador. Multiple cores from each lake will be collected and cross- correlated using dendrochronological methods to minimize between- core errors in measurement of varve thickness and composition. The resulting new high-resolution varve chronologies could significantly improve the temporal precision with which correlations can be made among widely separated lakes. Time series of varve thickness and composition will be examined to assess their potential as paleoclimatic sensors. New temperature- stressed and possibly moisture-stressed three-ring chronologies will be developed from trees within the Tessiarsuk watershed. Time series of tree-ring data will be examined to see if they can be calibrated against time series of varve data.
