Palaeoecology of two lake basins from Disko,West Greenland

The macrofossils, lithology and chronology of two lake basins on Disko in central West Greenland have been investigated. Both lakes were isolated from the sea in the mid-Holocene as a result of relative land uplift. A marine-brackish-limnic sequence was recovered from the Qivittut Lake. The marine fauna is unusually diverse, whereas the brackish water fauna consists only of few species. Immediately after isolation the lake passed through a short-lived eutrophic phase, after which stable, mesotrophic conditions were established. From the second lake basin, the Fortunebay Lake, only limnic sediments were recovered. This lake record demonstrates that rather stable conditions have persisted since mid-Holocene times. Both lakes show anomalously high accumulation rates.