Radiocarbon ages and diatom abundance in samples obtained from Qarlikturvik Valley, Bylot Island ...

The formation of many arctic wetlands is associated with the occurrence of polygon-patterned permafrost. Existing scenarios to describe and explain surface landforms in arctic wetlands (low-center and high-center polygons and polygon ponds) invoke competing hypotheses: a cyclic succession (the thaw-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ellis, Christopher James, Rochefort, Line, Gauthier, Gilles, Pienitz, Reinhard
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2008
Subjects:
ipy
IPY
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.786400
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.786400
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Summary:The formation of many arctic wetlands is associated with the occurrence of polygon-patterned permafrost. Existing scenarios to describe and explain surface landforms in arctic wetlands (low-center and high-center polygons and polygon ponds) invoke competing hypotheses: a cyclic succession (the thaw-lake hypothesis) or a linear succession (terrestrialization). Both hypotheses infer the predictable development of polygon-patterned wetlands over millennia. However, very few studies have applied paleoecological techniques to reconstruct long-term succession in tundra wetlands and thereby test the validity of existing hypotheses. This paper uses the paleoecological record of diatoms to investigate long-term development of individual polygons in a High Arctic wetland. Two landform processes were examined: (1) the millennial-scale development of a polygon-pond, and (2) the transition from low-center to erosive high-center polygons. Diatom assemblages were quantified from habitats associated with contrasting ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...