Marine birds of the Hell Gate Polynya, Nunavut, Canada

The importance of the Hell Gate Polynya to marine birds in High Arctic Canada has not been assessed for two decades. Our breeding season surveys in 2002–04 found 19 species of marine birds using the polynya, in annual numbers perhaps reaching 25000 individuals. The site appears to support nationally significant populations of northern fulmar ( Fulmarus glacialis ), Thayer's gull ( Larus thayeri ) and High Arctic brant ( Branta bernida hrota ), as well as locally important numbers of other species including common eiders ( Somateria mollissima borealis ) and black guillemots ( Cepphus grylle ). The polynya may be particularly important for migration, as many species are observed here earlier than elsewhere in the High Arctic.     

Marine birds breeding in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut, Canada

Surveys of breeding birds on small islands in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut Territory, Canada, were conducted in July 2002 and 2003. Approximately 3600 marine birds were observed, with the most common species being Arctic terns ( Sterna paradisaea , N=2400) and common eiders ( Somateria mollissima borealis , N=620). We observed no Ross's gulls ( Rhodostethia rosed ) in either year, and we found ivory gulls ( Pagophila eburned ) only in 2003, even though these species commonly bred here in the 1970s. This previously unsurveyed region supports numerous breeding marine birds, but reproductive success on these small islands may be dependent on annual ice conditions and consequent movements of Arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ).     

Mineral-Potential Mapping for MVT Deposits with Limited Data Sets Using Landsat Data and Geological Evidence in the Borden Basin, Northern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

Posterior probabilities of occurrence for Zn-Pb Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) mineralization were calculated based on evidence maps derived from regional geology, Landsat-TM, RADARSAT-1, a digital elevation model and aeromagnetic data sets in the Borden Basin of northern Baffin Island, Canada. The vector representation of geological contacts and fault traces were refined according to their characteristics identified in Landsat-TM, RADARSAT-1, DEM, slope, aspect, and shaded relief data layers. Within the study area, there is an association between the occurrence of MVT mineralization and proximity to the contact of platformal carbonates and shale units of the adjacent geological formation. A spatial association also tends to exist between mineralization and proximity to E-W and NW-SE trending faults. The relationships of known MVT occurrences with the geological features were investigated by spatial statistical techniques to generate evidence maps. Supervised classification and filtering were applied to Landsat-TM data to divide the Society Cliffs Formation into major stratigraphic subunits. Because iron oxides have been observed at some of the MVT occurrences within the Borden Basin, Landsat-TM data band ratio (3/1) was calculated to highlight the potential presence of iron-oxides as another evidence map. Processed Landsat-TM data and other derived geological evidence maps provided useful indicators for identifying areas of potential MVT mineralization. Weights of evidence and logistic regression were used independently to integrate and generate posterior probability maps showing areas of potential mineralization based on all derived evidence maps. Results indicate that in spite of the lack of important data sets such as stream or lake sediment geochemistry, Landsat-TM data and regional geological data can be useful for MVT mineral-potential mapping.     

Initiation and early evolution of a forearc basin: Georgia Basin,Canada

The lower Nanaimo Group was deposited in the (forearc) Georgia Basin, Canada and records the basin's initiation and early depositional evolution. Nanaimo Group strata are subdivided into 11 lithostratigraphic units, which are identified based on lithology, paleontology, texture and position relative to both the basal nonconformity and to each other. Significant topography on the basal nonconformity, however, has resulted in assignment of lithostratigraphic units that are not time correlative, and hence, cannot reliably be used to accurately reconstruct basin evolution. Herein, we present a sequence stratigraphic framework for lower Nanaimo Group strata in the Comox Sub-Basin (northern Georgia Basin) that integrates both facies analysis and maximum depositional ages (MDAs) derived from detrital zircon. This stratigraphic framework is used to define significant sub-basin-wide surfaces that bound depositional units and record the evolution of the basin during its early stages of development. Seven distinct depositional phases are identified in the lower 700 m of the lower Nanaimo Group. Depositional phases are separated by marine flooding surfaces, regressive surfaces, or disconformities. The overall stratigraphy reflects net transgression manifested as an upwards transition from braided fluvial conglomerates to marine mudstones. Transgression was interrupted by periods of shoreline progradation, and both facies analysis and MDAs reveal a disconformity in the lowermost part of the Nanaimo Group in the Comox Sub-Basin. Stratigraphic reconstruction of the Comox Sub-Basin reveals two dominant depocenters (along depositional strike) for coarse clastics (sandstones and conglomerates) during early development of the Georgia Basin. The development and position of these depocenters is attributed to subduction/tectonism driving both subsidence in the north-northwest and uplift in the central Comox Sub-Basin. Our work confirms that in its earliest stages of development, the Georgia Basin evolved from an underfilled, ridged forearc basin that experienced slow and stepwise drowning to a shoal-water ridged forearc basin that experienced rapid subsidence. We also propose that the Georgia Basin is a reasonable analogue for ridged forearc basins globally, as many ridged forearcs record similar depositional histories during their early evolution.     

Multiple ecological and hydrological changes recorded in varved sediments from Sanagak Lake,Nunavut, Canada

A combination of biotic, sedimentary and biogeochemical proxies was used to investigate the timing and causes of post-18th century changes in the stratigraphic record of a large, deep lake on the Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada (70°15′ N, 94°30′ W). A varve chronology verified with radioisotopic dating (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs) revealed a complex pattern of environmental dynamics since c. AD 1830. An increase in the diatoms Asterionella formosa, Stephanodiscus minutulus and Cyclotella atomus and a decrease in Aulacoseira taxa in the uppermost centimetre of sediment suggested that environmental conditions have favoured the growth of smaller and/or lighter planktonic species since the 1980s. Longer term changes in some benthic species, the chrysophyte cysts to diatom valve ratio, %C, and C/N ratios suggest declined river inflow and a relative reduction in allochthonous inputs during the last century. Higher than average δ¹⁵N values in the late 19th to early 20th centuries coincide with changes in bulk carbon and nitrogen profiles, and below average values since approximately 1950 may be associated with increased atmospheric N loading or reduced productivity. Biogenic silica and organic carbon accumulation in the sediments suggest a possible decline in lake production during the 20th century that may be associated with changes in the river discharge regime. The short and long-term ecological and biogeochemical trends were also reflected in the sedimentary structure through declining varve thickness for the duration of the record and an abrupt change in sedimentology in the uppermost 1 cm, coinciding with deposition since ca. AD 1987. Together, these biological and physical changes suggest changes in hydroclimatic conditions in the 20th century, and an increase in planktonic diatom taxa since the 1980s that coincides with a distinct period of climate warming.     

Recent Summer Climate Recorded in Complex Varved Sediments, Nicolay Lake, Cornwall Island, Nunavut, Canada

The recent (1950–1996) varve record from the proximal sediments in Nicolay Lake, Cornwall Island, Nunavut, Canada (77°46′ N, 94°40′ W) contains distinct subannual rhythmites. Deposition of these subannual rhythmites is due primarily to nival snow melt, with additional sedimentary units resulting from major summer precipitation and subaqueous mass wasting events. In order to evaluate the potential hydroclimatic signal contained in the varves from the unglacierized catchment, the nival deposition record was estimated by delineating the initial subannual rhythmite within each varve. When the record is split into temporal segments based on two phases that exhibit different sediment deposition patterns in the lake, the nival rhythmites are significantly correlated to annual cumulative melting degree days (MDD) from the nearest weather station Isachsen (78°47′ N, 103°32′ W) (1950–1962 AD and 1963–1977 AD with r = 0.55 and r = 0.82, respectively). A similar analysis with data from Resolute (74°43′ N, 94°59′ W) yields slightly weaker correlations (1950–1962 AD, r = 0.60; 1963–1994, r = 0.59). The strong positive correlation with both the Isachsen and Resolute thermal records suggests that the paleoclimatic signal in the sediments reflects regional climate conditions. Notably, the signal is strongest when the entire melt season is considered; weaker correlations with instrumental weather records are associated with comparisons limited to the peak melt or early season melt periods. We attribute this to the ongoing supply of snowmelt through the season in this polar region and the availability of sediment for transport throughout the melt season. These results indicate that a high resolution hydroclimatic signal is present in the sediments from Nicolay Lake and can be used for paleoclimate reconstruction provided sedimentary depositional controls are taken into account.     

A 300 year record of environmental change from Lake Tuborg, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Lamination thickness measurements in sediments from Lake Tuborg, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada document an increase in high-energy hydrologic discharge events from ∼1865 to 1962. The timing of these events corresponds with evidence for an increase in the amount of melt on the adjacent Agassiz Ice Cap, as recorded in ice cores. There appears to have been a non-linear change in depositional energy resulting from a dramatic increase in Agassiz meltwater discharge, particularly after ∼1908. A strong correlation between the Lake Tuborg varve thickness record, the amount of melting on the Agassiz Ice Cap and Eureka 900 mb air temperature records suggests that changes in the height of the freezing level in the atmosphere have affected the extent of summer melting on the Agassiz Ice Cap, leading to high volume discharge events and associated sediment flux to Lake Tuborg.     

Local physiographic controls on the responses of Arctic lakes to climate warming in Sirmilik National Park,Nunavut, Canada

Twenty high Arctic lakes and ponds were sampled for water chemistry and modern diatom assemblages in two distinct physiographic sectors of Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut, Canada. Sites on southwestern Bylot Island were warmer, more alkaline, less dilute, and had higher concentrations of nutrients, DOC and Chl-a (mesotrophic to oligo-mesotrophic), whereas sites on Qorbignaluk Headland on northern Baffin Island were deeper, very dilute, mostly oligotrophic and had lower pH. Diatom assemblages differed markedly between these two regions as a consequence of limnological differences between them. Paleolimnological records, spanning > 200 years and dated by ²¹⁰Pb activity, were produced from each region to compare biological responses to recent warming inferred from glaciological studies on Bylot Island and regional syntheses for the Arctic. Diatom assemblages began to change around AD 1900 at both sites. At Qorbignaluk Headland, marked shifts in diatom community composition occurred during the twentieth century, with large increases in the abundance of planktonic diatoms. At Bylot Island, diatom community changes began around the same time, and involved modest decreases in planktonic diatoms and increases in inferred specific conductance, likely because of a decrease in the areal extent of the small lake as a response to warming. The study confirms that responses of freshwater ecosystems to climate warming vary depending on local physiographic factors.     

Responses of Fragilarioid-dominated diatom assemblages in a small Arctic lake to Holocene climatic changes, Russell Island, Nunavut, Canada

We present a paleolimnological record spanning the Holocene from a small lake on Russell Island (Lake PW02), in the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago (74.07° N, 97.77° W, 182 m asl). Fragilarioid diatom types in the genera Pseudostaurosira, Staurosira and Staurosirella constitute >90% of valves in fossil samples. Using modern biogeographic data which specify the temperature optima of the Fragilarioid diatom taxa, we present new inferences about the timing of paleoclimatic changes in the central Arctic islands. The early Holocene was characterized by maximum values for sediment organic matter, and lower ratios of Staurosirella pinnata to Staurosira construens v. venter, suggesting warm summer air temperatures between about 9500−6500 cal year BP. Influxes of biogenic silica and diatom valves decreased following 4000 cal year BP, the sediment accumulation rate slowed and diatom taxa of the littoral zone diversified, suggesting cooler summers and more persistent lake ice. Variations in the species composition of the assemblages indicate paleoclimatic changes that are in broad agreement with other paleoenvironmental records from the Arctic including melt records from the Agassiz Ice Cap. Although autecological data remain incomplete for Fragilarioid taxa, our results indicate differences in these taxa in responses to paleoenvironmental change and underline the potential for the increased use of these taxa in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The record from Lake PW02, as in other records from Arctic lakes with low algal diversity throughout the Holocene, shows a pronounced increase in diatom diversity since the 1920s, and diatom production since the 1970s far exceeds any recorded during the Holocene.     

A high resolution proxy-climate record from an arctic lake with annually-laminated sediments on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada

Sediments from a 3 ha lake (75 °34.34N, 89 °18.55W) from the coastal region of northern Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, contain discrete laminations in the deepest part of the basin. The laminations are varves as indicated by the correspondence between counts and thickness measurements of the couplets and ²¹⁰Pb dating. A 14 cm core representing 150 years of sedimentation contained laminated couplets consisting of a lighter inorganic layer with a higher percentage of calcium and magnesium, alternating with fine darker bands, typically more cohesive, and comprising higher proportions of silica and carbon. A reddish oxidation zone with higher iron and aluminum frequently separates the laminations. The dark layer represents a biogenic component deposited in summer and is made cohesive by bacterial filaments among the other particles. The light inorganic layer represents clastic deposition from allochthonous sources. Deposition rates were relatively consistent through the core with an increase in varve thickness in the 1950s. Diatom concentrations in the sediments increased by two orders of magnitude in this century, with major increases in the 1920s and 1950s. The increase in varve thickness and diatom abundance coincides with an increase in summer melt percentage in an ice core from the Devon Island Ice Cap (Koerner, 1977). The relatively high sedimentation rate (0.15 cm yr^-1) coupled with the consistency of deposition makes this lake a significant indicator for recent climate changes of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.     

新疆焉耆盆地绿洲景观的空间格局及其变化

通过GIS技术的叠加和提取功能建立了焉耆盆地两个时间段的景观类型转移矩阵。在此基础上,分析了焉耆盆地内部绿洲景观类型的动态演化过程和空间分布特征。结果表明:焉耆盆地经过近40年的土地开垦后,人工绿洲呈现出上升的趋势,农田向自然绿洲和荒漠的扩张在整个研究阶段均可见;农田开垦的对象表现为从草地(含部分沼泽地)→多汁木本盐柴类荒漠→超旱生灌木半灌木荒漠迁移,体现了农田绿洲开垦从易到难,自然绿洲不断缩小,人工绿洲不断扩大的过程;对土地和水资源的不合理利用,导致盆地内湖泊水体、湖泊周边及农田绿洲出现明显的生态退化。焉耆盆地今后的规划和发展必须高度重视人工绿洲生态系统和自然生态之间的平衡,盆地环境治理很大程度决定于水资源的合理利用和合理调节。     

Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) predation on adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) at Coats Island, Nunavut, Canada

Although the diet of walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus ) is considered varied, records of walrus consuming marine birds are rare in the published literature. In 2001 and 2002 we observed walrus foraging on adult thick-billed murres ( Uria lomvia ) at Coats Island in Nunavut, Canada. Approximately 46% of the attacks on murres were successful, and as many as 67 murres may have been killed in one day in August 2002. All soft parts of the murres were sucked out, with carcasses of only bones, feathers and skin left floating on the water. The extent to which predation on seabirds by walrus occurs across the eastern Arctic is unknown, but it could represent an important source of mortality for murres at some breeding colonies.     

Tracking recent recovery from eutrophication in a high arctic lake (Meretta Lake, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) using fossil diatom assemblages

Meretta Lake (Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada) is a high arctic lake that received raw sewage for almost 50 years from the Canadian Department of Transport Base. The lake was sampled from 1968–72 during the International Biological Programme, as part of the Char Lake Project. As the number of users at the Transport Base declined throughout the 1990s, so too did the lake's nutrient levels, and Meretta Lake is now classified as oligotrophic. A previous diatom-based paleolimnological study revealed marked species assemblage shifts coincident with sewage inputs beginning in the late 1940s; however, because the core was taken at a time when nutrient levels were still relatively high (i.e., 1993), the diatom record did not yet track any signs of recovery. In this present study, we examined fossil diatom assemblages from a sediment core taken in 2001. Our results indicate a shift to the pre-impact diatom assemblages in the most recent sediments, indicating that the paleolimnological record is tracking the decreased nutrient inputs to this high arctic lake, and confirms that no significant lags exist in these largely ice-covered lakes.     

A sub-surface eddy at inertial current layer in the Canada Basin,Arctic Ocean

An Arctic Ocean eddy in sub-surface layer is analyzed in this paper by use of temperature,salinity and current profiles data obtained at an ice camp in the Canada Basin during the second Chinese Arctic Expedition in summer of 2003.In the vertical temperature section,the eddy shows itself as an isolated cold water block at depth of 60 m with a minimum temperature of-1.5℃,about 0.5℃ colder than the ambient water.Isopycnals in the eddy form a pattern of convex,which indicates the eddy is anticyclonic.Although maximum velocity near 0.4 m s-1 occurs in the current records observed synchronously,the current pattern is far away from a typical eddy.By further analysis,inertial frequency oscillations with amplitudes comparable with the eddy velocity are found in the sub-surface layer currents.After filter the inertial current and mean current,an axisymmetric current pattern of an eddy with maximum velocity radius of 5 km is obtained.The analysis of the T-S characteristics of the eddy core water and its ambient waters supports the conclusion that the eddy was formed on the Chukchi Shelf and migrated northeastward into the northern Canada Basin.     

白令海、楚科奇海、加拿大海盆沉积物重金属潜在生态风险评价

利用电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(ICP-MS仪)测定北极亚北极海区的白令海、楚科奇海、加拿大海盆海区沉积物中8种重金属元素的浓度,并对8种重金属元素的地球化学特征、空间分布特征、可能来源进行了研究。研究发现,Cr、Zn、Co、Ni、Cu、Pb、Bi有很强的相关性,说明其具有相似的来源,且空间分布的特征相似,均为沉积物底质中的浓度在研究区内呈现出在白令海和楚科奇海较低,在加拿大海较高的特征;而Cd与其他重金属空间分布差异明显。应用Hakanson潜在生态危害指数法与内梅罗综合污染指数法对各重金属的潜在风险进行了评价,其中,用Hakanson潜在生态危害指数法求得北极整体生态风险性指数值达到43.01,处于轻微生态风险状态,Co重金属元素风险最大。研究结果表明,两种评价结果得出类似规律,白令海生态安全性最高,楚科奇海大部分地区生态安全性较高,加拿大海盆的生态安全性最差。在研究区内整体上呈现出由高纬度向低纬度生态安全逐渐增高,西部生态风险性大于东部的趋势。     

Rifting and pre‐rift lithosphere variability in the Orphan Basin,Newfoundland margin,Eastern Canada

The Orphan Basin, lying along the Newfoundland rifted continental margin, formed in Mesozoic time during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean and the breakup of Iberia/Eurasia from North America. To investigate the evolution of the Orphan Basin and the factors that governed its formation, we (i) analysed the stratigraphic and crustal architecture documented by seismic data (courtesy of TGS), (ii) quantified the tectonic and thermal subsidence along a constructed geological transect, and (iii) used forward numerical modelling to understand the state of the pre‐rift lithosphere and the distribution of deformation during rifting. Our study shows that the pre‐rift lithosphere was 200‐km thick and rheologically strong (150‐km‐thick elastic plate) prior to rifting. It also indicates that extension in the Orphan Basin occurred in three distinct phases during the Jurassic, the Early Cretaceous and the Late Cretaceous. Each rifting phase is characterized by a specific crustal and subcrustal thinning configuration. Crustal deformation initiated in the eastern part of the basin during the Jurassic and migrated to the west during the Cretaceous. It was coupled with a subcrustal thinning which was reduced underneath the eastern domain and very intense in the western domains of the basin. The spatial and temporal distribution of thinning and the evolution of the lithosphere rheology through time controlled the tectonic, stratigraphic and crustal architecture that we observe today in the Orphan Basin.     

Structure and evolution of mass transport deposits in the South Caspian Basin,Azerbaijan

The Quaternary to late Pliocene sedimentary succession along the margin of the South Caspian Basin contains numerous kilometre‐scale submarine slope failures, which were sourced along the basin slope and from the inclined flanks of contemporaneous anticlines. This study uses three‐dimensional (3D) seismic reflection data to visualise the internal structure of 27 mass transport deposits and catalogues the syndepositional structures contained within them. These are used to interpret emplacement processes occurring during submarine slope failure. The deposits consist of three linked structural domains: extensional, translational and compressive, each containing characteristic structures. Novel features are present within the mass transport deposits: (1) a diverging retrogression of the headwall scarp; (2) the absence of a conventional headwall scarp around growth stratal pinch outs; (3) restraining bends in the lateral margin; (4) a downslope increase in the throw of thrust faults. The results of this study shed light on the deformation that occurred during submarine slope failure, and highlight an important geological process in the evolution of the South Caspian Basin margin.     

Five thousand years of sediment transfer in a high arctic watershed recorded in annually laminated sediments from Lower Murray Lake,Ellesmere Island,Nunavut, Canada

Sediments in Lower Murray Lake, northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut Canada (81°21′ N, 69°32′ W) contain annual laminations (varves) that provide a record of sediment accumulation through the past 5000+ years. Annual mass accumulation was estimated based on measurements of varve thickness and sediment bulk density. Comparison of Lower Murray Lake mass accumulation with instrumental climate data, long-term records of climatic forcing mechanisms and other regional paleoclimate records suggests that lake sedimentation is positively correlated with regional melt season temperatures driven by radiative forcing. The temperature reconstruction suggests that recent temperatures are ~2.6°C higher than minimum temperatures observed during the Little Ice Age, maximum temperatures during the past 5200 years exceeded modern values by ~0.6°C, and that minimum temperatures observed approximately 2900 varve years BC were ~3.5°C colder than recent conditions. Recent temperatures were the warmest since the fourteenth century, but similar conditions existed intermittently during the period spanning ~4000–1000 varve years ago. A highly stable pattern of sedimentation throughout the period of record supports the use of annual mass accumulation in Lower Murray Lake as a reliable proxy indicator of local climatic conditions in the past.

Partitioning and lateral transport of iron to the Canada Basin

The concentration of dissolved iron (DFe) and suspended leachable particulate iron (LPFe) in the water column of the western Beaufort Sea were investigated during the late summer of 2010. Elevated concentrations of surface DFe (0.49–1.42 nM) were similar to those reported in resent studies, likely reflecting input from melting sea ice and river discharge. The rapid decrease in DFe (5.20–0.48 nM) and LPFe (88.2–1.83 nM) values observed from inshore to offshore in Pacific influenced waters, suggest scavenging processes limit the input of DFe from the shelf to the deep basin. However, frequent eddies found in this region are likely important in promoting lateral advection, as suggested by higher surface DFe concentrations at an offshore station in the vicinity of a warm-core eddy. Within the Atlantic layer, relatively homogeneous DFe (0.69–0.80 nM) and LPFe (1.18–2.13 nM) concentrations were observed at all the stations, reflecting a balance in the interplay between input and removal processes within this watermass. An input of DFe east of the Lomonosov Ridge was inferred by comparing DFe values within the core of Atlantic water between the Eastern and Western Arctic.