Pollen based inferences of post-glacial vegetation and paleoclimate change on Melville Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada

Pollen analysis of a sediment core from Lake SP02, Melville Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada provides a ∼6300 year record of post-glacial vegetation and climate change. Dominant local and regional taxa identified include Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Artemisia, Salix, and Oxyria. Fossil pollen assemblages, pollen accumulations rates, and variations in sediment organic matter, indicate a period of optimal Holocene warmth between 5300-3900 yr BP, followed by a prolonged period of Neoglacial cooling, as well as a period of relative warmth between 1300- 1000 yr BP, interpreted as evidence for the Medieval Warm Period. Variations in pollen abundances and accumulations during the 20th century suggest a response to recent warming that is unprecedented since deglaciation of the Peninsula. Comparisons of the timing and rates of multi-scale climate variations for Melville Peninsula with adjacent sites reveal a potential late Holocene shift in the boundary separating continental and maritime climate regions in the eastern Canadian Arctic.