Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada
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. Peatland inception at these sites occurred around 5800–5100 yr BP (6600–5...
Published in: | The Holocene |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
SAGE Publications
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683608089658 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683608089658 |
id |
crsagepubl:10.1177/0959683608089658 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crsagepubl:10.1177/0959683608089658 2024-09-15T18:29:12+00:00 Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada Sannel, A. Britta K. Kuhry, Peter 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683608089658 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683608089658 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Holocene volume 18, issue 4, page 589-601 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 journal-article 2008 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608089658 2024-08-27T04:24:32Z 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. 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. 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic SAGE Publications The Holocene 18 4 589 601 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
description |
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. 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. 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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sannel, A. Britta K. Kuhry, Peter |
spellingShingle |
Sannel, A. Britta K. Kuhry, Peter Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
author_facet |
Sannel, A. Britta K. Kuhry, Peter |
author_sort |
Sannel, A. Britta K. |
title |
Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
title_short |
Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
title_full |
Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
title_fullStr |
Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central Canada |
title_sort |
long-term stability of permafrost in subarctic peat plateaus, west-central canada |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683608089658 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683608089658 |
genre |
Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 18, issue 4, page 589-601 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608089658 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
589 |
op_container_end_page |
601 |
_version_ |
1810470600419835904 |